Greetings one and all, wlecome back to those returning here looking for wisdom (though it's debatable whether you will find any) and as always a special greeting to the new folks.
And thus we begin, much like Bullwinkle and Rocky used to end segments of their cartoon, with the option of one of two titles, pick the one you prefer.
"Tell It to the Judge" or "Hello...........Newman"
It's poltics Pennsylvania style kids, though it helps with a little background info for our story. This past summer, our state legislature voted themselves a raise, in the ballpark of 16 to 30 percent increase on top of their current salaries. Included in this raise were pay raises for all members of the executive and judicial branches of government as well, thus making the pay raise all encompassing in its outlandishness. The bill which brought about the raise, was passed at 2am in the morning, with little deliberation and just before the legislature left for it's summer break. The result of the bill was that Pennsylvania now has the most expensive state government in the United States.
Enter one Ralph Cappy. He is the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court. He also helped craft the bill that brought about the raise and lobbied for it's passage. The bill that passed also allowed for the legislature to take its raises early, as you normally can't vote on a pay raise for yourself, rather you have to vote on a raise for the next legislature, then run for reelection and win in order to get a raise. But by legal manuevering, the bill allows for the collection of the raises early, by referring to them as expense accounts until the next election. Ralph would call the legislature "courageous" for passing the bill in an interview with the Associated Press. It was during this interview that Cappy also admitted to his hand in the crafting and passing of the bill.
Enter the activists. Groups such as PA Clean Sweep and Democracy PA were formed, with their primary goal being to vote out any and all incumbents that had a hand in the pay raise. Some are endorsing and helping with the campaigns of those who are running against the incumbents. But nonetheless, the fires had been lit under the backsides of the masses.
Enter the reply. A week before the election, the legislature opted to convene on the idea of repealing the pay raise. Two different bills were presented, one by the State House and one by the State Senate, and neither could get the support of the other, so the legislature opted to table the vote on a repeal for a couple of weeks. The problem being that their would be an election in the meantime. Mind you, it was an off year election, the legisalature doesn't face reelection until 2006, most of the votes would be of the smaller variety, i.e. mayor, school board, sheriff, etc. There was a statewide vote however, on the retention of two Supreme Court Justices. The thing about judicial elections is that they happen every ten years, and the vote is a vote of retention. You don't vote between candidates, just whether you will keep them for another ten years. Media outlets, including our own Pittsburgh Post Gazette, said that we should keep the Justices, based on their records on the bench. I was on the other side of the fence, stating on the radio show the day before the election, that Justices Russell Nigro and Sandra Newman should be the first to suffer, given that they did nothing to reign in the Chief Justice during the pay raise, even though passing bills is the job of the legislature and not Chief Justice Ralph Cappy. If we are going to remove everybody, then these two are going to be the first to suffer the ax on my ballot.
And lastly the results. I am a glass half full kind of guy, so I am happy to say that Justice Nigro was voted out. Justice Newman remains, but only on a 54-46 vote. Nigro becomes the first Justice ever removed in the history of the state with the vote, Newman remains, but she is 68 and their is a mandatory retirement at age 70 for all Justices, so I guess I can live with that. I am espcially proud of the local region, that saw the vote on retention for both of them come in at almost a two to one vote against. Populism wins for a change. Now if we can just keep the momentum up until next year.
Fantasy Update - Last week saw me go 2-1. The new records are Yahoo (free) 3-6, My Fantasy League (paid) 4-4-1 and EASports 4-4-1. If I could just string a couple of wins together in my money leagues, Christmas could be very good again this year.
Jack Klugman photos are forthcoming. I have them on the digi cam, just haven't downloaded them yet. I have pics of his appearance on Lynn's show, he also did Doug's show later in the day, so I got some then too.
Coming up this Thanksgiving. As everyone else settles in for a dinner of turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and football on tv, yours truly will be at work, first doing the morning show and then later being a guest on Doug's show that evening. Yes more radio time for me, woohoo. Now if I can just keep from embarrassing myself.
That is all for now I think, since I am at work, I need to pay some attention to what I am doing. Maybe next time I will go on my "Defending WalMart" rant if I can remember too, but for now, work beckons.
