Frack me? No, no! Frack you!

Anyone who has spent any time listening to the pro fracking crowd knows that pretty much the first thing out of their mouths is the assertion that there's never been a proven case of fracking contaminating underground drinking water -- it's been their mantra. I maintain that that is pretty much a red herring as you do not need to pollute groundwater to harm the water supply. The water used in fracking has to go somewhere and very little is being recycled. Aside from illegal dumping and leaching from fracking pools, water treatment facilities simply aren't equipped to handle even the legal disposal of the witches' brew of toxicity found in the "flowback" water.

That said, guess what? Turns out there is a very well documented case of this very thing and the EPA has known about it for decades. Count me not shocked that they've all been lying to us this whole time.

In Pittsburgh, the City Council voted 6-3 to allow residents to decide if they want fracking in the city, but even though that's a veto-proof majority, the Mayor could simply sit on the bill making it too late to get on the November ballot as a referendum. Council requested that Lil Mayor Luke return it to them by the 8th at 4:30 PM, but we know how well the Mayor listens to Council -- the majority anyway -- so if you believe the citizens should have a say, contact the Mayor now:

Email: luke.ravenstahl@city.pittsburg​h.pa.us
Phone: 412-255-2626

Lastly, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato has poked his head above ground to weigh in on the referendum. Via the Trib:

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato said Wednesday he has "serious concerns" about the legality of Pittsburgh City Council's proposed ballot referendum banning natural gas drilling within city limits.

Council on Monday approved legislation that would ask voters to decide in November whether to add the ban to the city's Home Rule Charter. Council banned Marcellus shale gas drilling within city limits in November.

Councilman Doug Shields proposed the bill, saying a charter amendment would make the ban harder to overturn. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who said he has concerns about the legality of the ban, is considering a veto.

In a written statement, Onorato said he directed the county solicitor and Elections Department to review and analyze the referendum.

[sigh]
.

I do declare!

It must be that time of year as my inbox has been full of candidates declaring a run for office this past week. As the Post-Gazette pointed out, Dan Onorato's decision to not seek a third term for Allegheny County Executive has started a game of musical chairs. Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb and County Council President Rich Fitzgerald may run for his seat; County Controller Mark Patrick Flaherty has already declared. Flaherty's decision to run for County Executive leaves the door open for county Real Estate Manager Valerie McDonald Roberts and State Rep. Chelsa Wagner to declare their candidacies for his current position with State Rep. Matt Smith also considering a run.

Then, there's half of Pittsburgh City Council up for re-election this year and State Auditor Jack Wagner hinting at a challenge to Lil Mayor Luke in 2013...

Here are the candidates who have sent us press releases so far:

....Valerie McDonald Roberts
Currently Manager of the Allegheny County Department of Real Estate, Valerie McDonald Roberts has announced her intention to run for Allegheny County Controller. She has a long record of public service including: Pittsburgh School Board Director, Pittsburgh City Council Member, and Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds. I was a poll watcher for her race for Lt. Governor (she was endorsed by the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). I miss her extremely rational and intelligent commentary on the now defunct offQ show.

From her press release (full version here):

Ms. Roberts states, “I have been blessed to have had many years of corporate, legislative and administrative experiences to make me uniquely qualified to be the best candidate for County Controller in addressing Allegheny County’s challenges. The breadth of my career experiences prepares me to handle the essence of the County Controller’s job – independent fiscal responsibility for Allegheny County. ‘Good government’ and ‘reform’ are great concepts, but I have actually implemented them, and will always strive for nothing less than excellence in government.”

....Bruce A. Kraus
Bruce Kraus is seeking a second term on Pittsburgh City Council for District 3. This is my district and I'm a longtime supporter of Kraus (poll watcher, heck, I've stuffed envelopes at his house) and I couldn't be happier with my choice. He's a solid member of the progressive alliance on Council. I can't count the number of times I've seen him walking my district. I also greatly appreciate his efforts to get a handle on the vandalism and violence that have unfortunately become features of the South Side's nightlife.

