TONY PHYRILLAS

'Obama Man' can

2009-07-06T00:50:00.000-04:00

'Ice Age' ties 'Transformers' in weekend box office

2009-07-05T14:18:00.003-04:00

Based on studio estimates released Sunday afternoon, "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" topped the Fourth of July weekend box office with an estimated $42.5 million each, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com

It's unlikely that the two movies finished with exactly the same take at the box office, so a winner should emerge when final numbers are released Monday.

And yes, "Transformers" is about to close in on $300 million in just two weeks, making it the 2009 box office champion.

And yes, "The Hangover," which features nobody you ever heard of, topped $200 million at the box office so far this year to become the top comedy release of 2009.

Also of note is the continued success of the Disney/Pixar animated feature "UP" which passed "The Incredibles" to reach the No. 5 spot on the all-time computer animated box office list.

Only four films are ahead of "UP" -- "Shrek," "Shrek the Third," "Finding Nemo" and Shrek 2." By next week, "UP" will pass "Shrek" to reach the No. 4 spot, but that's as high at it will go.

Until Monday's final numbers are released, here's BoxOfficeMojo's WEEKEND TOP 5 STUDIO ESTIMATES, JULY 3-5, 2009:

Rank. Movie Title (Distributor)
Weekend Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Week #

1. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox)
$42.5 million | 4,099 | $67.5 million | 1

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount (DreamWorks))
$42.5 million | 4,234 | $293.5 million | 2

3. Public Enemies (Universal)
$26.2 million | 3,334 | $41.0 million | 1

4. The Proposal (Buena Vista)
$12.8 million | 3,099 | $94.2 million | 3

5. The Hangover (Warner Bros.)
$10.4 million | 3,070 | $204.2 million | 5

No law says you have to raise taxes

2009-07-05T13:42:00.007-04:00

Six of the 18 school districts in Berks County will keep their tax rates the same for the 2009-10 school year and four other districts will increase property taxes by less than 2 percent, according to the Reading Eagle.

So much for Gov. Ed Rendell's assertion that if he doesn't increase the state income tax by 16 percent this year, school boards will be forced to raise property taxes next year. No they won't.

School boards can start living within their means like the beleaguered taxpayers who live in those districts.

"Nobody likes tax increases," Dr. Edward Albert, Tulpehocken superintendent, told the newspaper. "And if there was going to be any year you didn't have a tax increase, this was the year not to have it."

It's not like these school boards have been reluctant in the past to raise taxes. The newspapers notes that the Antietam School District, which has the highest tax rate of any Berks County district, has raised property taxes every year since 2000.

That's eight consecutive years of property tax hikes -- and Rendell (who keeps claiming he's lowered school taxes) has been governor for six of those eight years.

Obama poll numbers continue to fall

2009-07-05T12:25:00.004-04:00

Maybe it's the unemployment rate nearing 10 percent, maybe it's predictions that rapid inflation will eat away at what little wealth is left in the country, maybe it's Barack Obama's bumbling of the Iran and North Korea situations.

Whatever the cause, Barack Obama's job approval numbers continue to plummet, according to the Daily Presidential Tracking Poll by Rasmussen.

From Rasmussen Reports:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 33% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-five percent (35%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -2. This is the third straight day the Approval Index has been below zero.

Rasmussen video report notes that 42% now give the President good or excellent marks for handling the economy. That's his lowest rating to date. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say the country is heading in the right direction.

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve.

Overall, 53% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance so far. Forty-six percent (46%) disapprove. During June, there was little change in the party affiliation of the American people and Democrats retain a 7-percentage point advantage.

Pat Toomey is 'one of the smartest people I've ever known'

2009-07-05T01:36:00.002-04:00

Congressman Joe Pitts (PA-16) has endorsed Pat Toomey for the United States Senate and released the following statement:

"Pat Toomey is the right candidate. No one else comes close.

"I worked with Pat in Congress for six years. He is one of the smartest people I've ever known. He's also one of the most caring and passionate people I've served with. A lot of politicians have lost credibility in recent years. Pat Toomey isn't one of them. Pat has good ideas that he actually believes in, and he will work hard to make people's lives better.

"Pat Toomey is a bona fide fiscal conservative at a time when Washington desperately needs more of them. Pat knows where jobs and prosperity come from, and he knows they don’t come from Washington.

"Pat has strong convictions, but they are convictions with bipartisan appeal. Pat proved during his three terms in Congress that he has the ability to inspire Democrats and Republicans alike.