And thus we begin, much like Bullwinkle and Rocky used to end segments of their cartoon, with the option of one of two titles, pick the one you prefer.
"Tell It to the Judge" or "Hello...........Newman"
It's poltics Pennsylvania style kids, though it helps with a little background info for our story. This past summer, our state legislature voted themselves a raise, in the ballpark of 16 to 30 percent increase on top of their current salaries. Included in this raise were pay raises for all members of the executive and judicial branches of government as well, thus making the pay raise all encompassing in its outlandishness. The bill which brought about the raise, was passed at 2am in the morning, with little deliberation and just before the legislature left for it's summer break. The result of the bill was that Pennsylvania now has the most expensive state government in the United States.
Enter one Ralph Cappy. He is the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court. He also helped craft the bill that brought about the raise and lobbied for it's passage. The bill that passed also allowed for the legislature to take its raises early, as you normally can't vote on a pay raise for yourself, rather you have to vote on a raise for the next legislature, then run for reelection and win in order to get a raise. But by legal manuevering, the bill allows for the collection of the raises early, by referring to them as expense accounts until the next election. Ralph would call the legislature "courageous" for passing the bill in an interview with the Associated Press. It was during this interview that Cappy also admitted to his hand in the crafting and passing of the bill.
Enter the activists. Groups such as PA Clean Sweep and Democracy PA were formed, with their primary goal being to vote out any and all incumbents that had a hand in the pay raise. Some are endorsing and helping with the campaigns of those who are running against the incumbents. But nonetheless, the fires had been lit under the backsides of the masses.
Enter the reply. A week before the election, the legislature opted to convene on the idea of repealing the pay raise. Two different bills were presented, one by the State House and one by the State Senate, and neither could get the support of the other, so the legislature opted to table the vote on a repeal for a couple of weeks. The problem being that their would be an election in the meantime. Mind you, it was an off year election, the legisalature doesn't face reelection until 2006, most of the votes would be of the smaller variety, i.e. mayor, school board, sheriff, etc. There was a statewide vote however, on the retention of two Supreme Court Justices. The thing about judicial elections is that they happen every ten years, and the vote is a vote of retention. You don't vote between candidates, just whether you will keep them for another ten years. Media outlets, including our own Pittsburgh Post Gazette, said that we should keep the Justices, based on their records on the bench. I was on the other side of the fence, stating on the radio show the day before the election, that Justices Russell Nigro and Sandra Newman should be the first to suffer, given that they did nothing to reign in the Chief Justice during the pay raise, even though passing bills is the job of the legislature and not Chief Justice Ralph Cappy. If we are going to remove everybody, then these two are going to be the first to suffer the ax on my ballot.
And lastly the results. I am a glass half full kind of guy, so I am happy to say that Justice Nigro was voted out. Justice Newman remains, but only on a 54-46 vote. Nigro becomes the first Justice ever removed in the history of the state with the vote, Newman remains, but she is 68 and their is a mandatory retirement at age 70 for all Justices, so I guess I can live with that. I am espcially proud of the local region, that saw the vote on retention for both of them come in at almost a two to one vote against. Populism wins for a change. Now if we can just keep the momentum up until next year.
Fantasy Update - Last week saw me go 2-1. The new records are Yahoo (free) 3-6, My Fantasy League (paid) 4-4-1 and EASports 4-4-1. If I could just string a couple of wins together in my money leagues, Christmas could be very good again this year.
Jack Klugman photos are forthcoming. I have them on the digi cam, just haven't downloaded them yet. I have pics of his appearance on Lynn's show, he also did Doug's show later in the day, so I got some then too.
Coming up this Thanksgiving. As everyone else settles in for a dinner of turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and football on tv, yours truly will be at work, first doing the morning show and then later being a guest on Doug's show that evening. Yes more radio time for me, woohoo. Now if I can just keep from embarrassing myself.
That is all for now I think, since I am at work, I need to pay some attention to what I am doing. Maybe next time I will go on my "Defending WalMart" rant if I can remember too, but for now, work beckons.
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