Corbett: PA Schools In Line For $338M Funding Increase
Democrats, their teachers' union allies and special interests groups have been putting out all sorts of misleading information about state funding for Pennsylvania schools. Gov. Corbett wants to set the record straight.
Economist: Obama has cost every American family $2,200 a year since taking office
Economist Ralph R. Reiland disects Obama's failed energy policies that have driven up the cost of gas by 90% since Obama took office, costing American families thousands of dollars.
From his latest column:
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says the average U.S. household purchases 1,100 gallons of gasoline per year. That means the $2 per gallon increase since Obama took office is costing the average family an extra $2,200 a year.
Read the full column, Obama's unaffordable energy policy, here.
Candidate Obama was concerned about rising gas prices in 2008. But in 2012, with prices at record highs - and climbing - President Obama decides to hose the American worker. How's that hope and change working out for you?
Why isn't Obama's support of abortion a campaign issue?
Peter Wehner on the liberal media's double standard on asking candidates questions about social issues: " But I just want to point out — not once in the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide.”
Gas expected to hit $4.25: Be sure to thank Barack Obama
Gas was $1.85 when Barack Obama took office. Today, it's nearly $4 per gallon. Three years of failed energy policies and Obama's war on the working class will do that.
When gas prices hit $4 a gallon in 2008, Barack Obama blamed George W. Bush's "failed energy policies." So who do we blame now that gas if back to $4? Anybody but Obama, of course.
Editorial: Pa. property tax is root of evil in school funding
From an editorial in The Pottstown Mercury:
Gov. Tom Corbett is not the real culprit in the schools funding crisis, although his refusal to acknowledge the problem adds to the frustration. Even the current legislators are not wholly to blame, even though they hold the power to fix it.
The inequity in Pennsylvania public schools funding is rooted in a flawed system of taxation that predates anyone now in office. The need for property tax reform has been bandied about in Harrisburg for decades, but no governor or Legislature in our lifetime has touched it.
Barack Obama promised in 2009 that he would cut the national debt in half by the end of his first term.
We're in the last year of his first (and hopefully last) term as president but the national debt has risen by $5 trillion under Obama.
The national debt was $10.2 trillion when George W. Bush left office. Today it stands at $15.2 trillion and rising every second. That's a 45 percent increase under Obama.
Was Obama lying about reducing the debt or is he incapable of doing the job of president?
Congressman Jim Gerlach (PA-6th District) issued the following statement on Monday after President Obama unveiled a $3.8 trillion budget proposal for the 2013 Fiscal Year, which begins on October 1st. The President’s plan forecasts another $1.33 trillion deficit and calls for raising taxes by $1.9 trillion to fuel government spending:
"The President should have released this budget on Groundhog Day because it is a repeat of his previous three budget proposals: higher taxes, more debt and no real solutions for eliminating wasteful Washington spending. It is extremely disappointing that the President seems eager to accelerate America's descent down the same path as Greece and other European nations that have refused to confront their unsustainable spending habits. Four consecutive years of $1 trillion budget deficits, and raising taxes by $1.9 trillion, will not help the nearly 13 million Americans out of work find jobs or encourage greater investment and innovation needed to help businesses of all sizes grow. Furthermore, the President has once again abdicated his leadership responsibility to offer meaningful and constructive proposals for reforming Medicare and Medicaid so these programs are there for future generations.”
Sen. Toomey: Obama budget: an 'abdication of leadership'
U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) today released the following statement on President Obama’s budget fiscal year 2013 request:
“During the past year, I have focused on two vital priorities – restoring economic growth and private sector job creation, and putting our federal government on a sustainable fiscal path,” Sen. Toomey said. “Unfortunately, the president’s budget request fails on both counts.
“After three consecutive years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits, this budget request contains massive levels of spending and projects a $1.3 trillion budget deficit for this year – an even bigger deficit than last year. In addition to more wasteful stimulus programs, the president’s budget raises taxes on job creators at a time when we should be reforming our tax code with lower tax rates and a broader tax base to encourage more economic growth and job creation.
"Finally, the president fails to make the necessary reforms to truly fix our entitlement programs, which are, by his own admission, the main drivers of our deteriorating fiscal outlook. Medicare and Medicaid are both growing at unsustainable rates – much faster than our economy. The president knows it, and yet, he refuses to support the structural reforms to put these programs on a sustainable path. This is a tragic abdication of presidential responsibility.”
Rep. Pitts critical of latest Obama deficit budget
President Obama unveiled a $3.8 trillion budget for the 2013 fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1. The spending plan projects a $1.3 trillion deficit for the coming year and an increase in the national debt of more than $10 trillion over the next 10 years.