"Pat Toomey is going to win this race. He is principled, thoughtful, caring, and qualified."

For more on Toomey's bid for a U.S. Senate seat from Pennsylvania, visit his campaign Web site, www.toomeyforsenate.com

Originally posted at THE CENTRIST

Memo to Ed Rendell

2009-07-05T01:21:00.002-04:00

Balancing the state budget is not rocket science. You simply spend less money than you take in. Pennsylvania families and businesses have to live within their means every day. Why can't Ed Rendell?

"Contrary to the Governor's rhetoric, there are a plethora of reforms and spending cuts that can balance the budget without firing our police, evicting our elderly, or dumbing down our kids," says POLICY BLOG, which offers 10 Ways to Balance the Budget Without Tax Hikes.

Some of the suggestions:

1) Eliminate corporate welfare. The Governor's latest General Fund budget contains over $410 million in corporate welfare.

2) Eliminate, privatize, or implement user fees for "private goods" - such as museums, parks, and the arts. The Governor's budget spends almost $500 million to maintain non-core functions of state government.

3) Control self-service government programs expenses like legislative leadership accounts used to fund illegal bonuses. A number of state programs and expenditures work to benefit of government official and the detriment of citizens. Rendell's revised General Fund budget about $200 million on self-benefiting expenses.

Are you listening, Ed Rendell?

'We hold these truths ...'

2009-07-04T11:48:00.000-04:00

A message from William Warren:

The Fourth of July is a day that is usually a time when families get together for sunshine hot dogs, fun, and fireworks. Every American regardless of race, sex, income, and political party celebrates the day that the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, spurring the start of the American Revolution.

Like many other national holidays, the meaning can often be lost in the festivities. And so it is up to each of us to, in the words of Jefferson, "Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."

The American system of government, with the Founding Father's emphasis on "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," has inspired almost every country in the world to rise up and take control of their own destiny. Constitutional Republics have spread throughout Europe, and just this year fellow freedom fighters as far away as Iran and as near to us as Honduras are standing up for their own independence much like our Founding Fathers did more than two centuries ago.

This is America's lasting legacy. Before 1776, only two Constitutional Republics even attempted to bring any form of freedom and liberty to mankind: The Greek and Roman Empires. But the people of these great nations became apathetic, not realizing, as John F. Kennedy wisely warned, "Complacency is the jailer of freedom."

So, while the Fourth of July has become a day of festivities (celebrating if nothing else, a day by the pool or at the beach), what Americans really are observing is the fact that a relative handful of courageous citizens lit a flame of liberty and installed a form of government that has governed over unprecedented prosperity and individual liberty. And even today, "the glow from that fire can truly light the world."

The United States turns 233 today

2009-07-04T11:41:00.000-04:00

The Declaration of Independence was ratified on this date in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. The document declared that the 13 American colonies would no longer consider themselves to be subject to the will or administration of the British Empire.

On this day we celebrate that spirit and courage that set our nation on its course.

Following are excerpts from that remarkable document:

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

"We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.

"And for the support of the Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

'The Glorious Fourth'

2009-07-04T11:39:00.001-04:00

The Glorious Fourth

By Tony Perkins
Family Research Council

In a letter to his wife Abigail, John Adams told her of the actions of the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. "The second day of July, 1776 [the actual day the Declaration was signed], will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever."

As we celebrate Independence Day, as John Adams so aptly predicted, we must not forget nor overlook the intense struggle our Founding Fathers faced. Their Christian faith played a critical role in an era that altered the history of the world.

There is not a better example of this seamless devotion to God and country than Samuel Adams. In his time, Sam was far more famous than his cousin, John. Sam was known as the last of the great Puritans and the father of the Revolution. It was Sam Adams who organized the Sons of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence. (By the way, if you're going out to a Tea Party on Saturday, historians believe that the first tea party, the one in Boston, was organized by Samuel Adams. It was that Boston Tea Party that lit the fuse of the American Revolution).

When Sam Adams was elected to that First Continental Congress and traveled to the gathering of leaders in Philadelphia, he thought the Continental Congress needed to begin its work on its knees - in prayer. But when the motion was made to call in a local clergyman to lead the worship, John Jay of New York and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina objected. We are too diverse, they said. We could never agree on whose prayers to say.

