Meadville businessman to run against Dahlkemper

Congressman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-3) has an opponent.

CQPolitics

Specter, Sestak are squarely behind public option

As President Obama prepared to address Congress Wednesday, both Senator Arlen Specter and Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) had voiced their strong support for a public option in health care reform.

Their agreement on the matter could largely defuse it as a campaign issue in their contentious Senate primary.

Sestak got credit in the blogosphere this week for starting an

Why I’m pro-choice

I’ve been mayor of Scranton for the past eight years, but outside of northeast Pennsylvania, people are still just getting to know me.

So for the last several weeks I’ve been traveling around the state, talking to people about the challenges we face and how we can work together to help create more jobs, grow our economy, and get Pennsylvania working again.

One question I get a lot is about my position on a woman’s…

The First Read — September 9, 2009

Every Monday-Thursday morning, pa2010.com compiles the most important political news of the day, from newspapers to the blogosphere and back. Enjoy this edition.

Sign up for The First Read. And for all the latest news, log on to pa2010.com, your destination for Pennsylvania’s big 2010 elections.

Gerlach: Strip pay from guv, lawmakers until a budget passes
Gubernatorial candidate Jim Gerlach sought to insert himself into Pennsylvania’s protracted budget impasse Tuesday, when he called for taking…

A house of czars?

Over the weekend, President Obama’s “green jobs” czar Van Jones resigned his position from the White House. Jones, a self-avowed communist, was heavily criticized for being a radical who was arrested multiple times, pushed for the release of convicted Philadelphia cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal and even signed a petition in support of the 9/11 “truther” movement.

The White House, already reeling from the health care debate, is hoping that Jones’ resignation will end the public…

Gerlach, CasablancaPA blogger share common criticism of Corbett

Jim Gerlach stopped by the Capitol Tuesday and made a quasi-bold attempt to interject himself in the state budget impasse. Gerlach, the congressman who is giving up his seat in the 6th CD to run for governor, said state lawmakers should lose pay for every day a budget is not passed.

Gerlach is aiming for a Republican primary win over Full Story

Not so indirectly, Knox responds to Hoeffel’s ‘progressive’ criticism

It was interesting to read Democrat Tom Knox’s op-ed on pa2010.com Tuesday. In the p“I believe Pennsylvania voters are less concerned with which candidate claims to be the most ‘progressive,’ and more concerned about which candidate is most focused on progress—in solving the challenges and problems in their lives,” Knox wrote./p
pKnox’s sentiment was clearly a response to what Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel told us a couple months ago. When empa2010.com/em reported that he was a href="http://www.pa2010.com/hoeffel-considering-gubernatorial-bid/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2Fhoeffel-considering-gubernatorial-bid%2F','considering+getting+into+the+race+himself')" target="_blank"considering getting into the race himself/a, Hoeffel voiced concern that there were no genuine progressives in the Democratic field. He has since then taken some tentative but concrete steps toward launching a campaign, including a href="http://www.pa2010.com/exclusive-hoeffel-will-poll-the-gubernatorial-race/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2Fexclusive-hoeffel-will-poll-the-gubernatorial-race%2F','polling+the+race')" target="_blank">polling the race and

Report: Corbett to declare gubernatorial candidacy on Monday

State Attorney General Tom Corbett will reportedly make the announcement that everyone already assumed was a done deal next week, when he officially declares his candidacy for the GOP gubernatorial nomination Monday in Pittsburgh.

PoliticsPA

Gerlach: Strip pay from guv, lawmakers until a budget passes

Gubernatorial candidate Jim Gerlach sought to insert himself into Pennsylvania’s protracted budget impasse Tuesday, when he called for taking paychecks away from the governor, cabinet members and state legislators every day until a budget is finally enacted. It was the strongest policy statement so far by Gerlach, the Republican Congressman, and underscored how he will leverage his experience in state governance to make the case that he’s the stronger GOP candidate in next year’s primary.…

Gerlach Calls for Fixing Broken Budget Process in PA

By GERLACH FOR GOVERNOR

(EXTON, PA) – With Pennsylvania now the lone state without a budget, Congressman Jim Gerlach, the only declared Republican candidate for governor, said Tuesday that the era of forcing state workers to skip paychecks and school districts to drain their reserve accounts during budget impasses must end.

Gerlach supports cutting off paychecks for the governor, Cabinet and the 253 members of the Legislature if a budget is not enacted by July…