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LEFTOVERS: Florida loophole debate, fighting to the death (tax), golf in the 6th

The so-called Florida loophole is once again all the political rage.

In case you’re not versed in the intricacies of interstate gun policy, the loophole exists because the Sunshine State issues out-of-state residents permits to carry concealed weapons through its Department of Agriculture, even if those folks couldn’t get concealed-carry permits in their home state. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato has been forcefully calling for Republican rival Tom Corbett to use his power as state Attorney General to close the loophole.

That charge continued Monday, when Onorato used an alleged shooting by a Philadelphia man who had a Florida permit to make the case anew. During a news conference at City Hall in Philly, Onorato and District Attorney Seth Williams said Corbett should end the so-called “reciprocity” agreement with Florida that keeps the loophole open.

“We should never outsource our law enforcement responsibilities,” Onorato said in a statement later. “Tom Corbett should know better, and he should announce today that he is closing this loophole in order to protect Pennsylvanians. The recent shooting provides yet another wake-up call to Tom Corbett—even though he shouldn’t need one.”

The line from Team Corbett is that his office doesn’t have the power to make a change that can only be enacted through legislation—and indeed, state Representative Bryan Lentz (D-Delaware) has been pushing a bill to do just that. But a page on the Attorney General’s official Web site seems to undercut the idea that Corbett has no power here. It notes that in 1995, the General Assembly gave the Attorney General “the authority to enter into reciprocity agreements with other states.” And the state’s reciprocity agreement with Florida signed by an aide to Corbett’s predecessor, which you can read here, explicitly states that the “agreement may be by either Party or their successor upon thirty (30) days written notice.”

Seems pretty clear cut. Regardless, Corbett’s campaign is sticking to its guns (pun intended). Corbett still supports the current law.

“This is what voters have come to expect from career politician Dan Onorato,” Corbett campaign spokesman Kevin Harley told Philly Clout. “He exploits the death of young man and uses it as a political prop. The fact is the Attorney General cannot unilaterally change the laws of Pennsylvania. Only the legislature can do that.”

Speaking of bitter debates, the Senate candidates spent Monday bickering about the estate tax, that revenue generator that Republicans have so effectively branded as the “death tax.” The action on Monday came about as Republican nominee Pat Toomey trekked to Harrisburg, where he signed a pledge supporting the permanent repeal of the estate tax—and said Democratic opponent Joe Sestak should do the same.

“The Death Tax destroys jobs by targeting Pennsylvania’s main economic engine—small and, often family owned, businesses,” Toomey said in a statement. “Simply repealing the Death Tax would create 64,442 jobs in Pennsylvania. Congressman Sestak claims to be for small business, but he has voted multiple times against repealing this tax which hits Pennsylvania’s small businesses and farms. Pennsylvania’s small businesses like Herre Bros. need policies that will help them grow and hire more workers, not high taxes.”

The head of the aforementioned, family-owned, electrical contracting firm joined Toomey to make the case.

“If my children were forced to pay an estate tax next year, when the Death Tax rate returns to 55 percent, it is almost certain that they will be forced to sell our entire company,” Herre Bros. CEO Richard McBride said. “It simply isn’t possible to keep a company profitable when half or more of its assets are confiscated.  With the company would go the 100 jobs we provide in the Enola area – and the hundreds more we would like to provide.”

Toomey’s campaign has been burned before for death-tax-hyperbole, so Sestak’s campaign was on the lookout early in the day. A Toomey TV ad this summer, which claimed Sestak would let the IRS “take half of your savings when you die,” was called “barely true” by PolitiFact. As the Web site noted then, only very wealthy Americans would be subject to the estate tax proposal Sestak supports (individuals with more than $3.5 million and couples with more than $7 million).

Sestak’s campaign on Monday reiterated the congressman’s position, arguing that the legislation Sestak exempts 99.7 percent of Americans and leave just 7,600 of the wealthiest Americans—and only a couple hundred Pennsylvanians—paying any kind of estate tax. Citing figures from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Sestak’s campaign said that Toomey’s plan would add $1.2 trillion to the deficit.

“This is another attempt by Congressman Toomey to distort Joe’s record in order to distract people from his own extreme agenda which calls for generous benefits for the ultra-wealthy that stick the middle class with the bill,” Sestak spokeswoman April Mellody said in a statement. “Congressman Toomey believes that Wall Street is the answer to everything. Joe believes we need to level with people and start investing in ordinary Pennsylvanians in order to get this economy moving.”

Oh, and our friend John Micek at Capitol Ideas took a look at the small business advocacy group that joined Toomey at his presser—noting “clout” and “cash” they’ve got.

Lastly, there was some golf-style class warfare in the 6th District Monday. Democratic nominee Manan Trivedi’s finance director e-mailed supporters in the afternoon, saying that Republican incumbent Jim Gerlach is having “a big fundraiser at a fairly swank golf course right now.”

“If you were one of the lucky few to be invited, you get to pay $1,500 to play a round of golf,” Tyler Cole wrote. “Must be nice to be one of Gerlach’s friends.Well we decided to have a little fun with this. Manan went to the old Phoenixville Driving Range—a place the average person can afford to go—to smack a bucket of balls.”

Keeping with the low-price theme, the Trivedi campaign even made a video of the candidate driving some balls—and then asked supporters to donate just ten cents for every yard he got off the tee. He had a 225-yard drive (his form looks pretty good), so that’s $22.50 cents.

Below is the video of Trivedi at the driving range—”no caddies, no knickers, no cocktails,” as the campaign described it. “Just a guy in a pair of jeans and his Phillies hat.”

September 20, 2010 at 5:04 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Dan Onorato, Jim Gerlach, Joe Sestak, Manan Trivedi, PA-6, Pat Toomey, Tom Corbett

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