From his press release (full version here):

In a letter to constituents, Councilman Kraus cited—among other accomplishments—a few examples of the many successes that he has had in his first term:

Protecting libraries in our district—we will soon see a renovation of our South Side branch library. In addition, efforts are underway to bring a new state-of-the-art library building serving Knoxville, Carrick, and our other Hilltop communities

Responding to our neighbors’ needs more efficiently with the opening of our Hilltop District Office on Arlington Avenue

Working to reduce gun violence through responsible gun ownership legislation that requires reporting lost and stolen guns

....Patrick Dowd
Patrick Dowd is also seeking a second term on Pittsburgh City Council for District 7. He was formerly a high school history and economics teacher and a member of the Pittsburgh Board of Education. I've had my ups and downs with Dowd (supported his mayoral bid; had some issues with his actions on Council), but I thought he acted admirably during the parking-pension crisis.

From his press release (full version here):

As a councilman, Dowd has also worked hard to address the city’ legacy issues. With his colleagues, he was able to find a solution for the city’ pension crisis that maintained important public assets, and worked to address debt and infrastructure problems that have been kicked down the road for too long. On a regional level, Dowd was instrumental in the creation of the Council of Neighboring Communities, also known as CONNECT. CONNECT is the first serious effort to bring together the City and its 35 adjacent municipalities to solve problems in an organized and collaborative way.

....Lucille Prater-Holliday
Lucille Prater-Holliday is challenging Rev. Ricky Burgess for Pittsburgh City Council for District 9. I'm not familiar with Ms. Prater-Holliday so I'm especially glad that she sent me a press release.

From that release (full version here):

“I’m looking forward to running a campaign focused on addressing the needs of low- and moderate-income families,” Prater-Holliday said. “We deserve a representative who will focus on increasing community and economic development opportunities and actively work to empower communities by giving ordinary people a voice in our political decisions.”

Transit Workers Oppose Stringing-out Funds Over 18 Months

Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
A letter by Patrick McMahon, President of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85, was hand-delivered to Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato on Tuesday, opposing Port Authority plans to "string-out" $45,000,000 in supplemental funding (by Gov. Ed Rendell) over the next eighteen months. The letter notes that these funds were intended to give the legislature six months -- not 18 -- to find a way prevent transit cuts next year and that stretching it out for triple that length of time will necessarily involve expedited cuts in services and routes.

According to the Post-Gazette article today, the union also believes that sunshine laws may have been violated:

Port Authority officials denied an allegation by a union spokesman that the board decided during a private conference call to cut service by 15 percent in March and close the Harmar bus garage.

AFL-CIO spokesman Marty Marks said such a call appeared to violate the state's open meetings law. "It's not fair to take the public out of the process," he said.

Full text of McMahon's letter after the break.

Tom Corporate

I know that a lot of my progressive buddies have a Sestak sign up, but refuse to put up one for Onorato (even though they will vote for him).

If you're like them, you might want to consider downloading (right-click) this "Tom Corporate" sign from Penn Action (here) and hanging it in a window.
.

Dan Onorato Rally with Bill Clinton Today

From a September 13 rally in Philadelphia
What: Onorato for Governor Rally with President Bill Clinton

Where: Wunderley Gymnasium
Penn State Greater Allegheny
4000 University Drive
McKeesport, PA 15131 (map)

When: Monday, November 1st
Doors open: 12:30 p.m.

RSVP: http://pa.barackobama.com/ClintonOnorato

Latest Onorato ad:


.

Volunteer Opportunities for Democrats

Time for the final push:

The Coordinated Campaign for Dan Onorato and Joe Sestak (& the entire ticket)
Nancy & Dick Mills' Roselea Farm, 1474 Coraopolis Heights Road, Moon Township

Please RSVP to Chairman Richard Mills: 412-264-6595.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (election day) - volunteer to participate on any or all days: 12:00-3:00-and 6:00. The campaign coordinators will have telephones and street lists. Some will be calling, others will be canvassing.

