Breaking ranks is one thing. Breaking ranks to block funding for the Environmental Protection Agency is something else entirely, especially if your state is charging into uncharted waters, some of which, when it comes to shale gas, may even be combustible from time to time.

Down in D.C., the case boils down to basic science – climate change believers vs. its skeptics – and whether the EPA should attempt to regulate greenhouse emissions. It’s an easy guess which corner the Republican majority calls home. Apparently, so do 19 House Democrats, including three Pennsylvanians.

The Hill reported Thursday evening that U.S. Reps. Jason Altmire, Mark Critz and Tim Holden joined with their GOP colleagues to strip funding from the EPA. Countering this action is the stance of the Democrat-controlled Senate, highlighting one of those philosophical roadblocks that have been waving “government shutdown ahead” signs.

It’s not even so much about the much ballyhooed “cut government spending” rallying cry as it is about gearing up to test 2012 platform points. The EPA, much like the U.S. Department of Education and National Public Radio, is a frequent punching bag for right-leaning lawmakers. This year is no exception.

What is exceptional is that this is the sort of item that could muck up military pay, mail service, college and business loans, tourism dollars and, oh, the national economic recovery, among other thoroughly avoidable disasters.

Altmire and Critz represent West FrackingLand, whereas Holden is guiding the aspirations for Marcellus Shale East boosters, primarily in and around his native Schuylkill County.

In protecting the interests of this burgeoning industry – burgeoning tax-free industry, courtesy of Gov. Corbett and Co. – there’s hope it will all pan out and result in growth and jobs. Seeing some of the dusty, nearly deserted towns across Pennsylvania, you can understand a desire to glimpse any kind of renaissance.

But the BP oil spill is a cautionary tale of how much concern industry may have for the environment when profits are on the line. Shafting the EPA on a gamble for a Disney ending seems mighty short-sighted – especially if it ends up shorting salaries of our armed forces and seniors in the process.

Even though Congressional leaders in the House have floated the idea of passing a one-week funding bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected the idea Wednesday. Republicans are looking for $40 billion in budget cuts while Democrats are only willing to consider $33 billion in cuts. Democrats also argue that the cuts Republicans are demanding are ideologically driven, pointing to cuts to organizations such as Planned Parenthood and National Public Radio.

If the government does shut down, about 800,000 federal government employees can expect to be furloughed. The shutdown would also stop paychecks to military members, though Sens. Robert P. Casey (D-Pa) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) are the lead sponsors of a bill that would ensure soldiers continue to be paid through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Despite all of the potential negative consequences of a government shutdown and the fact that a 1995 shutdown actually cost $1.25 billion, the Tea Party faction has been practically screaming for a shutdown of what they consider a bloated bureaucracy.

With that in mind, here is a rundown on Pennsylvania’s Congressional Delegation stands on a possible shutdown. It is difficult to find any overt support for a government shutdown, though Rep. Lou Barletta is on record saying that his constituents may support a shutdown if that’s what it takes to rein in spending. One common theme is that Republicans (and even one Democrat) blame the Democratic-controlled Senate for not passing a budget last year. In December, Talking Points Memo noted that nine Senate Republicans walked away from their support of an omnibus spending bill that had been negotiated for months.

Senator Robert Casey (D): In addition to his sponsorship of the military pay bill, Casey joined 15 other moderate Democrats in signing a letter to House Speaker John Boehner urging him to avoid a shutdown. The letter calls a shutdown “irresponsible” and notes it would distract from a focus on creating jobs and reducing the debt. It also accuses Republicans of using the possible shutdown to make a political point.

Senator Pat Toomey (R): Toomey told the Allentown Morning Call that a government shutdown is “not okay” and no way to run a government. However, he also blamed the last Congress, of which he was not a part, for its failure to pass a budget on time. Toomey made similar statements in February when Congress was considering a short-term continuing resolution.

Robert Brady (D PA-01): We could not find a definitive statement on the looming shutdown from Brady. He did vote for the latest stop-gap measure that funds the government through April 8. He also supports measures that would devote any unused portion of a member’s Representational Allowance to reducing the deficit.

Chaka Fattah (D PA-02): Fattah posted a link on Facebook and Twitter linking to a poll that shows most Americans don’t want to see a government shutdown. He also wrote a post for the Huffington Post detailing his plan to eliminate the $14.3 trillion national debt in 10 years. He called for a one percent tax on the $445 in transactions that go through the Federal Reserve.