Rising to his feet, Sam Adams spoke: "I am no bigot," he said, "I can hear the prayer of any man of piety and virtue who is a friend to his country." Deeply moved, the delegates voted to approve Sam Adams' idea. The next morning, amid reports of the British moving against the people of his hometown of Boston, Sam knelt in prayer with his fellow delegates, as the Rev. Jacob Duch? prayed. "Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me, and fight against them that fight against me."

That inspired move by Sam Adams did much to overcome suspicions among the delegates. Joseph Reed of Philadelphia called that prayer "a masterly stroke." Those Founding Fathers could now work together for liberty.

Soon, Sam Adams would sign the Declaration of Independence. Alongside Sam Adams' name you can find that of Charles Carroll, a delegate from Maryland. Carroll was the richest man in Congress and the only Roman Catholic. Nowhere else on earth in 1776 could you find an Evangelical like Sam Adams pledge "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" alongside a Catholic like Charles Carroll. They both risked death by hanging for signing that great Declaration. But they served the King of Kings and had no fear of King George III.

In our efforts to maintain the freedoms won by our forefathers we must be like them - people of action and prayer. We must never sever our personal faith from our public stand for faith, family and freedom.

After we celebrate our independence as a nation on Saturday, I invite you to join thousands of Christians from across the nation on Sunday as they fall on their knees in prayer as a part of FRC's Call2Fall, declaring their dependence upon God, just like our Founding Fathers.

Fourth of July Queen crowned in Pottstown

2009-07-03T23:26:00.006-04:00

One of the best Fourth of July celebrations anywhere in the country takes place every year in Pottstown. Situated on the western end of Montgomery County, the borough carries on some wonderful traditions, but none rival the Fourth of July festivities.

The money to put on the event every year comes largely though community donations. The Mercury publicizes the names of everyone who gives to the cause and does feature stories on many of the volunteers who organize the celebration.

One of the biggest fundraisers is the annual Fourth of July Homecoming Queen competition, where students from area high schools vie to raise the most money. The winning contestent (and the school) have bragging rights for the year, not to mention a front-page article in The Mercury.

The 2009 Fourth of July Homecoming Queen was crowned Friday evening at the start of the two-day celebration.

The 4th of July Homecoming Queens raised more than $12,500 - which is triple the amount normally raised by in the Queens competition.

Pictured above, left to right: Bridget Yerger, of St. Pius X High School; Eva Magazu, of Owen J. Roberts High School; Gabrielle Schurr, of Pottsgrove High School (and the 2009 July 4th Homecoming Queen); and Tiara Reddick, of Pottstown High School.

The Saturday and Sunday editions of The Mercury will have full coverage of the two-day event. You can also find out more at www.pottstownjuly4th.org

Where are the jobs Obama promised?

2009-07-03T18:51:00.000-04:00

Pitts: FDA Wrong Agency to Regulate Tobacco

2009-07-03T18:49:00.001-04:00

FDA Wrong Agency to Regulate Tobacco

By Congressman Joe Pitts

I have had a number of constituents ask me about a recent vote I cast against legislation (H.R. 1256) to mandate the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulate tobacco sales. As someone who has always been anti-smoking, I can understand how that vote may be confusing, however, I believe it was the right vote.

The most important fact to remember in this debate is that the FDA’s job is to make sure the food and medicine we consume is safe. Tobacco is not safe at all, which makes the FDA the wrong agency to regulate it. Under this bill, for the first time ever, the FDA would approve a product that we know kills people.

The FDA is already overwhelmed with its current responsibilities. Putting more on its plate would be doing a disservice to the consumers the FDA is meant to protect. Over the past several years, the Energy and Commerce Committee, of which I am a member, has held numerous hearings where witnesses have testified and members of the Committee have stated that the FDA is not properly carrying out its current responsibilities.

In 2007, the Chairman of the Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Bart Stupak (D-MI), remarked that “the FDA continues to use 20th century tools and resources to address 21st century regulatory challenges,” and noting the FDA’s “current system is woefully inadequate.”

Also in 2007, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the author of the tobacco legislation and current Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee stated, “the warning signs are clear: FDA is an agency in crisis.”

On October 3, 2007, FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, submitted testimony to the Health Subcommittee, on which I sit, stating: “FDA shares the goal of H.R. 1108 (the bill number in the previous Congress), the ‘Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act,’ – to reduce tobacco use in this country. We agree with the need to address this significant public health problem. But we have concerns with the bill’s proposed means to achieve those objectives.”