OFA (Organizing for America, former Obama campaign)
They are doing daily phone banking at all locations:

Lawrenceville: 5170 Butler St

Downtown: 213 Smithfield

E. Liberty: 5929 Broad St.

To volunteer for canvassing from the 30th through election day, you can call Josh at 412-879-0395 or e-mail him at . For phone banking between now and the 30th, you can just show up at any of the HQs (especially if you're bringing your own cell phone). Banking runs from ~10 AM to 8 or 8:30 PM Monday-Saturday, and noon-8 Sunday.

Joe Sestak (for US Senate)
Phonebanks:

Sq. Hill 2200 Murray Ave, Office of James Lange & Assoc, Corner of Phillips and Murray entrance is on Phillips St. Phonebanks on Mon, Tues, Thurs, from 6-8pm

Lawrenceville, 4326 Butler St. Pittsburgh, PA 15201 Phonebanks everyday starting at 9am

Door to Door Literature Drops: Lit drops take place every day. Sestak Campaign office address: 4326 Butler Street. To schedule a time contact Brian Cordova from the Sestak campaign at 412-533-1200

GOTV Weekend and Election Day - Many volunteers needed the last weekend of the campaign. To schedule a shift contact Brian Cordova at 412-533-1200

Dan Onorato (for Governor)
Sign up to volunteer here and a member of their field staff will contact you to sign you up for a shift.

Dan Connolly (PA-18)
Please contact friends@voteconnolly.com or 412-480-1777 for scheduling or more information. Dan Connolly for Congress HQ will be open every day from 9:00am to 9:00pm for anyone to come in to make phone calls or pick up lists of doors to canvass.

Dan DeMarco (PA Senate 40th District)
He's running against Jane Orie. To volunteer contact Christina christina@dan-demarco.com

Disability Voting Coalition of PA
The Disability Voting Coalition of PA, in cooperation with the Election Protection Program, has taken on the challenge of providing volunteers at the 7 UPMC hospitals in Allegheny County. Every Election Day hundreds of our friends and neighbors who expected to be voting at the polls – have an unexpected illness, accident or other medical emergency.

They’re looking for volunteers who can:

· Volunteer for part or all of Election Day from 8:30am to 8:00pm;

· Provide notary services (we’re certain we need a notary for Shadyside Hospital;

· Serve as a driver for our volunteer going to and from the Elections Department downtown (departing from each hospital around 4:00pm and 6:00pm.

If you can volunteer in some capacity, please contact by email pohanlon@drnpa.org or by phone 412-258-2132.

Will you vote for "Joe Seestix"?

I was just polled by a firm called Issues & Answers about US Senate and gubernatorial races in Pennsylvania.

What was completely disturbing was that the interviewer could not pronounce "Sestak."

In fact, the first time she tried to say it I had to ask, "Do you mean Joe Sestak?" because I really wasn't sure who she was asking about. She pronounced it something like "seasicks" or "seestix" -- and continued to do so throughout the interview -- despite my correcting her each time.

How in the hell can the results be valid for the surveys that she's conducted?

They have call centers in IN, MI and VA. I did try their corporate offices in VA, but got voicemail, so for the hell of it, I called the first phone center listed and registered a complaint (I should have asked for her supervisor while I still had her on the phone).

Ironically, she had no problem with "Onorato."
.

Some Glee for Onorato

Via the Onorato Campaign:

SATURDAY, October 9, 2010, Matthew Morrison, star of the hit Fox show ‘GLEE!’, will campaign at Carnegie Mellon University and Point Park University.

EVENT: Matthew Morrison will campaign for Dan Onorato.