Mike Kelly (R PA-03): Kelly voted in favor of HR 1225, the constitutionally questionable bill that would declare HR 1, the Republican-sponsored budget that would cut $61.5 billion, to be the final bill from Congress should the Senate fail to pass a budget. Kelly blames the Senate for not passing a budget last year. The liberal blogosphere also called Kelly on his claim that a shutdown would not disrupt Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Jason Altmire (D PA-04): The National Republican Congressional Committee attacked Altmire for his comments on Fox News March 31 that Democrats are to blame for not passing a budget on time last year. During a recent town hall meeting, Altmire praised a shift in thinking from spending to cutting, but warned against haphazard cuts.

Glenn “GT” Thompson (R PA-05): Thompson spoke on the House Floor April 5 and blamed the inaction of the Senate for failing to pass a budget and railed about running the government on continuing resolutions. “Even if we all agree a program is efficient and needed, we can’t spend money we don’t have,” he said. He has been clear that a government shutdown would be costly and unproductive. The Center Daily Times reported that 18 Tea Party members protested Thompson’s vote on the March temporary funding bill.

Jim Gerlach (R PA-06): Gerlach also voted for the temporary funding measure and blamed Senate Democrats for not passing a budget. He is not in favor of a shutdown, saying, “Job creators need certainty to start hiring again, not one more countdown to a federal government shutdown.”

Pat Meehan (R PA-07): Meehan held a town hall meeting in March where he argued that a government shutdown would not be beneficial when a resident challenged opponents of the Affordable Care Act to do so. Still, Meehan is in favor of the Republicans’ 2012 spending plan which would cut $6.2 trillion over 10 years but has been largely panned by the left for its cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. He has also released a statement defending his vote to defund NPR.

Michael Fitzpatrick (R PA-08): Fitzpatrick also blamed Senate Democrats for not passing a budget. “The American people and job creators should no longer be held hostage to the Senate’s inaction on the federal budget,” he wrote in a press release. His press release on the Republican budget proposal was less committal than Meehan, urging his constituents to get familiar with the plan and “and be active participants in this national discussion.”

Bill Shuster (R PA-09): A spokesperson for Shuster told the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat that the Congressman hopes to avoid a shutdown. He also posted a video talking about the dangers of increasing federal government spending.

Tom Marino (R PA-10): Marino told the Sunbury Daily Item that Republicans do not want to shut down the government and called on the Senate to pass HR 1. He also posted a message on his Facebook page supporting the proposal to pay soldiers in the event of a shutdown.

Lou Barletta (R PA-11): On March 28, Barletta announced that he would not support any more stop-gap spending measures. “Stringing together short-term continuing resolutions only extends the uncertainty among local and national job creators, and that will slow our economic recovery at home,” he wrote in the press release. He also told the Morning Call that he thinks his constituents want to see the federal government reduce spending and might support a shutdown if that’s what it takes.

Mark Critz (D PA-12): Critz called on Congress to end “the partisan bickering and finalize a responsible budget.” However, if the government would shut down, he is co-sponsoring the House bill that would deny a paycheck to members of Congress. Critz also railed against the Republicans’ spending plan, saying it hurts senior citizens while keeping in place tax cuts for the wealthy and oil company subsidies.

Allyson Schwartz (D PA-13): Schwartz agrees that the government should be making cuts in spending, but has called the proposed Republican spending cuts, “reckless.” She also says that the Republicans’ 2012 budget would not reduce costs, just shift costs to senior citizens.

Mike Doyle (D PA-14): Doyle condemned passage of HR 1, calling it destructive and counterproductive. “Frankly, it’s exactly what I’d expect to see when people who hate government are put in charge of it,” Congressman Doyle wrote in his press release. “They say government is useless and inefficient, and if they get their way, it soon will be.” He also posted a message on Twitter saying that the 2012 Republican budget proposal would “destroy Medicare as we know it.”

Charlie Dent (R PA-15): In his announcement that he voted for the last stop-gap spending measure, Dent said, “To avoid the extremely disruptive impact a shutdown would have on our economy, it was absolutely necessary the House passed an additional short-term Continuing Resolution.” Dent also told the Morning Call that he is worried about a shutdown, particularly if military paychecks are not issued. Dent called the 2012 Republican budget proposal “a serious and sobering document” and said that the Medicare and Medicaid proposals deserve thoughtful review.

Joe Pitts (R PA-16): Pitts voted against the bill in March to fund the government through April 8. He also told The Hill newspaper in March that “more and more” social conservatives are considering not voting for legislation that would defund Planned Parenthood and the Affordable Care Act. On April 1, Pitts wrote about the pressing need to cut spending.

Tim Holden (D PA-17): We could not find any definitive statements from Holden, but he did vote in favor of the latest stop-gap spending measure.

