Every Republican and Democrat who represents Pennsylvania in the U.S. House or Senate this week voted in favor of a deal to avert the so-called ‘fiscal cliff.’
The package allows Bush-era tax cuts to expire for individuals making more than $400,000 and families making more than $450,000.
The bill passed the Senate 89 votes to 8 on Monday and the House 267 to 157late Tuesday. President Barack Obama signed the bill shortly after the vote.
Most of the objectors, particularly in the House, were Republicans. 151 Republicans voted against the bill and 85 voted for it – including Reps. Barletta, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Kelly, Marino, Meehan, Murphy, Pitts, Platts, Shuster and Thompson.
Two members who would have surprised few observers by opposing the deal were Sen. Pat Toomey and Rep. Mike Kelly, both vocal conservatives. They acknowledged that, given Obama’s recent re-election and continued Democratic control of the Senate, the deal was the best Republicans could get. Obama and Democrats flatly refused to consider any bill that extended the tax cuts for wealthy Americans.
Toomey is the former head of the conservative Club for Growth. He served on the ‘super committee’ that sought unsuccessfully to secure a solution to the problem in 2011. There, he put on paper what many called the only serious proposal by either party.
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Toomey plan to avoid fiscal cliff
Written by Lancaster Intelligencer Journal
Tuesday, 04 December 2012 11:36
When is breaking a pledge not to raise taxes not breaking a pledge to not raise taxes?
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey may have the answer.
In 2011, Toomey was a member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction that set the Jan. 1 deadline for lawmakers to agree on budgetary matters in order to prevent automatic spending cuts and tax increases.
Against the backdrop of negotiations that continue in Washington to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, Toomey says he favors closing loopholes in the tax code, which he claims will raise $250 billion in revenue over 10 years. (He also would cut tax rates sharply.)
But closing loopholes would be tantamount to raising taxes by an equal amount, at least in the thinking of anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, author of the anti-tax-hike pledge that Toomey and many other Republicans have signed.
Toomey doesn’t see it that way, however.
Toomey would agree to increasing revenue &tstr; something Democrats have asked for &tstr; provided Democrats accept significant spending restraints.
By doing so, the nation would avoid plunging over the fiscal cliff that threatens to trigger tax hikes and spending cuts that many experts say will bring the country to its knees.
“What we’re faced with in just a few weeks is a massive tax increase,” Toomey says. “If I can help ensure that we don’t have that tax increase, then I believe I’ve fulfilled my pledge to fight for the lowest possible taxes.”
Norquist may disagree. But then again, Norquist doesn’t have to live with the consequences of his pledge.
Toomey’s proposal provides a framework for a solution to the looming fiscal crisis. Washington should pay attention.
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Pennsylvania Could Be a Path Forward for G.O.P.
Written by New York Times
Monday, 26 November 2012 12:38
The last ballots in the presidential election were cast more than two weeks ago. But votes in 37 states, and the District of Columbia, are still being counted, with the results yet to be officially certified.
President Obama’s national margin over Mitt Romney has increased as additional ballots have been added to the tally. According to the terrific spreadsheetmaintained by David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report, Mr. Obama now leads Mr. Romney by 3.3 percentage points nationally, up from 2.5 percentage points in the count just after the election.
Turnout has grown to about 127 million voters, down from roughly 131 million in 2008. The gap could close further as additional ballots are counted. The newly counted ballots have also shifted the relative order of the states.
Immediately after the election, it appeared that Colorado was what we called the “tipping-point state”: the one that gave Mr. Obama his decisive 270th electoral vote once you sort the states in order of most Democratic to least Democratic.
Mr. Obama’s margin in Colorado has expanded to 5.5 percentage points from 4.7 percentage points as more ballots have been counted, however. He now leads there by a wider margin than in Pennsylvania, where his margin is 5.0 percentage points. Neither state has certified its results, so the order could flip again, but if the results hold, then Pennsylvania, not Colorado, will have been the tipping-point state in the election.
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Last Updated on Monday, 26 November 2012 12:44
Spending cuts help stave off tax hike in Monroe County
Written by Pocono Recond
Friday, 30 November 2012 21:27
By David Pierce - Pocono Record Writer
Monroe County's proposed 2013 budget would keep the property tax rate at 21.25 mills, thanks to a nearly 3 percent drop in spending.
This includes reducing the county's health insurance contribution by $1.3 million by raising deductibles, co-pays and out-of-pocket premiums paid by workers.
Without those changes, the county's health costs would have gone up by $1.5 million, Monroe County Commissioners Chairman John Moyer said Thursday.
"We were definitely heading for a tax increase next year" without the insurance concessions, Moyer said.
He said unions representing more than half of the county's 600-member workforce have filed at least six grievances seeking to overturn the give-backs.
Some unions have contracts negotiated before the health concessions were implemented. But the county has budgeted enough additional revenue to cover any losses arising from the grievances, Moyer said.
The commissioners have budgeted a $1 million subsidy next year for Pleasant Valley Manor, the county nursing home. But they won a $500,000 concession from workers that commissioners hope will prevent additional taxpayer money from going to the home.
HARRISBURG — In a preview of his goals for the upcoming legislative term, Gov. Tom Corbett on Monday drew attention to growing pension costs, promised to continue efforts to privatize state liquor sales and said he would propose a plan for funding transportation infrastructure.
Mr. Corbett spoke before guests of the Pennsylvania Press Club about the accomplishments of his first two years — including two on-time budgets and no new taxes — but said major work remains when legislators return in January.
“The next year or two coming up, we have some tasks undone,” Mr. Corbett said. “Pension reform is essential.”
State general fund contributions to the retirement systems for state employees and public school employees are projected to grow from $1.163 billion this year to $3.178 billion five years from now.
Mr. Corbett said he also remains committed to privatizing state sales of liquor and wine after previous efforts at dismantling the state system have not succeeded.
“We’re not in the business when it comes to beer,” he said. “We shouldn’t be in the business when it comes to wine and alcohol, and I will continue to fight to get us out of the business.”
In response to a question, Mr. Corbett said privatizing liquor sales ranks with pension reform and transportation funding in his priorities for the coming term. The former prosecutor said he has learned working with the Legislature is different than his past jobs.
“It is working with the House, the Senate, both parties, different groups within the parties and their priorities,” he said. “There are some that say they’re for transportation. There are some that say they’re for privatization. There are some that are for further education reform. It’s going to be a matter of working with the leaders and seeing what we can get done.”
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