Dr. von Eschenbach then outlined three primary objections to the bill. First, the bill could undermine the public health role of FDA. Second, the many aspects of the bill may be extremely difficult for FDA to implement. And third, a significant concern about the ability to carry out the new mandate with the resources provided under the bill.

It is also worth noting that the nation’s largest cigarette maker, Philip Morris, not only supports the bill—they wrote it. This should make everyone suspicious of how effective the plan will be in reducing smoking.

I want to reduce smoking. In fact, when we considered the bill in committee, I voted for an amendment that would have given FDA the authority to ban all nicotine—the addictive substance in tobacco. Nearly all of the supporters of the bill voted against it.

I especially want to protect our children from harmful and dangerous tobacco products, and that is why I cosponsored H.R. 1432. This bill would strengthen the very successful and effective federal-state tobacco control partnership, known as the Synar Program, which works to increase the compliance rate of preventing tobacco sales to minors.

It is estimated that nearly 21 percent of all U.S. adults (approximately 45.1 million people) are cigarette smokers. In addition to the prevalence of tobacco use in the adult population, 23 percent of U.S. high school students are cigarette smokers, and about 1,140 persons younger than 18 years of age begin smoking each day. Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in this country, responsible for approximately 438,000 deaths per year. It is clear that we must take action to stem this public health crisis; however, there is no magic bullet, and, while it is critical that we do something, we must do the right thing. I simply do not believe that FDA regulation of tobacco is the right thing to do. While H.R. 1432 does not go as far as I would like, it puts us on the right track.

If the advocates of H.R. 1256 had really wanted to reduce smoking, they could have supported the amendment that would have allowed the FDA to ban cigarettes. Instead, we have allowed the largest tobacco company to write a bill that will require an already overburdened FDA to regulate and approve a product that is known to kill people. In this light, I think a no vote was the right vote.

Congressman Joe Pitts is a Republican who represents Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District in Berks, Chester and Lancaster counties.

Sarah Palin looks to 2012

2009-07-03T17:01:00.003-04:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Good move on Sarah Palin's part. She can devote all her time running for president. Barack Obama spent his first two years in the Senate on the campaign trail. Having a day job tends to get in the way.

July 13 Begins New Doe License Process

2009-07-03T15:40:00.001-04:00

Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe remind hunters that county treasurers will begin accepting antlerless deer license applications three weeks earlier than in past years.

Applications from resident hunters will be accepted by county treasurers starting Monday, July 13, nonresidents on Monday, July 27.

Read more about the new process at the link below:

July 13 Begins New Doe License Process

Obama sides with Chavez, Castro

2009-07-03T13:44:00.002-04:00

Check out this editorial in The Washington Examiner.

Obama Stimulus Swindle

2009-07-03T13:41:00.000-04:00

'An Open Letter to the President'

2009-07-03T13:33:00.003-04:00

An Open Letter to the President

Dear Mr. President,

I write to you as one elected official to another on behalf of average American citizens. We listen to your words and measure them carefully. With hope, we watch your actions. We then look to history and compare the events of our day with the events of yesterday. We look to our Founders and read carefully their intellectual discourses and their moral debate. They ultimately concluded that the actions of the king were best described as tyranny, because they could not be honestly described any other way. Having come to such a serious and reasoned conclusion, their path was charted—unknown as to its outcome — but certain as to its demand upon them. Mr. President, we are doing what Americans have done before.

Many of your words, at face value, inspire and offer some level of hope. This is why many Americans cast their vote for you. Yet, now that you are in office, your actions are inspiring fear and distrust. At nearly every level, Americans, regardless of political party, are being forced to walk down the same road our Founders were forced to walk – questioning, analyzing, and looking deep within their souls. The similarities between the past and the present are amazing. If you desire to test the American people's resolve and challenge their patience, you are accomplishing your goal. You know what is happening within the hearts and minds of the average American. That is why state legislatures are offering and passing resolutions, re-affirming the 10th Amendment and state sovereignty issue. That is why the Tea Party movement is growing by the day and is attended by rich and poor alike. That is why you and Congress are hearing from the American public in record numbers on an increasing range of major issues including the bail-out, the stimulus plan, "cap and tax," and government intrusion into health care.

Your speech sounds sensitive to the economic and emotional needs so heavy on our people. Yet, your continued references to being guided by the "Rule of Law" (our Founders knew this meant God’s Higher Law and the Highest Law of the Land – the Constitution) are hollow and disingenuous. Your recent speech in front of the original Constitution of the United States of America in the National Archives makes it all so clear that your words mean nothing. Your agenda and you yourself appear to be that "rule of law" – effectively setting aside all Constitutional constraints. It's unfortunate that I must be so direct, but you are leaving the American people with very few options.

