The First Read — October 14, 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.

Welch loaned his campaign half-a-million dollars
For those wondering whether Republican Steven Welch would shell out the dough for his own Congressional campaign, the answer has emerged. Full Story

When pols get sneaky with campaign finance numbers (Updated)

Ah, the preemptive campaign finance leak. In a fragmented, hour-to-hour media landscape, with campaigns looking for any narrative leg-up in the perception game, it’s becoming a new mainstay of political news as candidates look to convince whoever happens to be watching that they’re politically viable.

I won’t pretend that pa2010.com takes the bait less than anyone else here. If anything, we’ve been jumping through hoops this cycle to get early numbers out to what’s becoming…

DSCC STATEMENT ON MITT ROMNEY’S ENDORSEMENT OF PAT TOOMEY

By THE DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Communications Director Eric Schultz released the following statement in response to Mitt Romney’s endorsement of right-wing extremist Pat Toomey today in Philadelphia:

“Today in Philadelphia, Mitt Romney endorsed Pat Toomey, a candidate so far to the right that even senior members in his own party admit that he is not electable.  Maybe Mitt Romney thinks endorsing an extremist right-wing Republican will help with his own…

Lawsuit filed against Texas aviation business over health care disaster for Harrisburg, PA employees

By THE OFFICE OF STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL TOM CORBETT

HARRISBURG — Attorney General Tom Corbett announced that the Attorney General’s Health Care Section has filed a lawsuit against a Texas-based aviation parts manufacturing business, along with three corporate officers, accused of failing to pay health care premiums for Harrisburg area employees while continuing to deduct employee contributions from paychecks – leaving employees to face massive medical bills.

Corbett said the consumer protection lawsuit was filed…

Schroder has about $87K on hand

State Representative Curt Schroder’s (R-Chester) Congressional campaign raised just under $88,000 during the third quarter, finishing the period with almost $87,000 in cash on hand, according to new

Obama an elusive target for Republicans

Much of the scuttlebutt in the past week has been about Obama’s Nobel Prize and the predictable responses to it. Two other, more substantive developments suggest that—for all his so-called celebrity status—Obama may prove a more elusive target for Republicans than they anticipate.

The first are reports that General Motors, which had been written off for dead after a taxpayer-supported bailout, has

Campaign finance reform can cait!

The announcement that the Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to President Obama baffled many, but got me as aggravated as ever.

This prize is a joke. Look at the past winners who were politicians, a large majority of them are no shock… liberal. That is, from their incumbent country’s liberal party. The notable exceptions are the former Israeli prime ministers, who even if from the Labor Party, are still conservative by international standards.

Not…

New poll shows Specter and Sestak with narrow leads over Toomey

Both major Democratic candidates for Senate would narrowly defeat Republican Pat Toomey if next year’s general election were held today, according to a new poll.

The poll, commissioned by the Web site GrassrootsPA and conducted by Dane & Associates, found Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) beating Toomey by five points, 43 percent to 38 percent, with 19 percent undecided. Senator Arlen Specter, meanwhile, would top Toomey 46 percent to 43 percent, with only 11 percent undecided.…

Welch loaned his campaign half-a-million dollars

For those wondering whether Republican Steven Welch would shell out the dough for his own Congressional campaign, the answer has emerged.

Welch, a wealthy businessman running in the 6th District, made a loan of $500,000 to his campaign last quarter, according to

Sestak copied me!

I knew The In-Specter was a clever name when I launched this blog back in April, but I had no idea that Arlen Specter’s opponents would nakedly copy me in an attempt to scrutinize the sitting Senator. Yet, that is precisely what Joe Sestak has done with a new set of Web videos entitled “Arlen InSpecter,” in which Sestak hopes to highlight Specter’s ties to his own Republican colleagues. See the first video