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Here’s what happens when you make a “no tax hike” pledge — you start looking for more ways to soak gamblers. The Corbett administration is in talks about expanding gambling opportunities to include keno and online games — part of a possible scheme to privatize the system. But because this is Pennsylvania, Corbett apparently is keeping the list of bidders under wraps.
In other Corbett news, the election of Democrat Kathleen Kane to the state attorney general post means an investigation into how Corbett handled the Jerry Sandusky case, back when he was the AG. Corbett professes to be unconcerned, saying Kane’s investigation should proceed quickly. Unlike his investigation of Sandusky.
Turns out that the state’s ban on texting while driving is sort of hard to enforce, according to police. The problem: While texting is against the law, talking on cell phones isn’t — and drivers who are charged with violating the ban often tell judges they were merely dialing a phone number. There’s already talk about extending the ban to any use of a hand-held phone. Good luck with that.
For Democrats, the fly in the ointment in last week’s election were the disappointing results in Congressional races. The GOP still controls the House of Representatives, thanks in part to wins in western Pennsylvania, and no doubt they will continue to work their mischief from there. Corutesy of Keystone Politics, here’s a smart take on how that happened — hint: gerrymandering, short-sighted/self-interested Democratic incumbents, and a failure to recruit good candidates — and what to do about it.
I missed this one during the Heads Up hiatus of recent days, but guess what? When the state gives up big tax incentives to spur development, it often gets little in return. Who saw that coming? Key to the problem is that no one follows up to see if developments actually deliver on the job promises used to get the subsidies. But at this point, I’d submit that another part of the problem is that no one follows up on the stories that follow up. It’s not like this is the first time questions have been raised about subsidies, after all …
This article appears in Nov 7-13, 2012.
Having to deal with the governor for only two more years will work out fine. With everyone watching his every move perhaps he won’t be permitted to pull off anything underhanded. Ms Keane will expose him in months to come and then the commonwealth can breath again
Hey Chris Potter, I’m pretty sure you know the work of Chris Briem, data-meister of Nullspace – he actually does pursue follow ups of follow ups of follow ups. He diligently sleuths down the data to compare just such claims of tax-break benefits with the actual results in terms of payback to our region, with a special focus on employment.
I strongly encourage readers here to check him out: http://nullspace2.blogspot.com/