It's getting nasty in the PA House 16!

I was given some information a while back about Kathy Coder's tax liens, and I didn't share it because I didn't expect that race to get nasty. However, that has changed with a recent mailing by the Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania in support of Kathy Coder. A simply nasty hit piece that tries to tie Rob Matzie to Jerry Sandusky.

But the Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania didn’t do their homework about how hypocritical of an attack this is. Kathy Coder's husband, who is a Penn Stater, Evangelical NFL football player Ron Coder, has been intimately entwined with The Second Mile charity ofJerry Sandusky fame/infamy for years if not decades, yet Citizens Alliance sent out a mailer last week trying to tie State Rep. Rob Matzie to Sandusky on the basis of a charity funding vote in Harrisburg?  

Mrs. Coder also has some skeletons in her budget. She won’t let the government spend her money on something she doesn’t want them too. Mrs. Coder and her husband don’t like to pay their taxes on time.

 

Don't you think those who want to serve in government ought to pay their fair share to the government to start with?

UPDATE FROM THE BEAVER COUNTY TIMES: Coder paying off $42,500 in back taxes, tax lien on homea link to The Citizens Alliance of PA on the website of Tea Party Patriots of Central Pennsylvania. Here's what the Tea Party people say about their Citizens Alliance buddies:
http://www.empowerpa.org
“Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania (CAP), founded to raise the standard of living of all Pennsylvanians by restoring limited government, economic freedom, and personal responsibility.. By empowering the Commonwealth’s employers and taxpayers to break state government’s “Iron Triangle” of career politicians, bureaucrats, and Big Government lobbyists. “

Check out the cozy links:

http://www.teapartypatriotscpa.com/links.html

So the Republican party throws money directly at Kathy Coder's campaign while she smiles for the camera and the Citizens Alliance throws money at trashing the incumbent. Nice little game there. If it was a beauty contest, no doubt Kathy would win. Homegrown beauty queen Kathy's face is plastered on billboards in Beaver County - same photo as the one on Kathy's Republican-Party-of-PA-financed mailers. Last week she let on at the Chamber of Commerce debate in Monaca (PSU Beaver campus) that she came home to Conway, Beaver County a few years ago. No! She has been living in and dividing the town of Bellevue in Allegheny County for the past four years on its borough council. She and her prayer group prayed about it and they overthrew the sitting council president in a midterm reorganization coup in 2008. Beauty is as beauty does.

And if you think THIS is a qualifier for running the business of government, well, shame on you:

https://dcr.alleghenycounty.us/DisplayImage.asp?gPDFOH=vol924%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20000006DE&CaseID=FTL-10-003193&DocketType=1040&SeqNumber=1

Don't you think those who want to "serve" in government ought to pay their fair share to the government to start with? Only those who don't have the luxury of big money backing from the Republican Party, the Citizens Alliance, etc., right? Disgusting!

The unmentioned genius campaign strategy by the Pennsylvania Republicans

As many argue across the state of Pennsylvania and nationally about the ridiculous Voter ID Law that was passed in Pennsylvania, the one thing that I haven’t heard mentioned is what it really means to the Democratic Party and their candidates. It’s all about the money. Forget the arguments about voter suppression, this is all about forcing Democratic candidates and the Democratic Party to spend money and time on making sure people have ID. As the Democratic Party spends thousands on making sure voters have Photo ID, they won’t be able to spend that money on their message about the middle class.

With the continued influence of money in politics, this is why Rep. Mike Turzai thought the Voter ID Law would help Romney win Pennsylvania:

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Do Republican voters not have to show ID for the August 7th Special Election?

SPECIAL ELECTION - AUGUST 7, 2012 - PA STATE SENATE, DIST. 40

Here is another mailer that Rep. Randy Vulakovich sent out to Republican voters. Other than Mr. Vulakovich running with his lie that he doesn't take 'perks' from Harrisburg, there is a interesting little thing about the absentee ballot application that is included. This is what the official PA Department of State absentee ballot looks like. It includes a section asking for your PA Driver's Licence number or the last 4 digits of your Social Security number. However on the Randy Vulakovich absentee ballot application, there is no section asking for identification numbers.

The Democratic candidate, Dr. Sharon Brown, is using these absentee ballot applications that clearly ask for identification numbers.

