Let the political ads begin

I have to say I enjoy political ads during the news this time of year. The positive ads are 60% spin and the negative ads are 75% scare tactics. I have seen mostly positive ads, except for some negative ads in the Special Election to fill Murtha's Congressional seat.

The great invention of the Internet (Thanks Al Gore! Even if the joke is based on a misinterpretation) allows candidates to post their ads on their websites and YouTube. While I question how much posting a commercial on YouTube helps reach undecided voters, it sure is fun for political geeks like me.

My favorite negative ad I've seen this year is by Keith Rothfus who is running in the Republican Primary against my favorite former US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan for Congress. While I don't agree with most of Keith Rothfus's platform, I do believe he is the better candidate for the Republican Primary. Sadly, his campaign has barely been mentioned thanks to Mary Beth Buchanan's superior name recognition.

Mr. Rothfus, you have my vote for best negative ad of this year's Primary season so far:

Pine-Richland School Board is out of control

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported today that the Pine-Richland School Board voted for a $41.7 million cap on expansion project. Does Pine-Richland really need this project?

The Pine-Richland School Board’s spending is already out of control.
The school board claimed it had no intention of raising taxes, but they voted for a proposed budget with a tax increase. Now they have voted for a cap that they have no intention of using. Why do they need to fudge numbers if they have no intention of using reaching the cap ?

"There is no one up here who has any intention of spending that amount of money," Director Kevin Nigh said.

I applaud School Board Vice President Richard Herko for his comments:

Vice President Richard Herko cast the lone dissenting vote. He said he realized the number was "imaginary," in that the board has no intention of spending that amount for construction, "but it feels like a real one."

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

Beaver County Times: Beaver County man named in Orie indictment

Republican 4th Congressional District candidate Mary Beth Buchanan’s campaign manager, a Beaver County resident, did political work on legislative time while working for indicted state Sen. Jane Orie, according to testimony in Orie’s indictment. Read more at:

Beaver County Times: Beaver County man named in Orie indictment

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2 Political Junkies: Bravo Debuts "The Real Political Dynasties of Southwestern PA"

2 Political Junkies: Bravo Debuts "The Real Political Dynasties of Southwestern PA"

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:

Very Disappointed with Jane Orie

The Jane Orie indictment is very disappointing. She is a Republican that I have always voted for and supported. Before she was elected to leadership in the State Senate she always stood up for social issues that I felt other Republicans ignored.

While I believe indictments like these are sensationalized by the press and even the prosecutors, it is hard to ignore the number of staff members that spoke about the political pressure that Jane Orie put on her staff from the top down to the grand jury.

Where there be a Democratic Candidate that mounts a write-in campaign?