Help Stop Bad Deals
Are you fed up with corruption in our government?
If your answer is “yes,” then I need your help!
In an environment of indictments and grand jury investigations, some of the most arrogant and corrupt politicians in the Pennsylvania legislature are preparing to strike a deal. This involves one of the most blatantly-corrupt pieces of legislation since the unconstitutional pay raise of 2005.
The legislation is written in a way that will provide money to specific projects for the politically-favored in an unprecedented fashion. Many of us have been calling for an end to the politically-connected spending known as WAMs or walking around money. The mounting public pressure to end the discretionary spending of hundreds of millions of tax dollars has caused some to claim it has been eliminated even though it has not.
The Rendellian table games gambling expansion legislation has language in it that will provide a permanent sort of WAM for the politically-connected. The governor and his accomplices argue that funding from the table games is needed to balance the budget. They contradicted their own argument because they drafted the legislation to funnel money to specific legislatively-favored entities, money that is not just a one-time WAM, but a never ending WAM.
Some of the politically-favored beneficiaries are certain municipalities, a tourist promotion agency, a recreation department, specific county libraries and a community college that does not yet exist.
In an unusual maneuver, while Pennsylvanians were busy preparing to spend time with family and friends for Christmas, the Speaker of the House of Representatives altered the 2010 session schedule. He added January 5th, 6th and 7th as voting session days in an attempt to push through tables games.
The unusual schedule change reeks of the Machiavellian maneuvers that polluted the passage of the slots gambling expansion in 2004.
Just before Christmas the nation watched as leftists in the U.S. Senate used tax dollars to buy the final votes they needed to pass socialized healthcare. The U.S. Senators proved to be political prostitutes by reportedly selling their votes for $100 million each.
The same type of political prostitution is routinely practiced by many legislators in Harrisburg, even though they are bought and sold for much less.
In my August 2005 Metcalfe Memo titled Votes for Sale I wrote:
It is common to hear of legislators committing to vote for a change in the law that they do not necessarily believe is good public policy in order to gain funds for favored projects in their district.
During certain controversial votes, the only thing missing on some legislative office doors is a sign that reads "My Vote is for Sale." The pork-filled legislative menu offered in Harrisburg is wasting millions of taxpayer dollars every year.
Many argue that the money lobbyists spend for access to elected officials is the worst corrupting influence in government. The main corrupting source of money is the political pot of gold known as the public treasury. The most crooked lobbyist envies the power of “legalized criminals,” in elected office, who use their power over the tax dollars they control to buy the votes they need to advance their self-serving and special interest agendas, against the will of the people.
To end corruption in our government public outrage and pressure is needed to stop these abusive uses of our tax dollars.
You can help generate the public pressure we need to end the corruption by sharing this information with your family, friends and email contacts and asking them to join the fight for good government!