Tim Murphy (R PA-18): Murphy also explicitly blames the Senate Democrats for their failure to pass a budget, but did vote for the latest stop gap measure. In his statement he said, “The time for stalling and half-measures and one-week spending bills has long since passed. The longer we postpone the difficult decisions that have to be made, the worse off we become.” He did, however, join in urging the Senate to continue issuing paychecks to military personnel if the government does shut down.

Todd Platts (R PA-19): Platts told the Gettysburg Times “Our intent is to keep government open.” However, he also blames Senate Democrats for failing to pass a budget. He also sent out a press release in early March discussing the problem of duplicated efforts in the federal budget, noting that eliminating such duplication could save $100 billion.

The candidates running to represent Pennsylvania’s 8^th Congressional District are trading allegations of voter fraud in the closing hours of a closely contested race. A decision by the Bucks County Board of Elections could mean that we might have to wait to learn the results of the race between incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy and challenger Mike Fitzpatrick.

At issue are at least 8,000 absentee ballots. On Friday, the Republican-controlled elections board voted to sequester the ballots until they can investigate the allegations. If the election is as close as it was in 2006 – Murphy beat Fitzpatrick by 1518 votes – and the polls showing a close race are accurate, then those ballots could swing the election.

The Allentown Morning Call reported Friday that Republicans allege Democrats improperly solicited absentee votes using a misleading mailer. While not illegal, the mailer purported to be from the non-existent Pennsylvania Voter Assistance Office and directed voters to return the application for an absentee ballot in time or lose the ability to vote. The GOP also alleges that canvassers solicited absentee ballots by filling out ballots for people and getting them to sign other family members’ names. The Morning Call reported that the Republican Party is challenging all 270 ballots generated by the mailer.

Murphy and the Democratic Party counter that Republicans are engaging in illegal voter suppression and fraud. The day before the Bucks County Board of Elections meeting, Murphy put out a press release accusing the Fitzpatrick campaign of instructing voters to forge the signatures of students away at college on absentee ballots. The Murphy campaign is also alleging voter suppression because six times as many ballots from Democrats as Republicans have been rejected in Bucks County.

On Monday, Murphy fired the latest salvo, issuing another press release, including a pair of YouTube videos, with statements from 16 voters, including war veterans, claiming that they were victims of voter suppression.

The Board of Elections did vote to extend the deadline to request an absentee ballot from the original date of 5 p.m. Friday to 8 p.m. Election Day. Still, if the margin of victory is small, the 8^th district will likely be in for a recount and possibly litigation over the validity of votes.

Lycoming College in Williamsport released a poll Tuesday showing Carney leading Marino 45-39, but that is within +/- 5.7 percent margin of error. The poll results are based on a telephone survey of 296 likely voters conducted Oct. 17-21 by Lycoming students.

Marino is winning Republicans by a margin of 64.4 to 20.8 percent while Carney pulls support from 75.3 percent of Democrats with 16.0 favoring the Republican. Carney is winning self identified independents 49.3 to 38.7 percent. Probably more significantly, 40.3 percent of respondents self-identified as Tea Party supporters and those voters break for Marino 76.8 to 14.7 percent.

“While this race has not been a heavy focal point for Tea Party activity,” said Dr. Jonathan Williamson, chair of the Department of Political Science at Lycoming and director of the College’s Center for the Study of Community and the Economy (CSCE) “a voter’s perspective on the Tea Party movement is a relatively clear predictor of where he or she stands in this close race.”

Both campaigns still face a busy week, though with recent polling showing a significant number of undecided voters. The Lycoming College poll shows 16 percent undecided – more than enough to swing the election. Still that’s lower than the nationwide average of undecided voters estimated at about one-third. The bad news for Carney is that undecided voters nationwide seems to be leaning Republican this cycle.

Last week, a Penn Schoen Berland poll showed the race tied 41-41. Still, New York Times’ polling guru Nate Silver is projecting a Marino win in the district.

The 30 second ad started airing Tuesday night. In the ad, Trivedi attacks the fourth term incumbent for his vote against the H.R. 4213 (American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act), which the ad frames as supporting tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. The ad also attacks Gerlach for accepting pay raises while opposing increasing the minimum wage.

“So until those jobs come back home, I’ll take a pay cut,” Trivedi promises in the ad.

Watch the full ad, titled “Listen” here.

A Monmouth University poll released Thursday, conducted just as the ad hit the air, shows Gerlach leading Trivedi by ten points among likely voters.

Holden raised about $206,000 during the third quarter of the year, according to his campaign finance report. Through September, he had spent almost $400,000 on TV. And he finished the period with about $528,000 in cash on hand.