Mr. President, it is clear by your speech and actions that your oath to the Constitution is not binding to you and, therefore, is a broken oath. On many fronts, so much of significance has happened in such a short time. You (and the Congress) are overriding state sovereignty and encouraging the states into unsustainable programs through Stimulus Funds: this will force them to beg you and the elite in Washington for help when the funding runs out. Your policies are destroying the wealth of hard-working Americans by plunging this nation into inescapable debt to our enemies and by justifying the disastrous printing of trillions in fiat money. What you and the Federal Reserve do not destroy immediately by exploding our debt, will be completely devoured by the ensuing hyper-inflation. What an insidious way for you and Congress to spend what you do not have by robbing it from every hard-working American who has responsibly worked and saved!

You have violated historic contract law by choosing who wins and who loses, while Chrysler and General Motors is eviscerated and turned into 'Government Motors'. You have thumbed your nose at the 'Balance of Power', so carefully conceived and implemented by our Founders, by appointing unaccountable "Czars" to function as your direct emissaries over fundamental areas of public policy, thereby blatantly by-passing the checks and balances of Congressional oversight. You pursue special interest agendas motivated by the faddish science of "Global Warming" or "Climate Change", or whatever it will be called next. In the 'cap and tax' plan, you justify the biggest tax assault on the American people ever conceived. Yet, you boldly assure the American people that it will cost them nothing, since only the "polluters" will pay. But, in the process you will destroy thousands of truly sustainable jobs (in exchange for temporary "green" jobs – like insulating buildings and re-caulking windows). Bringing America to its knees in financial dependence, in energy dependence, and a gutted manufacturing sector is sadly what’s happening. It appears that in reality, the "Change" you promised is just your personal change—clearly not what the American people so desperately hoped for.

So Mr. President, these things that I and the American people have come to observe and conclude are bringing this nation to a point closer each day that resembles the circumstances that forced the hearts, the minds and then the hands of our Founders. As we quickly approach the remembering of Independence Day – July 4, 2009, please remember that as you make your choices, so must we. May you and all the American people reread the Declaration of Independence – very carefully. Identify the principles they clearly stated and then apply them to today. Feel the intensity of the letter sent to the King. Understand the careful steps they undertook to make the moral case for freedom and independence in the context of the history of mankind. Note in particular the foundational precepts woven into paragraph two, written as much for the benefit of Americans yet unknown and unborn as it was a message to King George. As the President who holds the highest elected position in both honor and responsibility in this Republic, place yourself in the position of the King, look in the mirror, and then look across this great land at the faces of our great people and listen to their pleas. The King didn’t know for sure all that Declaration Letter would mean for him, but I am certain that he knew he had ignited the will and passion of a freedom-loving people for which only time would prove the outcome.

So it is today. Now, we have the Constitution against which to compare the words and actions of those in public office. The people, Mr. President, are awaking. They are realigning their priorities, purifying their motivations, and galvanizing their wills. Their freedom and their families are what they love and, thankfully, what they will defend. As to what comes next, I cannot say. I do know that another Declaration Letter is not necessary since this country already belongs to us. Our freedom and this republic are already ours. It is the return of freedom they demand. It is nothing less than the adherence to the Constitution and to the oath we have both taken that they demand. We, continuing to carefully note and compare as our Founders did, are also coming to serious and reasoned conclusions. Our path is charted – unknown perhaps as to its ultimate outcome – but certain as to its demand upon us.

From all those who love their Freedom,

State Representative Sam Rohrer
District 128 – Berks County

'Why do school boards raise property taxes? Because they can'

2009-07-03T13:20:00.002-04:00

This Letter to the Editor, originally published in The Mercury, is about the Pottstown School District, but it applies to just about every school district in Pennsylvania. Student enrollment has declined steadily in Pottstown over the past two decades, but spending has risen dramatically. Why? And what happens to sane residents who win seats on school boards? Why do they rubber-stamp everything administrators ask for?

Why do school boards raise property taxes? Because they can

The Pottstown School Board is once again gouging Pottstown taxpayers with a 5.7 percent tax hike. The excuse this year is that the real estate assessments fell and therefore are not generating as much revenue as last year.