Rep. Joe Pitts, a Republican who represents Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District, issued the following statement today on President Obama budget:
“Three years ago, the President promised to cut annual deficits in half by the end of his first administration. Today’s budget shows that he is far from accomplishing that goal. This budget raises taxes by nearly $2 trillion and still fails to come even close to balancing within the next decade.
“While the President says his budget will create an ‘economy built to last,’ trillion dollar deficits are no foundation for the future. We cannot have a healthy economy when our debt outpaces growth.
“The American people deserve an honest debate on the best way to balance the budget. Unfortunately, the President’s budget is not a serious plan for debt reduction. Also, for a third year in a row, the Democratic-led Senate will not even attempt to pass a budget. By contrast, House Republicans will again put forward a budget that puts us back on the right track.”
All you need to know about President Obama’s proposed $3.8 trillion budget for the 2013 fiscal year: The spending plan projects a deficit of $1.33 trillion, marking the fourth straight year under Obama that the deficit would top $1 trillion.
The price of regular unleaded gas was $1.85 when Barack Obama took office. The price of regular unleaded hit $3.65 today in SE Pennsylvania. That's a 90% increase. Credit Obama's failed economic and energy polices for the dramatic increase in gas prices, which is a devastating tax on the middle class. And where's the outcry from the mainstream media about skyrocketing gas prices?
From the same sort of academic busybodies who gave us the ever-popular global warming panic comes a new prediction of catastrophe. This newest ginned up rationale for enabling Liberal-Progressive-Democrats (L-P-Ds) to have more control over the behavior of ordinary citizens hasn't been given catchy name yet, so rather than wait for the mainstream media to compare notes on JournoList, let's all agree to call it...global sweetening!
Would any self-respecting Catholic vote for Obama?
Even liberal columnists like Steve and Cokie Roberts are scratching their heads over why Obama would alienate Catholic voters who supported Obama in 2008.
Family Research Council's Marriage and Religion Research Institute celebrates National Marriage Week (Feb. 7-14) with the release of a new report entitled 162 Reasons to Marry.
Komen supporters can’t forgive, forget abortion funding
Did I miss the announcement that a cure for cancer has been found?
Why else would a leading charity created to raise money to find a cure for breast cancer be giving its donations to Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in the United States?
Many donors to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer charity are vowing never to give another cent to the group because of its pro-abortion stance.
P.S. - There are many other worthwhile cancer charities that do funnel donations to Planned Parenthood.
Obama demonizes the 1% but he's always willing to take their money. In this case, liberal elites fork up $38,000 per person for a few minutes of face time with Obama.
Why the official 8.3% unemployment rate is a phony number
Bottom line on the latest jobs report from James Pethokoukis, the money and politics columnist for U.S. News & World Report:
The unemployment rate is dropping because economic growth continues to be so anemic that nearly 4 million Americans have quit looking for work and have been disappeared by the Labor Department. This still isn’t much of a recovery.
The Obama Regime is cooking the jobs numbers again in preparation of the fall election campaign.
From a Washington Times editorial:
The White House hyped the news Friday that January payrolls had risen by 243,000. The hitch is the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also dropped 1.2 million from the calculated workforce. Somehow this net loss of a million workers in a single month was transformed into an improvement in the unemployment rate. As the old saying goes, figures can lie, and liars can figure.
Among the fascinating findings in a new survey by the online dating site match.com:
Which political party has a better sex life?Conservative Republicans (40%) are significantly more likely than other groups to be very satisfied with sex while they're married.Butthey had the least amount of sexual activity in the last 12 months.
Republican and Democratic singles seek dramatically different traits in a partner. Liberal Democrats are more likely to search for someone with a sense of humor, similar lifestyle to their own, a sense of independence and someone whom they consider to be their equal. Republicans really are conservative when it comes to choosing a partner; they're searching for someone with the same background and political party as their own who is interested in marriage.
Pennsylvania general fund revenues for the current fiscal year (July 2011-June 2012) are running $497.2 million, or 3.5 percent, below state estimates.
Tony Phyrillas is the editor and content manager of The Mercury, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper in Pottstown, Pa. Phyrillas has won national and state awards for political commentary, including first place for column writing in 2010 by the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors. Phyrillas has been featured on National Public Radio and The New York Times and is a frequent commentator on radio and television programs. He co-hosted 'Talking Politics with Tony Phyrillas & Mike Pincus' on WPAZ 1370 AM from 2008 to 2009.