Capital Watch November 2012

CA P I TA LWAT C H PA . c o m

CAPITALWATCH VOL. 5 NO. 11

INSIDE Casey wins second Senate term PAGE 3 State Senate Dems add three seats PAGE 4 State house wins Best in GOP for 2012 PAGE 6 It’s not over until it’s over PAGE 7 EDITORIALS: Deciphering the 2012 elections There ought to be a law against vote maps PAGE 12 Got a tip? Got a lead?

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NOVEMBER 2012

Kane elected first Democrat, woman state attorney general

BY KEVIN ZWICK AND PETER L. DECOURSEY, CAPITOLWIRE

Kathleen Kane became the first woman and Democrat elected to the office of attorney general on Nov. 6, defeating Republican David Freed.

Kane said her victory was not only historic for being the first Democrat elected, but also the first women elected to the office.

“We have so much work to do in Pennsylvania and I am very honored and very humbled to be the next attorney general of Pennsylvania,” she said.

“It was never about politics, it was about people,” she said. “...We will clean up Harrisburg, we will send a message that we will not tolerate politics as usual any longer.”

Freed conceded at 10:45 p.m., the earliest time for that in an attorney general’s race in decades. Freed said he would work with Kane, congratulated her on a “sound victory” and said he knew it would be “a tough race, ... but I’d do it again because a prosecutor who does not take on the tough cases” is not worthy of the job.

Freed’s father-in-law, LeRoy Zimmerman, the first elected attorney general in state history, acknowledged Freed was the first Republican to lose that office since it became elected in 1980.

“It’s difficult, but Dave is an extraordinary lawyer, ... and he on Saturday will begin a term as the President of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association. And hey, if he had won, he would have gotten a $25,000 pay cut. So I told him to think of it as a raise.”

Zimmerman, while continuing to say Kane was underqualified, praised her for her campaign skills and for breaking the state record for fund-raising for that office, the first Democrat to hold that record.

Freed said he was glad that Kane, the prosecutor, was the Democrat, not former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, who lacked state or county prosecutorial experience.

Kane drew on the public’s suspicions of the then-attorney general Tom Corbett’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex case, saying she was the only candidate able to conduct an independent investigation, painting Freed as Corbett’s “hand-picked candidate.”

She also said she would review high-profile

Kathleen Kane

Kathleen Kane welcomes former President Bill Clinton to a “Get out and vote” rally.

Corbett cases including his non-prosecution of Senate Republicans, and questioned the governor’s ethics, decisions and competence.

At the Election Night party of Freed, the Cumberland County district attorney, Corbett said he was aware she ran against him as much as Freed: “I know she has. She is more than

welcome to look at those cases. The results speak for themselves.”

He then said of Kane: “She’s the one who turned the AG’s office political,” before even being elected.

Freed sought to make the race about qualifications, since both were assistant DAs for a long time, but Freed said: “I am the only one who has run a prosecutor’s office and my record speaks for me on the decisions I have made.”

But voters were more persuaded by Kane saying she would be independent, while Freed was hand-picked by Corbett, who did clear the GOP primary field for Freed.

Plus, counting name recognition Kane amassed while winning a contested primary, she ended up out-spending him almost 3-1 overall, and close to 2-1 in the primary, counting outside allies.

She celebrated her victory at the Radisson here in her hometown with family and friends.

Public polls during the general election showed Kane consistently holding leads throughout the general election with large chunks of undecided voters.

Kane carried the momentum from the contest’s only debate in mid-October through Election Day. On Nov. 5, she campaigned across the state with former President Bill Clinton, who had endorsed Kane in the primary and attended a fund-raiser for her in Philadelphia in the fall.

Freed campaigned with GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh, and others, but could not catch up.

The contest picked up in the final few weeks of the campaign, with the candidates spending millions on TV ads across the state, without side groups also making multi-million dollar TV ad buys.

Freed’s campaign eventually went negative in the last few days of the election. Kane didn’t run negative ads, but two outside groups, the Democratic Attorneys General Association and gun control PAC run by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, ran ads against Freed.

Kane served as an assistant prosecutor until 2007 when she left to work on Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign. CW

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Drilling is just the beginning.

NEWS 3

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

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Casey wins second Senate term

BY KEVIN ZWICK, CAPITOLWIRE

In a race where polls were tight in the final days of the campaign, voters gave U.S. Sen. Bob Casey another term in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, picking him over Republican Tom Smith.

Smith called Casey to concede after 10 p.m., the Associated Press reported.

Smith said in his concession remarks: “My congratulations tonight goes to Senator Casey. While we disagree on some things, we both care deeply for this country and believe America’s best days are ahead of her.”

“My family and I are humbled and grateful for the support of millions of Pennsylvanians. And though we fell short tonight, we will continue to advocate for the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility and individual liberty.”

With 78.76 percent reporting, Casey had 56.1 percent, about 2.2 million votes, over Smith’s 42.2 percent or 1.6 million votes, according to unofficial and incomplete results.

The Casey brand has been a mainstay in Pennsylvania politics for the past 50 years, when his father, former Gov. Robert P. Casey, was first elected to the state Senate in the 1960s.

Bob Casey

Smith, a wealthy former coal executive, was able to pour at least $16 million into his own campaign, outspending Casey nearly 2 to 1.

On Nov. 4, Smith spoke at a rally for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Bucks County with about 25,000 supporters in attendance, in an effort to bolster turnout for a late-minute grab of the state’s 20 electoral votes.

On Election Day, Casey stayed in the northeast, making the rounds to local diners and a union hall to encourage people to vote.

At the AFSCME headquarters in Dunmore, a borough neighboring Scranton, Casey met with about a twodozen union members making phone calls to voters.

Former Scranton Mayor Jimmy Connors was on hand making phone calls. Casey asked him if he was telling any jokes while talking to voters, to which Connors replied: “No, I don’t want to lose you any votes.”

Smith and Casey clashed on a number of issues during the one and only debate in Philadelphia Oct. 2.

Smith said the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, contained 22 separate tax hikes and was a major reason why companies were not hiring workers and the economic recovery was slow.

Casey countered, saying, “That isn’t true.” After the debate, he elaborated: “There aren’t 22 taxes in the health care bill” and shot back during the debate that Smith would repeal it, making it impossible for those with pre-existing

With 78.76 percent reporting, Casey had 56.1 percent, about 2.2 million votes, over Smith’s 42.2 percent or 1.6 million votes, according to unofficial and incomplete results. conditions to get health insurance if they changed jobs.

Smith also said Medicare and Social Security needed changes to make them financially stable, while Casey said Smith would change Medicare into a voucher program.

“To sum it all up, I did live the American Dream and I want to protect that for our children and their children,” Smith said, the Daily Local News in West Chester the weekend before the election. “This whole election in my opinion is about do we want bigger government and less freedoms, or do we want to have smaller government and more freedoms. And that is why I’m running.”

Smith credited his business experience and was critical of Casey’s voting record in Washington throughout the contest. CW

4

NEWS

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

State Senate Democrats add three seats, 23-27, despite 3-1 spending deficit

BY PETER L. DECOURSEY, CAPITOLWIRE

Senate Democrats won three GOP-held open seats, despite being out-spent overall 3-1, and defended a vulnerable incumbent the Senate GOP was sure it would defeat: Sen. John Wozniak, D-Cambria.

“Our opponents have conceded in all four races we were contesting tonight, and we are up to 23 seats, which means Democrats will have a voice in policy and legislation,” said Senate Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery.

“This changes the dynamic in the Senate. This means no more extremist legislation will be passed through the Senate.

On many of their extremist bills, the Senate Republicans could let 2-3 senators vote no, because those are bad votes in their districts. Now if they want to pass a bill, it will have to be a moderate bill, a compromise bill, because they will need all the Republicans, including their moderates, and they will need Democratic votes.

“So we will end the extremist legislation and budgets of the last two years and you will see the difference in this year’s budget.”

Senate GOP leaders did not respond to requests for comment.

The five key races were: • Democrat Rob Teplitz defeated Republican John McNally in a Dauphin County district, 60,682 to 56,898, 51.6 percent to 48.4 percent, in the seat of retiring Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin; • Democrat Sean Wiley defeated Republican Janet Anderson in Erie County, 58,436 votes to 38,195, 60 percent to 40 percent in the district of retiring Sen. Jane Earll, R-Erie; • Rep. Matt Smith, D-Allegheny, defeated Republican D. Raja, 63,436 votes to 56,489, 53 percent to 47 percent in the seat of retired Sen. John Pippy, R-Allegheny; • Wozniak defeating Tim Houser, 45,156 votes. 51 percent, to 43,069 or 49 percent; • Sen. Elder Vogel, R-Beaver, handily winning re-election, in a race which DSCC originally invested in, then abandoned two weeks from election day. Vogel garned 57,298 votes to 43,104 for Kim Villella, 57 percent to 43 percent.

Leach said it was also significant that Smith, Wiley, Wozniak and Teplitz all made Gov. Tom Corbett’s budgets and education cuts an issue, and ran against the Corbett agenda, defeating Republicans who had to defend many of those policies.

Many insiders believed that Wiley would win handily and Smith would win, albeit in a closer race.

So attention focused on the Teplitz race, with Leach ceasing to use DSCC funds for the Smith or Wiley races “because we

know we are going to win those.”

“I really think the education issue was big for us,” said Teplitz as he worked a Susquehanna Twp. polling place a few feet from McNally during the morning.

Teplitz ran ahead in three-quarters of the

district compared to the 2008 Democratic Senate challenger, Judy Hirsh, who lost to Piccola. About 9,000 fewer residents voted compared to 2008, but Teplitz ran well ahead of Hirsh’s margins over Piccola in the city of Harrisburg, and Susquehanna Twp. “People understand that education is about economic development and jobs and that matters,” Teplitz said.

His staff were still happily stunned by the scope of the win.

“We even won the polling place where McNally lives,” said Teplitz campaign manager Victor Wills, Ward 11 of Lower Paxton Twp. Teplitz said: “I think this shows people wanted a problem-solver, not someone who would play politics, and it shows that my support for the city helped my campaign and my opponent’s do-nothing attitude hurt him.”

Teplitz said he looked forward to working with the Senate GOP majority, but echoed Leach: “I think voters sent a message today about how they want us do their business and I am looking forward to working with everyone to do that, for Harrisburg and for the state.” CW

Legislation gives judges discretion when sentencing juveniles A bill signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett gives judges sentencing juveniles convicted for first- and second-degree murder more discretion, makes some “sexting” a crime, closes district judge hearings for juveniles who are charged with a summary offense and allows victim advocates to help crime victims in adult and juvenile court, among other provisions.

The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf.

Senate Bill 850 follows a long line of other juvenile justice legislation, including laws requiring legal counsel be present at juvenile delinquency hearings and requiring judges to state why each juvenile received the specific disposition they were given.

Most legislation came from suggestions made in August 2009 by the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, which made its recommendations after two judges were charged with accepting kickbacks from the builder of private juvenile detention facilities the county utilized.

Former Luzerne County judge Mark Ciavarella is serving a 28-year sentence and former Judge Michael Conahan was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison.

Most notably in the bill, juveniles convicted of first- and second-degree murder can no longer receive mandatory life sentences when tried as an adult.

Though, that does not mean a judge is precluded from imposing a life sentence, the bill allows for a judge to choose from a wide range of sentencing options. CW

NEWS 5 5 NEWS

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

November 2012 CAPITAL WATCH ADVERTORIAL

Policy Roundtable Spotlight The PBC Policy Roundtable, like its national counterpart in Washington, is a forum in which CEOs meet on a peer-to-peer basis to formulate public policy proposals to the most pressing issues of competitiveness. The Policy Roundtable provides senior managers the opportunity to interact extensively with policymakers, policy experts, media, and other stakeholders; participate in policy evaluation; decide upon long-term public policy strategy; and guide policy education/advocacy efforts. Corporate Chairpersons, CEOs, COOs, CFOs, and Presidents are invited to become members of the PBC Policy Roundtable. For more, see: www.pabusinesscouncil.org.

CW: You have been in academia, politics and business. How do the three disciplines inter-relate?

Earl M. Baker, Ph.D.

Director PBC Executive Leaders Program Earl Baker is uniquely qualified to direct the Pennsylvania Business Council’s Executive Leaders Program.

Earl earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from American University in Washington, DC. During that time he was a staff associate of the American Political Science Association.

Before launching his academic career, Earl served on active duty as a Lieutenant in the US Navy Reserve. Following his service, he joined the faculty of Temple University teaching for 20 years.

In 1975, Earl won the first of three consecutive elections as Commissioner in the suburban Philadelphia County of Chester.

In 1986, Earl was tapped to be chairman of the Republican State Committee of PA, a post he held for four years.

