RockTheCapital.org

From the York Daily Record:

Most of the nation learned of the Rev. Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church in the last decade, from news coverage of the church's anti-homosexual protests at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But residents of Kansas have seen the Phelps family spreading their message -- that America's acceptance of homosexuality has paved the way for its damnation -- for more than two decades.

"There's a performing arts center here in town," said Gavin Young, spokesman for Kansas Attorney General Steve Six.

"It doesn't matter who's performing, the Phelpses are out there protesting. You'll see them at the state capital complex on random days out there with their signs ... Everyone in Kansas knew about the Phelps before the rest of the country, and everyone in Topeka knew about them before that.

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"Please hold and someone will be with you shortly."

It's a phrase that don't hear from an elected official.

Included in this email is a link to a file recorded from the Attorney General's on hold 'commercials'. The commercials, paid for with tax dollars promote Tom Corbett every step along the way.

Interesting the 'on hold' commercials promote another public campaign tool - Corbett's website and his email alerts.

http://subscriptions.attorneygeneral.gov/

Every email has multiple 'Attorney General TOM CORBETT' making sure to raise his name ID.

http://paobserver.com/corbet_hold_commercials.mp3

The following campaign posters measuring almost 1 1/2 feet by 2 feet are placed throughout Pennsylvania PUBLIC buildings. The posters feature Tom Corbett almost a foot high and his name prominently featured.

http://paobserver.com/corbett_public_campaign_poster_1.JPG

http://paobserver.com/corbett public campaign poster 2.JPG

But even more troubling is a program that Tom Corbett created to have his staffers 'campaign' in senior centers throughout Pennsylvania. Corbett spent taxpayer money (without a contract according to a 'denied' RTK request.)

http://attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=5221

"Corbett noted that last year the Senior Crime Prevention University program hosted more than 200 events and was presented to nearly 8,600 older Pennsylvanians.

Corbett created the Attorney General's Elder Abuse Unit in 2006 to investigate and prosecute senior abuse. A special section within the Unit educates the public about senior fraud using the Senior Crime Prevention University program, which was recently redesigned.

The new program contains an interactive educational DVD video that portrays common senior scams such as; account verification; charitable contributions; checks and money orders; estate planning, home improvements, and power of attorney."

Corbett's office REFUSED to release a copy of the DVD in a timely matter - dragging their feet until MONDAY - the day before the election! They also claimed they needed a month to telll just how many places they sent the election/campaign posters!

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

 

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 14, 2010 –Auditor General Jack Wagner reiterated his call for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to provide his department with information related to its exposure to interest-rate swap agreements.

In a follow-up letter to SEPTA’s chairman, Pasquale Deon Sr., Wagner asked the transportation agency to provide his department with detailed information regarding its use of swaps, including all costs, commissions, and other fees incurred from active and terminated swaps. SEPTA failed to respond to Wagner’s first letter, sent in April, seeking this information.

“With such a large exposure due to swaps, I am deeply concerned about the potential damage to efforts to address the issue of transportation funding in the Commonwealth,” Wagner wrote to Deon.  

SEPTA had three active swaps associated with $345.5 million of debt as of June 30, 2009, according to the transportation authority’s 2009 annual report. If it had to terminate all of the swaps, it would lose $52.4 million, which, Wagner noted, is equal to approximately six weeks’ worth of fare revenues.  Wagner has also identified significant public funds at risk at other transportation agencies such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the Delaware River Port Authority.

 “The fundamental guiding principle in handling public funds is that they should never be exposed to the risk of financial loss,” Wagner said. “Swaps have no place in public financing and should be banned immediately.”

A special investigation by the Department of the Auditor General determined that 107 Pennsylvania school districts and 86 local governments had financed $14.9 billion in debt tied to interest-rate swaps, and that one school district -- Bethlehem Area, in Lehigh and Northampton counties -- had lost at least $10.2 million in swaps.  
As a result of his investigation, Wagner has asked the General Assembly to repeal Act 23 of 2003, which permitted Pennsylvania school districts and local governments to enter into interest-rate swaps, and to expressly prohibit the use of such instruments by school districts, local governments, and municipal authorities. He also has recommended that school districts and local governments stop entering into any additional swaps agreements and to unwind any swaps agreements that they currently have in a way that best protects the interests of taxpayers.  Legislation to implement Wagner’s recommendations is pending in the General Assembly.

Wagner requested the swaps details by June 4, 2010.  “Otherwise, I will assume that SEPTA is refusing to provide the requested information and we will proceed accordingly,” he wrote.

