State Endorsement Wrong on Many Levels

Do we really want another RINO in the Senate?

Against strong and growing opposition to PAGOP endorsements ahead of the state primary vote, the choice of Steve Welch was pushed through anyway.  We would probably not care too much if they had endorsed "our guy" but they didn't, making the wrongness of the process easier to see. Grassroots conservatives have increasingly favored open primaries to let voters decide who would be on the ballot ever since 2004 when the state committee backed RINO Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey.

The endorsement itself isn't the problem, but the PAGOP rule that then prevents the other primary candidates from speaking at any Republican events! If that kind of imperial behavior isn't disturbing enough, then try to understand why the state committee would choose someone who had supported Barack Obama and Joe Sestak in the recent past.

We have several good candidates running in the primary this time. You can hear some of them at the Susquehanna Valley Conservatives meeting on Monday February 13th at 7pm at the Best Western Country Cupboard Inn in Lewisburg.  The meeting is free and open to the public.

There is pushback among conservative activists and supporters of the non-endorsed candidates but the ultimate pushback is yours, in the form of your primary vote on Tuesday April 24th.  Don't waste the opportunity.

Marcellus Shale Impact Fee

It's a TAX...

You've probably heard the news by now that the Pennsylvania Legislature passed an "Impact Fee" on shale gas drillers (and landowners) in Pennsylvania.  The tax is shared by landowners through lease agreements.  It could have been a fee... if the statehouse had followed the guiding principles, of the Commonwealth Foundation but they didn't, and passed a TAX instead.

Taxes are a cost on doing business in Pennsylvania, and will act to make our state less attractive compared to other states, all else considered.  Read this for a short history of taxation in Pennsylvania. Increasing taxes never results in lower deficits and less burdensome government.  Increased revenue just supports more government.  It's never enough. Aren't we Taxed Enough Already?