DATE/TIME: SATURDAY, October 9, 2010
3:30 PM – Carnegie Mellon University
4:30 PM – Point Park University

LOCATION:
Carnegie Mellon University
4800 Forbes Avenue
Hamburg Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Point Park University
201 Wood Street
GRW Auditorium
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Via Facebook invite:

Matthew Morrison Comes to CMU to Campaign for Dan Onorato and Joe Sestak

Time: Saturday, October 9 · 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Location: Hamburg Hall, 4800 Forbes Ave
More Info: Matthew Morrison, Star of GLEE! will be at CMU this Saturday to campaign for Democrats Dan Onorato and Joe Sestak.

He'll stress the importance of turning out to vote Democrat on November 2 and answer your questions!

Doors open for CMU students at 2:30, general admission begins at 3:00.

Call 412-281-5678 for more info.

Bill Clinton doing double duty in PA this morning

As mentioned here, President Bill Clinton will be at an 11:00 AM Philadelphia rally for gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato this morning, but first he'll join senatorial candidate Joe Sestak at Kaiserman Jewish Community Center in Wynnewood, PA at 10:15 AM.
.

Bill Clinton to Rally for Dan Onorato

If you're already getting Dan Onorato's campaign emails (and you can make it to Philly on Monday), check your inbox. You can RSVP early to a rally with President Bill Clinton.

Rally with President Clinton for Dan Onorato
West Philadelphia
52nd and Chesnut Streets
Philadelphia, PA
Monday, September 13, 2010
11:30 am 11:00 AM (Updated)
.

Corbett Breaks Campaign Promise On Bonusgate

Corbett's new campaign ad certainly referencesBonusgate while never actually saying the word.
Well that didn't take long.

Via CasablancaPA on Tom Corbett's new ad:

"I can tell you now that we will not be talking about Bonusgate -- ever -- in the governor's race." -- Corbett for Governor media strategist John Brabender (Post-Gazette 3/24/10)

"The politicians were just as skeptical when I promised to fight corruption in Pennsylvania. Boy, were they wrong." -- Tom Corbett (campaign ad, 8/31/10)

Early Returns takes note as well.

Of course most people reading this are aware that Corbett -- in an extreme overreach -- attempted to out the anonymous bloggers at CasablancaPA.
.

Funny Press Release from Team Onorato

I'm printing this in its entirety because its pretty amusing for a press release and it makes a good point. I've also been meaning to blog on those ubiquitous TV ads sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute that feature "just plain folks" saying that taxes on energy are bad as this also serves as a perfect answer to those.

Has a Magic Extraction Process Been Discovered by Corbett Campaign?

PITTSBURGH: As part of their defense of Tom Corbett’s refusal to back a commonsense levy on the extraction of natural gas, his campaign argued that he opposed it because, the Associated Press reported, “a new tax might drive the industry out of Pennsylvania.”

That would be pretty impressive given that the natural gas deposits are located in Pennsylvania.

Where would the drillers who have literally invested hundreds of millions, if not billions, in Pennsylvania Marcellus shale go and still be able to get at the underground natural gas?

And wouldn’t they have problems drilling from another state – since every other major gas-producing state has an allegedly industry-chasing extraction tax in place already?

The Corbett campaign has yet to reveal their secret extraction process – perhaps they’re keeping the secret stored with the list of cuts Corbett will make to the Attorney General’s office budget this year – something requested by the Governor and that other independent agencies have agreed to, yet Corbett refuses to commit to?

But perhaps the Corbett campaign does not have a magic extraction process at all.

Maybe Corbett’s opposition is linked to the simple fact that Corbett is the state’s number one leader in accepting cash from the natural gas industry.

While it’s not quite as impressive as a magic extraction process, making taxes disappear for your benefactors is certainly a kind of magic.

.

Steel City Endorses Dan Onorato for PA Governor

While it can certainly be argued that Pennsylvania Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato hasn't always been ultra gay friendly, he has become way more progressive on LGBT issues -- and more importantly -- hasn't backpedaled since winning the Democratic primary.