Auditor General Jack Wagner is responsible for ensuring that all state money is spent legally and properly.  He is the Commonwealth’s elected independent fiscal watchdog, conducting financial audits, performance audits and special investigations.  The Department of the Auditor General conducts more than 5,000 audits per year.  To learn more about the Department of the Auditor General, taxpayers are encouraged to visit the department’s Web site at www.auditorgen.state.pa.us.

From the Patriot News:

The end was in sight, and state Rep. Ron Buxton had finally had it.

After 90 minutes of taking punches from two challengers over everything from a perceived lack of leadership to not knowing his constituents to fat government contracts for his son, the incumbent fighting to keep his seat in the state House suddenly got hot.

“When you run for public office it’s easy to throw darts at people. It’s easy to drag them in the mud and bring up things that have nothing to do with issues that really affect you on a daily basis,” Buxton, who represents Harrisburg, complained edgily.

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The Board continues to plan for a 2010-2011 budget under  the illusion that all of its assumptions will come to pass.

Historically, this Board does not have a good track record handicapping revenue, reserving Rainy Day funds or securing public support for drastic staffing and program cuts.

Some of the problems you inherited from the “old Board.” And some you perpetuated by outsourcing responsibility and decision making.

Please take the time to look at the proposals you support. You can not honestly feign surprise about outsourcing transportation or curriculum reductions when you keep giving blank checks to this administration to do what they want, when they want.

I think some of your assumptions will come to pass. But I also believe that it is folly to continue to pretend that this budget is not flawed. The proposed budget continues to assume:
 

• The District's $8.1 million short fall will magically disappear;
• A timely 2% increase in state funding will arrive from a Governor who has presided over seven late budgets;
• Health care costs will only increase 7.25% rather than 14.25% spike predicted by your carrier - Highmark;
• Curriculum reductions and staffing cuts valued at $2.45 million will be implemented;
• PPL’s proposed distribution rate increase will not impact electric bills;
• Outsourcing of transportation will be resolved by June, and there will be no student transportation costs;
• The $80,000 a month lease back arrangement with
• Durham School Services will evaporate;
• Legal fees will be stabilize; and;
• Rate swaps will provide a fiscal safety net.

Hopefully, tonight you will make some necessary adjustments.

We are in desperate need of an exit strategy from the vanity  and pride that has pinned the District into a no-win situation.

Leadership means demonstrating the behavior you want others to replicate. Some of you have advocated running the District like a business. In the real business world, management pays a price for poor performance.

If you want to make cuts, start with the folks that drove the District off the cliff.

What is good for the goose is good for the gander. The Board should eliminate duplication at the management level, freeze wages for administrators, and switch management to a defined contribution pension plan and limited “Wellness Program.”

You recently developed and implemented RFPs for auditing and legal services. These were important and positive developments.

Likewise, you need to issue RFPs for a new Superintendent, a new Director of Curriculum, a new HR Director, a new Business Manager, and a new Director of Transportation.

Your job may be to put a camera on me.

But my job is place a mirror before you.

Do you like what you see?

From the Patriot News:

Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord has filed suit against the Gaming Control Board, claiming the board has “systematically” barred his full participation in its business. The Gaming Control Board subsequently issued a statement indicating the treasurer could participate as long as he signs a confidentiality agreement and code of ethics.

Gov. Ed Rendell addressed the issue during a Capitol press conference. “He’s not being shut out,” Rendell said. “All he has to do is like everyone else sign a confidentiality agreement and he’s in. He’s in. All he has to do is sign that confidentiality agreement. ... That’s all he has to do.”

According to McCord, he agreed to do that in February, but no one at the Gaming Control Board has provided him the paper work, despite his request they do so. McCord says he is entitled to participate “by law, not by permission of other board members. ... and that’s the nub of the issue.”

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From the Bucks County Courier Times:

The request is unlikely to be filled as the state is facing budget difficulties.

With a ratio of residents to judges higher than any other county in Southeast Pennsylvania, Bucks County needs more judges, President Judge Susan Devlin Scott said.

But in the face of a deepening state budget crisis, it appears unlikely that even an existing vacancy will be filled soon.

Scott sent a letter April 26 to each of Bucks County's state senators laying out the case to expand the common pleas court from 13 to 15 members. She said population growth and an increase in the number of certain kinds of cases have left the bench short-staffed and unable to properly manage cases.

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From the York Daily Record:

A Dauphin County district judge has set aside two days for Stephen Stetler's preliminary hearing -- which helps explain why the more than $100,000 raised for his legal defense fund might not pay all of the legal bills.

Stetler, 60, of York, is scheduled to appear before Dauphin County District Judge William C. Wenner July 14 and 15 to address charges of conflict of interest, four counts of theft and criminal conspiracy resulting from the so-called Bonusgate scandal.

Two days have been scheduled for the hearing based on the length of other Bonusgate proceedings. The court will convene at 9 a.m. both days.