The Democratic incumbent faces Republican Dave Argall in the central Pennsylvania district, in a race that’s currently No. 10 on the pa2010.com Congressional Power Rankings. Campaign finance reports are not due until Oct. 15, and Argall’s fundraising numbers had not yet been reported.

In a Monmouth University poll released Thursday, Meehan garners 49 percent of likely voters, compared to 45 percent for Lentz. Just seven percent of voters are undecided or prefer another candidate. The survey was the first public poll taken of the open-seat race in suburban Philadelphia, where Meehan, a former U.S. Attorney, and Lentz, a two-term state lawmaker, have been battling fiercely. Both campaigns have long expected a close race.

Despite Meehan’s lead, the results have to be heartening for Lentz and his supporters. He is outperforming the generic congressional ballot in the district, and is nipping at Meehan’s heels despite facing an opponent who was better-known from the start thanks to years as Delaware County District Attorney. Meehan’s lead is just outside the margin of error, and the poll did not include independent candidate Jim Schneller, a conservative who can presumably pull votes from Meehan. If internal Democratic polling echoes the public survey, it’s likely that the party’s congressional campaign committee will invest heavily in the race.

But there’s downside for Lentz, too. Meehan is expected to carry a significant financial advantage into the closing weeks of the race. And while Lentz has already been on TV with relatively modest ad buys for weeks, Meehan has saved his campaign war chest for a media blitz that could eventually swamp Lentz off the airwaves.

Fifty percent of likely voters disapprove of President Obama’s job performance, and both parties are viewed unfavorably by a majority of respondents.

“This district mirrors the national mood,” Monmouth University polling director Patrick Murray said. “Voters are disappointed with the way the country has gone over the past two years and blame both political parties, but they have to choose someone.”

In another finding that could foreshadow some trouble for Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak, he is leading Republican rival Pat Toomey by only three points in the 7th, within the margin of error—despite the fact that the survey was taken in the district he represents.

Meehan remains better known, but that gap is not what internal polling demonstrated months ago. Thirty percent of likely voters don’t have an opinion, compared to 37 percent who say the same of Lentz. Meehan enjoys higher favorability ratings, and echoing findings in battleground districts across the country, he has significantly more strength among independent voters. Meehan leads among male voters, while Lentz holds a smaller edge with women.

The survey of 670 likely voters, conducted Oct. 4-6, had a margin of error of 3.8 percent.

Click here to see the poll.

Correction: This article originally misstated President Obama’s approval ratings as reported by the poll. Fifty percent of respondents disapproved of his job performance, and 44 percent approved, not the other way around.

Biden will be in Scranton Monday to headline a fundraiser for Congressman Chris Carney (D-10). A Carney campaign spokesman told The Times Leader that Biden, who was born in Scranton and lived there until he was 10, will join Carney for a morning event.

Carney faces a tough reelection fight against Republican Tom Marino in the conservative, northeast Pennsylvania district. The race is currently No. 5 on the pa2010.com Congressional Power Rankings.

The survey, commissioned by The Hill and conducted by polling firm Penn Schoen Berland, found Kelly garnering 49 percent of the vote in the northwest Pennsylvania district, compared to 36 percent for Dahlkemper. Fifteen percent of likely voters are undecided—just enough to give Dahlkemper a road to victory one month before Election Day.

The poll was one of a dozen commissioned by the Capitol newspaper in battleground races, and it contained just the latest signs of trouble for Dahlkemper, a freshman buffeted by a poor political climate and her vote in favor of the health care overhaul. Other internal polling has found Kelly holding a lead, but the latest results show him to be in a formidable position.

Almost 60 percent of respondents said that health care law should be repealed.

The survey of 401 likely voters, conducted Sept. 25-27, had a margin of error of 4.9 percent.

Former Riegelsville Borough Mayor Tood Myers and current Nockamixon Township Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Nancy Janyszeski both threw their support behind Murphy in statements Wednesday. Their endorsements came as most polls show Fitzpatrick holding a lead against Murphy, who unseated him after one term in 2006.

“Whether it’s assistance for flood prone communities or support for police and first responders, Patrick Murphy has worked tirelessly on behalf of Bucks County families,” Myers said. “Even though I’m a Republican, I’m proud to support Patrick. I have worked with both candidates, and Patrick Murphy is clearly the better choice to represent the people of Bucks County.”

The Bucks County race has emerged as a battleground in the fight to control Congress, and Fitzpatrick has been performing well despite heavy TV advertising by Murphy. The race is currently No. 4 on the pa2010.com Congressional Power Rankings.

“I’m proud to be a Republican, but I can’t support Mike Fitzpatrick’s extreme policies, like his opposition to stem cell research,” Janyszeski said. “Patrick Murphy shares my values and is the type of leader Bucks County needs.”