Jane Orie needs to resign

As the drama that is the Jane Orie case continues to be dragged out, we are left with a completely ineffective State Senator. She completely avoids all media and the only information we get from her is directly from her office with her spin added to it. I came across this petition a few weeks ago and thought I would share it with my readers. I thought it would gain some traction, but this is further proof as to how ineffective the Democratic Party is in most of the North Hills.

Sen. Orie, please do the right thing and resign from the State Senate.

This petition was created by the Richland Township Democratic Committee (Facebook - Twitter) and only has 3 signatures after 3 weeks. No wonder the Democrats never have any good candidates in the North Hills if this is all they can muster.

Jane Orie: I was for the tax before I was against it.

Sen. Jane Orie has really outdone herself this time. In her most recent mailing she accused her opponent, Dan Demarco, of raising taxes by 150%. Local elected officials in Pennsylvania have very few taxes they can impose or raise. One would assume this 150% tax increase must be property taxes, but that would mean a major increase in property tax millage. Generally our citizens pay very small amounts of our property tax bill towards the municipality. Our school taxes are the largest chunk of our property tax bill. A little research on Ross Township’s property tax rate will find the 8th lowest property taxes (1.97 mils) in Allegheny County. That seems like a pretty impressive record for any elected official in Allegheny County.

So what tax is Jane Orie talking about? She is referencing the $52 Occupational Privilege/Emergency Municipal/Local Services Tax. In 2004 the state gave every municipality the option of raising the tax on citizens that worked in the municipality from $10 to $52. So Dan Demarco and Ross Township only raised the tax to $25. So Sen. Orie is telling us because of a $15 increase in taxes we should vote for her and Dan Demarco is just another tax and spend liberal. Jane Orie wants to scare us with facts and figures, but would we be as scared if she told us that Dan Demarco didn’t raise taxes as high as 110 other municipalities in Allegheny County did?

In order for Ross Township to have this option of raising this tax in 2004 on those that were employed in Ross Township, the state had to amend the local tax enabling law of 1965. So the State Legislature had to approve this new option allowing municipalities to raise this tax. Guess who supported and voted for this tax increase? Sen. Jane Orie. So using Jane Orie’s math, she approved a 420% tax increase in 2004, and now is trying to use that same legislation against her opponent.

I started to think back a few years and I remembered that this isn’t the first time Jane Orie has used legislation that she voted for against a political opponent. When first running for State Senate against a member of the Rooney family she attacked him because the Rooney’s accepted public funding for Heinz field and the implosion of Three Rivers Stadium. The kicker was she voted for the legislation that approved funding to be used for the stadiums and convention center.

Jane Orie, just another power hungry politician grasping at straws.

The Rest of the Jane Orie Mailers - So Far

I might have more to say later, but sometimes the crazy speaks for itself.

Will these mailers convince you that Jane Orie didn't abuse taxpayer's money?

#1: Jane Orie is not running against Steve Zappala or his family, she is running against Dan Demarco, a Ross Township Commissioner and Harrisburg outsider. Hardly a 'Good Old Boy'

#2 Are we supposed to ignore the nepotism by the Orie family when Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin (Soon to be indicted!) gave Janine Orie a government job working directly for the Supreme Court Justice.

#3 Why everyone ignoring how poorly Tom Corbett handled the intern's complaint?

#4 Did Jane Orie blatantly break the law and use taxpayer money and resources to campaign for her sister because she knew she would be safe from an Attorney General investigation? Does anyone remember this quote from the Trib:
"As a former prosecutor, I understand it's extremely complicated and (the investigation) expands as he goes along," said Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, a former assistant district attorney in Allegheny County. "I'm confident in (Corbett) and I think he has handled this well."

#5 This is a sad display of a power hungry politician and family.

Sen. Jane Orie's shameful mailing

I thought I would take a moment to share the hypocrisy of one of our State's leaders. Sen. Jane Orie is under indictment on multiple charges of corruption. Even with her upcoming trial hanging over her head, she has the guts to put on a mail piece that she is cleaning up Harrisburg. Is she speaking of the same Harrisburg that I know? A Harrisburg that includes her Republican buddy Tom Corbett ignoring the call from the intern that reported her misuse of taxpayer staff and resources for her sister's Supreme Court campaign? I would only believe the first line of this mailer if she was wearing a janitor's outfit and had a broom in her hand.

I also want to know what she means by 'fighting for us.' I don't believe that 'us' includes me. I believe 'us' only includes those with a name that starts with a J and includes an Orie somewhere.

Today her opponent, Ross Twp. Commissioner Dan Demarco, announced that he is leading her in polls. I hope that the voters see the past Sen. Orie's misleading mailers and think twice before sending her back to Harrisburg.

Buchanan campaign chief quits in Orie furor

The congressional campaign manager for Mary Beth Buchanan -- a man named Kurt Acker who was formerly a staffer for state Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless -- resigned yesterday in the wake of the fraud charges filed against his former boss.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10100/1049364-454.stm

Mary Beth Buchanan and Corrupt Politicans

You may think that this post will be about Mary Beth's 'proud' record of going after 'corrupt politicians.' I wouldn't be proud of spending millions of our dollars to prove nothing, but Buchanan has been telling everyone that will listen about her fight against public corruption as she runs for Congress.

When one starts to throw stones, they better not live in a glass house. So will Mary Beth Buchanan answer any questions about her connection to corrupt staffers from State Senator Jane Orie's office? Mary Beth Buchanan's campaign manager is Kurt Acker. He is mentioned as a staffer aware of the illegal activities that were going on in Orie's office:

"During her testimony, Ms. Rioja quoted staff member Kurt Acker as once saying, "if the Attorney General's Office knew what was occurring in [Sen.] Orie's office, that 'they all would be in handcuffs.'"

Mary Beth Buchanan touts her job as a federal prosecutor going after politicians like Jane Orie, but she looks the other way when hiring these corrupt staffers for her own staff.

Update: Mr. Acker has since changed his twitter page since this blog was posted. Here is the screen shot from this morning: