Tom Corporate Coming to Indian Hills on Friday

PA Governor Tom Corbett will be coming to Indian Hills Golf and Tennis Club as part of $1000/couple plate fundraiser to benefit the reelection campaign of Kurt Massser (R-107th) of Elysburg.  Just last Thursday, Shamokin Area School District furloughed 22 staff in response to the governor's budget cuts for the 2012-13 fiscal year.

While school districts are the big losers in Corbett's budget. Act 22 cuts a proposed 2 million to the elderly, handicapped, and children of Northumberland County.  Northumberland County Commissioner Steve Bridy is on the record for calling state legislator "cowardly."

“As a collective, they’re cowardly,” said Bridy, chastising the state Legislature, particularly state Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-108 of Sunbury, and Sen. John Gordner, R-27 of Berwick, for delegating the proposed cuts to the secretary of the state Department of Public Welfare. “They’re the second highest paid (state lawmakers) in the nation, and it’s just wrong to push blame on someone else. It’s just asinine and hypocritical to cut services to the elderly and needy children.”

Schlegel-Culver and Gordner basically say we didn't know this would happen????

Act 22 was intended to give Welfare Secretary Gary Alexander temporary authority to cut fraud and wasteful spending and “in no way did we think it was going to come to this. These are unintended consequences,” Schlegel Culver said of the statewide budget cuts. “I know (Bridy’s) frustrated. Everybody’s concerned about it.”

Gordner said there was no way to foresee cuts would be made in to the department of aging, but hopes the funding will be restored if state revenue rebounds for a second month in a row in April.

The big lie the GOP and Corbett tell and repeat often enough is that PA's school funding crisis has been caused by federal stimulus funds drying up and local school boards.  He blamed local school boards as recently as last week. 

So if you look at the funding crisis from the Heartland Conference point of view, the problems faced the past two years at Shikellamy, Selinsgrove, Midd-West, Lewisburg, Mifflinburg, Warrior Run, Mount Carmel and Shamokin are all the result of inept school boards, business managers, and superintendents??? That if very hard to believe governor.

If you can't read between the lines the governor is attempting to privatize public schools through charter schools and vouchers.  As collateral damage, the public school teacher's union will be crushed.  One of Corbett's top contributor's is man named, Vahan Gureghian.  Read about him and the Chester-Upland SD here.  For profit companies making big $$$ off your childrens' education.

In case Mr. Corbett forgot about the goal of public education, here is very well written letter published in the April 17th edition of the Daily-Item.

Masser touts his credentials in the April 17th issue of the News-Item saying he votes what is best for the 107th.

The most frequent criticism made by potential Democratic opponents and other political critics against state Rep. Kurt Masser is that the first-term legislator can be expected to follow the "party line" by voting for whatever Gov. Tom Corbett and the House Republican leadership want.

Masser said such assertions couldn't be further from the truth. Although he makes no apology for being philosophically in tune with and supportive of much of the Republican agenda, Masser said he carefully considers how every bill would impact his constituents.

"With every vote I cast, I do my best to represent the (107th House) district," Masser remarked. "That is my job. It is not my job to please the leadership by going along with whatever they want."

The most recent example of Masser's independence, he said, was his vote against the voter ID law. Masser agreed with the "heart of the bill," he said, but strongly believed its implementation should have been delayed until 2013.

Voter fraud was so rampant around the state, Act 13 was passed with the fury of a flash flood.  Make sure to disenfranchise the electorate.  I agree with Mr. Masser it needed to wait until after 2013.  Again, Corbett needs to do all he can to stop President Obama.

The Daily-Item had some disagreement with Mr. Masser with HB 153.

Over the last 50 votes, the four representatives serving the Central Susquehanna Valley voted identically 47 times. Keller went his own way three times. On one of those occasions, Culver agreed with Keller.

Ninety-four percent of the time we could easily save $240,000 in salary by eliminating three of those legislators and never know the difference. Keller seems to be the legislator most inclined to think for himself. Why not pick him?

Who will be at the Indian Hills on Friday for dinner?  Not that the fare is bad as I myself am a member, but my guess is Senator Gordner, Rep. Culver, Rep Keller, some heavy hitters from the gas industry and Moran Industries.

As a side note, if you want to see what is happening to the Susquehanna River and water under the governor's watch, check out the Susquehanna River Sentinel. 

When election day comes up in November, ask yourself the following question, "Do you want to be able to buy dinner for your family or do you want the scraps off the $1000 plate????"

To borrow a line from the governor himself, "remember the children."