So, it should come as no surprise to those paying attention that Dan has received the endorsement of the Steel City Stonewall Democrats (especially no surprise considering the alternative is Tom Corbett -- a man who wants to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, opposes domestic partner benefits, and opposes strengthening PA's anti-discrimination law to include sexual orientation and gender identity).

Steel-City urges you to sign up to join the Onorato campaign here.
.

Corbett: Campaigning on the Public's Dime?

As the Onorato Campaign asks: "What's wrong with this picture?"


Via Brian Herman, Onorato's Campaign Communications Director:

This photo was taken within the last few days at the Bradford County Fair in Troy, PA. We see what looks like a taxpayer-funded table with a banner displaying the official seal and government website of the Office of the Attorney General. On top of that table is a stack of forms from the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection - a service paid for by our tax dollars.

No problem so far.

But there's more... On top of that same table is promotional literature and buttons for Tom Corbett's campaign for Governor.

So, it's inappropriate for an elected official to use resources from their taxpayer-funded government office to promote their campaign.

And, yet, that seems to be what Tom Corbett is doing in this photo.

Sometimes reality interferes with a politician's rhetoric. And sometimes the evidence is just too plain to ignore.

Oopsie!

And, Corbett's response via PA2010:

Any mingling of politics and official business, however remote, is a delicate subject for Corbett, who has made his name prosecuting legislative corruption in Harrisburg through the so-called Bonusgate investigation. In that scandal, government employees were convicted, and others still stand accused, of doing campaign work on the taxpayer’s dime.

Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said the materials were placed on the table before staff from the office arrived. They were immediately removed when noticed, he said. He was unsure who placed the campaign literature on the table.

.

New Tom Corbett Video (Sashay Shante)

Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett -- refusing to back down on his claim that the jobless in Pennsylvania are having too good a time living the high life on unemployment to get up off their lazy butts and get one of the jobs that "are there" -- upped the ante today releasing the following web-only video to PA residents:



You better work, PA bitchez !
(Now, turn to the Right.)
Capitol Ideas looks deeper into Corbett's remarks here.
.

And, it hits me...

The realization that I'll have to do something that I've never done before: Vote for Dan Onorato.

Going back to bed.

AP calls it for Joe Sestak!!!!

According to MSNBC:

AP CALLS IT FOR JOE SESTAK!


(Oh, yeah -- called it for Onorato a while back.)

BASTA!

I wish I had kept track of all the Onorato robo calls I've received.

The Scorecard: Sestak Vs. Specter

Joe Sestak has a new ad up comparing his record on the issues vs. how Republican Democrat Whatever Arlen Specter has voted.

As much as Dan Onorato's ads -- which dub him "The Democrat" in a race against three other Democrats in the gubernatorial primary -- bug me, Sestak actually is "The Democrat" when it comes to his party-as-a-convenience opponent in the US Senate Democratic primary race.

Here's the ad:


Here's a more lengthy, detailed scorecard from Sestak's website.

And, for all those women I know who have voted for Specter over the years because, for a Republican, he was decent on choice, NARAL and NOW have both endorsed Joe because he's better.

Joe Hoeffel to start airing TV ads tomorrow

The Hoeffel ad is called "Flip-flops" and according to the press release, "Joe Hoeffel's first TV ad highlights the differences between Joe and other candidates for governor of Pennsylvania."

See for yourself:


Text (via philly.com):

"Flip-flops are fine - for the beach. But as governor people need to know where you stand. Dan Onorato was anti-choice for years - until one day he wasn't. Tony Williams used to support public schools - now it's private schools. I have always supported a woman's right to choose and our public schools. And I have developed a detailed, comprehensive plan to help small businesses create new jobs. You want flip-flops - go to the beach. But if you want a governor who proudly stands up for our progressive values, then I'm your man."