BACKGROUNDER: Rep. Allyson Schwartz’s Likely Run for Governor
A recent Democratic Governors’ Association poll found that U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz could be in striking distance to take the governor’s mansion in 2014. And that’s got some Harrisburg politicos ready to support her potential candidacy, should it come to fruition. According to PoliticsPA, the DGA found Schwartz leading Gov. Tom Corbett—who’s...
Continue ReadingPhillyNow Calendar: This week in civic events, Feb. 11-15
You may have noticed in recent weeks that we’ve revamped and expanded PW’s weekly event calendar. Traditionally, our event-preview coverage has spotlighted entertainment and cultural happenings, but now we’re taking it another step farther: Every Monday, PhillyNow will clue you in to a upcoming political, community and civic-related events going...
Continue ReadingVP Biden Coming to Philly to Talk Guns
When you feel a shift in the force on Monday—one that may make you inexplicably slide some white Chiclets over your teeth and start dropping f-bombs—it will be because Vice President Joe Biden is in town. From the release: “On Monday, February 11, 2013, the Vice President will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to hold a roundtable discussion with...
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Did Corbett Budget Live Up To Post-Newtown Mental Health Comments?
Come view my Modest Proposal. When Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett was asked about how to respond to the Newtown tragedy in December, he told reporters it wasn’t really an issue of guns, but of mental health. “It doesn’t matter if it’s an assault weapon or a handgun,” he said. “It’s a mental health issue that we have to...
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Rep. Sims on Liquor Privatization: “This is the System We’re Stuck With”
During his Tuesday budget address, Gov. Tom Corbett reiterated his proposal to privatize Pennsylvania’s liquor monopoly and funnel the cash infusion thus produced straight to the school system. “I can think of no better use for the proceeds created by getting us out of a business we should never have been in than to put those dollars toward the essential...
Continue ReadingWhy You Should Worry About Corbett’s Medicaid Rejection
After months of dodging questions with regard to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion — which would add about 500,000 Pennsylvanians onto the state Medicaid health care program for the poor — Gov. Corbett finally announced his decision in his 2013-2014 budget address yesterday. The answer: a big, fat no. “Washington needs...
Continue ReadingPhilly D.A.: Update to “Facebook Case”
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office issued a statement this morning indicating that some of the controversial postings on Freddie Henriquez’s Facebook page have been taken down. But this doesn’t mean that D.A. Seth Williams won his recently announced beef with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The D.A.’s office “believes someone other than Facebook...
Continue ReadingMark Bowden Talks Drones & Torture With Ret. Gen. Stanley McChrystal
Black Hawk Down and The Finish author Mark Bowden interviewed retired General Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan, at the Free Library of Philadelphia to a packed basement crowd last Thursday, coinciding with the release of McCrystal’s new memoir, My Share of the Task. Bowden and McChrystal talked about the efforts against...
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Pennsylvania Congressman Compares Gun Control to Banning Spoons
Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) went on ABC’s This Week yesterday and offered into the national discourse a charmingly smug gun-rights metaphor: Guns kill people the same way spoons make people fat. “This is a perfect example why people believe Washington is broke,” noted Barletta, who represents parts of northeast and north-central Pennsylvania, during a discussion...
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Corbett Wants to Sell Off State Booze Monopoly For Convenience, Schools
Gov. Corbett on liquor sales: "We shouldn't do it halfway." On Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Tom Corbett and several Republican legislators held a press conference in Pittsburgh to announce a new plan to get the Pennsylvania government out of the liquor business—fully, and for good. The conference began with Lt. Gov. Cowley, who noted Wednesday’s...
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