So why don't the Republicans have to go by the same voter identification laws (that they created and Mr. Vulakovich voted for) and claim that the Voter ID legislation isn't about suppressing the vote?

Why does Randy keep getting away with his lie about not taking 'perks?' When will candidates stop lying in campaign materials? When will the press call them out for these lies?

Randy Vulakovich Mailer to Republicans

SPECIAL ELECTION - AUGUST 7, 2012 - PA STATE SENATE, DIST. 40

Here is a mailer from State Rep. Randy Vulakovich that a Republican voter sent to me. Pretty standard stuff, but I have some issues with Mr. Vulakovich claiming that they have passed balanced budgets when they have ignored the pension crisis that led to a downgrade of the state's credit rating. How does someone get away with saying they 'will protect taxpayers' when the majority of the school districts in the 40th PA State Senate District have raised taxes since Mr. Vulakovich voted for millions of dollars in education cuts since Governor Corbett was elected?

“No perks” Randy Vulakovich amasses more than $20,000 in state perks

FROM THE ALLEGHENY COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE:

“No perks” Randy Vulakovich amasses more than $20,000 in state perks

Per diems, state car, excess mileage, and other expenses found in state records show more of the same from Republican wanting to replace jailed GOP senator

(Pittsburgh – July 23, 2012) – As Republican Randy Vulakovich runs commercials in his race for the 40th State Senatorial seat claiming to be a “real reformer” who is “refusing the Harrisburg perks such as per diems and a state car,” the Allegheny County Democratic Committee has discovered that Vulakovich received $20,978.67 in perks from January 2007 to May of this year. The details of the Vulakovich secret perks were found in records of the Office of the Comptroller of the House of Representatives.

“’No perks’ Randy is a fraud,” said Nancy Patton Mills, Chair of the County Democrats. “As a state legislator, he gets more than his share of perks – and plenty of them. He has accepted per diems. He has had a state car. And when he hasn’t had a state car, he has received mileage and other car payments of more than $13,000 -- all of which went directly into his pocket.

“Meanwhile, the people of his district are paying through the nose for both his perks and his policies,” continued Mills. “While Randy has been feeding at the public trough, he has also been voting to cut funding to schools and local municipalities. The schools in his district have had to raise property taxes to make up the difference to keep their quality schools going. This is certainly not a record he should be proud of.

“This special election on August 7 is happening for one reason only – the previous Republican senator engaged in unethical, untruthful, and ultimately criminal behavior, and she was convicted and jailed for violating the public trust,” said Mills. “Now we have another Republican who claims to be a reformer, but apparently sees nothing wrong with lying to the public.

“The voters of this district deserve far better – and electing Dr. Sharon Brown will give them the ethical and honest representation they want and need,” continued Mills. “Dr. Brown has real world experience – as a nurse practitioner, an educator, and a small business owner. She has met a payroll. She knows how to care for people in a time of shrinking budgets. She knows that the schools of the district are a major reason why families move to and stay in the district, and that we must protect them – for now and in the future. And she knows that to continue the same kind of leadership that failed us before will only fail us again.”

The Short Memory of the American People

As we have heard every single argument out there against the Affordable Care Act of 2010, the most prevalent complaint is always about the individual mandate. For all those people out there that think they are libertarian (but also want to tell people how to live life by their white Christian morals), penalizing someone for not buying something is a ridiculous overstepping of federal power and unprecedented.

Some examples from the talking heads and candidates about Obamacare being unprecedented:

Bachmann:

On Starting Point this morning, Rep. Bachmann argued that Obamacare was an “unprecedented” way to force Americans to buy a product or service “because that individual breathes.” http://www.mediaite.com/tv/rep-michele-bachmann-bashes-unprecedented-wildly-unpopular-obamacare-on-cnn/

Rush:

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/04/02/the_obamacare_mandate_is_unprecedented

The question I want answered is how the ‘Obamacare’ penalty is any different than the Medicare Part B and Part D penalties that have existed for years?

The Medicare Part B penalty was put in place in 1965 and the Part D penalty was put in place in 2003. In fact many of the current Republican Congressman and Senators voted in favor of the part D penalty that punishes you for not purchasing a part D prescription drug plan from a private insurance company.

Would one Republican please take the time to tell me how the Affordable Care Act penalty is different than the Part B and Part D penalties that exist for Medicare?