 

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From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

A simple change in the way the state pays for goods and services could save as much as $219 million annually, House Republicans said today.

From gravel to computer purchases and professional services, the state spends almost $22 billion a year, paying for 71 percent of those transactions by check. Debit cards are used on less than 1 percent of transactions, said Rep. John Bear, a Lancaster Republican and former management consultant.

Because the state gets rebates on debit card use, making 20 percent of all transactions through debit cards would bring in about $62 million, Bear said. Using debit cards for 70 percent of purchases would save $219 million, he said.

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NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 5, 2010 –Auditor General Jack Wagner said today that Pennsylvania taxpayers could end up paying hundreds of millions of dollars to bail out transportation agencies that have financed billions of dollars of public debt with risky derivative contracts known as interest-rate swaps.

Wagner’s representative, chief counsel and policy director Robert Teplitz, told the Senate Finance Committee this morning that a recent review of the latest financial statements found that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission had about $2.3 billion tied to swaps agreements. If the Turnpike Commission had to terminate all of those swaps, it would lose $145.7 million, which is equivalent to almost three months of turnpike toll revenues.  Just last December, the Turnpike Commission made eight payments, totaling over $52.6 million – the equivalent of over one month of toll revenues – to investment banks to terminate swap deals that had turned sour.  

In addition, the Delaware River Port Authority, a bi-state agency that operates toll bridges linking Pennsylvania and New Jersey, entered into seven swaps in 2000 and 2001 related to over $1 billion in debt.  Although it collected $45 million in upfront payments, it has now paid out $65 million so far to terminate several of those swaps.  The remaining active swaps have a net negative fair value of $200 million, which is the equivalent of a full year of tolls on all four bridges the agency operates.  Wagner, who joined the DRPA board as an ex-officio member several years after it entered into its swaps, succeeded in passing a unanimous resolution last December to prohibit the agency from entering into future swaps agreements and to begin a process of terminating its current swaps.  

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority reported three active swaps with a net negative fair value of $52.4 million, which is an amount equal to approximately six weeks of fare revenues. Those swaps related to $345.5 million in debt.

Noting that taxpayers in the Bethlehem Area School District were required to pay higher property taxes to cover the district’s $10.2-million loss in interest-rate swaps, Teplitz said, “Auditor General Jack Wagner’s position is clear and unambiguous. Interest-rate swaps are tantamount to gambling with taxpayer money, and they have no place in the public sector.”

A swap is a contract between a bond issuer, such as a school district or other public entity, and an investment bank, in which the parties bet on which way interest rates will move.  In theory, swaps allow government entities to enter into variable-rate debt financing in order to take advantage of low interest rates and, at the same time, hedge against the possibility of those same interest rates going up.  

However, as Wagner has explained, swaps are actually nothing more than a form of gambling with public funds.  The party that guesses right wins and gets paid; the party that guesses wrong loses and must pay the other party.  How much is won or lost is determined by the size of the underlying debt, how much interest rates fluctuate, and other factors.  

A special investigation by Wagner last year found that 107 school districts and 86 local governments had $14.9 billion in public debt tied to swaps agreements.
 

The Senate Finance Committee heard testimony on two pieces of legislation that would ban the use of swaps by school districts, local governments, and municipal authorities.  

Teplitz expressed Wagner’s support for Senate Bills 1277 and 1278, introduced by Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-Lehigh/Monroe/Northampton) and Sen. Patrick Browne (R-Lehigh/Monroe/Northampton), which implement the recommendations of Wagner’s special investigation by prohibiting swaps for school districts, other local governments, and municipal authorities and requiring competitive selection and regular oversight of their financial advisors.

Regardless of whether or not the General Assembly takes action, Wagner has urged local governments and school districts to stop using swaps, terminate their active swap agreements, determine the financial impact of their swaps, and hire financial advisers through a competitive selection process and periodically review the quality, cost, and independence of the services provided.

Teplitz said that Wagner is equally concerned about the use of swaps by other public entities, especially transportation agencies, as the General Assembly grapples with the issue of transportation funding in the aftermath of the federal government’s rejection of tolling on Interstate 80.    

“With Pennsylvania facing a funding deficit for its critical transportation infrastructure needs, agencies must stop gambling with public money and sending it to Wall Street instead of investing it here,” Wagner said.

Auditor General Jack Wagner is responsible for ensuring that all state money is spent legally and properly.  He is the commonwealth’s elected independent fiscal watchdog, conducting financial audits, performance audits and special investigations.  The Department of the Auditor General conducts more than 5,000 audits per year.  To learn more about the Department of the Auditor General, taxpayers are encouraged to visit the department’s Web site at www.auditorgen.state.pa.us.