The article that detailed the board's decision in Saturday's edition of The Mercury stated that the $53.4 million budget passed without any public discussion among the board members. Are you kidding me? Back in February when the preliminary budget was presented, I remember Linda Adams saying that was not the time to discuss the details of the budget and she was applying to Harrisburg for permission for an even larger increase. The board in its infinite wisdom voted unanimously to let her do this.

Well, when is the time to discuss the details of the budget? Is it only done during a finance committee meeting, that then reports back to the board that there are absolutely no ways to trim the increase in spending? Hello, we are talking about a $3 million increase in school district spending for 2009/2010.

Board member, Nat White, did try to identify some areas in the budget that might be reduced, only to be told that most those expenditures are funded by grants. I find that hard to believe. The budget contained some very significant increases in a number of categories. Furthermore, the Pottstown School District's budget does not detail specifically what programs are funded by grants, but in a $53.4 million budget there is room to look for savings. The school board should instruct the administration to find a specified dollar amount in savings. Most members of this school board sit silently and do not question the administration on their free spending ways.

I fear that Pottstown is in a downward spiral with ever increasing tax hikes, and that middle class home buyers will continue to look elsewhere to purchase a home. The annual tax increases by the school district, as well as the borough, are unsustainable.

VERONIKA WHITE
Pottstown

81 lawmakers sign 'No Tax' pledge

2009-07-03T13:06:00.004-04:00

We're more than half way there. As I mentioned before, the magic number is 128, which would constitute a majority in the House (102) and Senate (26) against the Rendell income tax hike.

As of today, 81 lawmakers have signed the "No Tax" pledge sponsored by the Commonwealth Foundation. To check if your state senator or representative is on the list, click here.

The important numbers are in the House, where Democrats hold a 104-99 majority. Assuming all 99 Republicans vote against the Rendell tax hike, at least three Democrats must stand with taxpayers.

If your state representative is not on the list, call or e-mail him or her to find out why they want to raise your taxes.

Bad

2009-07-03T12:54:00.000-04:00

See what 312 idiots can do

2009-07-02T15:43:00.005-04:00

The newest member of the U.S. Senate, comic Al Franken, hasn't cast his first vote yet but 4 in 10 Americans already think he's a jerk, according to a new poll.

From POLITICO:

Less than a week before Senator-elect Al Franken (D-Minn.) is set to be sworn into office, a new national poll shows that 44 percent of voters have an unfavorable view of the former comedian and liberal radio host.

A Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday found that 34 percent have a favorable view of Franken, who defeated former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman to win the seat. Another 22 percent are not sure what they think of him.

The poll revealed that Franken generates strong feelings among his detractors. Twenty-nine percent said they had a "very unfavorable" impression of Franken compared to just 12 percent who have a "very favorable" view.

On Tuesday, after a protracted legal battle with Coleman, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Franken won last November's Senate race by a razor-thin 312-vote margin. Franken is expected to be sworn into office early next week, giving Democrats a coveted 60-vote majority in the Senate.

Read the full article, "Poll: High unfavorables for Al Franken," at POLITICO.

Global Warming Meltdown

2009-07-02T15:39:00.002-04:00

The global warming hoax is melting right before our eyes.

You won't hear about it in the mainstream media because they're in on the swindle, but take a look at these interesting developments:

Item: EPA Internal Report Skeptical of 'Global Warming'

The report was suppressed before Congress voted 219-212 to pass a global warming tax. How many votes would have changed if Obama had not hidden the report from fellow Democrats in Congress?

Item: Gore Sued For Global Warming Fraud

Yes, that would Nobel Prize-winning idiot Al Gore, the man who has profited the most from the global warming swindle.

Also check out the Thursday Wrap: Climate-Change Edition at The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Web site.

Originally posted at THE CENTRIST

Rendell signs bill to update PA voting rolls

2009-07-02T15:33:00.000-04:00

Governor Rendell Signs Two Bills

Poll Confirms Americans Fear Obama Gun Control Agenda

2009-07-02T15:31:00.000-04:00

From a release issued today by Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms:

A new Rasmussen poll reveals that 57 percent of American citizens believe gun sales are up over the past several months because of widespread fears that the government will tighten restrictions on gun ownership.

Read the full release at the link below:

'Rasmussen Poll Confirms Americans Fear Obama Gun Control Agenda' - CCRKBA

PA Lottery's Eighth Millionaire Raffle Drawing Set for July 4

2009-07-02T15:29:00.000-04:00

PA Lottery's Eighth Millionaire Raffle Drawing Set for July 4 at 6:59 P.M.