In 1988, Earl was elected to the PA Senate representing the 19th District. He Chaired the Labor Committee and was re-elected in 1992, but resigned in 1995 to become Vice President for State Government Relations at Unisys Corporation.

Following his tenure with Unisys, Earl became the President of Presbyterian Homes—a network of independent and assisted living facilities.

Today, he is the principal of Earl Baker Consulting and the author of two books about politics: Heroes & Hypocrites— a book of humorous verse; and Run To Win! — a guide for running a successful campaign for local or state elected office.

Both are available at www. earlbaker.com

EB: Great question, because so many people think they are not related. In reality, all three disciplines need one another and need to work more closely together. We engage in politics to achieve public policy outcomes.

Hopefully our choices and decisions are informed by good research, empirical evidence, and a reasonable and civil discussion. As we know in this election season, much of the debate is about jobs and the economy: that’s a debate about business and the competitive environment. Academics and politicians need to listen to businesspeople; but businesspeople can learn so much by spending time with those who study issues in great detail and from those in the public arena who have to balance competing interests and points of view.

CW: Do you think businesspeople understand and appreciate politics and government?

EB: No. Obviously there are exceptions and some great examples of businesspeople who have loaned their expertise to the public sector. The Corbett Administration Cabinet includes Alan Walker at DCED, Dan Meuser at Revenue, and Glenn Moyer at Banking. Retired Banker Sam McCullough was in Tom Ridge’s Cabinet and Aqua America’s Nick DeBenedictis served in the Thornburgh Cabinet. But, by and large, many businesspeople are cynical about politics and government and hope to just be left alone. What I think they fail to realize is how government and politics shape markets, set the competitive framework for a nation or state, and influence so many business factors.

CW: Factors such as …?

EB: Everybody immediately thinks of taxes when they think of government and that’s not surprising — government takes a big bite out of paychecks and corporate earnings. But taxes are driven by spending decisions. Businesspeople need to give more thought to how and for what purpose the government spends money — and that includes tax expenditures such as tax credits and deductions.

Then of course there is the legal and regulatory climate. We often complain about “red tape” and “lawsuit abuse.”

Both are factors of public policy.

In PA, we are talking a great deal now about how to pay for transportation infrastructure. Businesses need to get raw materials in and finished products out. Employees and customers need to reach our businesses safely. A tax spent on an infrastructure investment might actually yield a good return on investment for our state firms.

And, of course, infrastructure for water, waste, energy, and telecommunications are also vital for our businesses. Government and public policy influence those investment decisions.

And speaking of energy: the price and availability of energy — very much influenced by lawmakers and regulatory bodies such as the PA Public Utility Commission — are critical factors in establishing our business climate.

Perhaps nothing is more important than a well educated and trained workforce.

Education policy, education and higher education funding, and job training are all driven by politics, policy, and government decisions.

CW: So how does a businessperson get a handle on all of this?

EB: Once upon a time, businesspeople who were climbing the ladder of leadership had the luxury to learn these lessons over years through experiences in their local chambers of commerce and by interfacing with political leaders in their community. That’s not so easy today. Our companies are very lean.

One manager is doing the work that used to be assigned to three individuals. There is little time for outside experiences. For this very reason, the Pennsylvania Business Council created its Executive Leaders Program.

CW: Tell us more about the program.

EB: Nothing replaces years of experience with chambers of commerce and trade associations and we certainly encourage up and coming managers to find time to participate in business associations. But our Executive Leaders Program provides an intensive seven

days — spent over a three month period — immersing those being groomed for promotion, senior managers new to PA, those with responsibility for selling to or working with the government, and individuals newly assigned with public affairs responsibilities into the world of politics and policy.

CW: How are sessions structured?

EB: Over the course of the seven sessions, participants spend time discussing political and policy topics with dozens of leaders from the Governor and Cabinet officers, to state lawmakers, to state association CEOS, to corporate lobbyists, to reporters, to campaign strategists.

And they interact with one another — which is just as important — processing what the speakers say and applying it to their work experience.

CW: What topics are covered?

EB: We examine the role of the three branches of government; the operations of institutional players such as legislative leadership, political parties, special interest groups, NGOs and the media. We learn about policy including: finance and the General Fund budget, the capital budget, taxation, education and workforce, public pensions, healthcare, transportation and infrastructure, energy, and economic development.

CW: What’s the “take away”?

EB: I think the “take away” is a better sense of how the system looks from the inside, an appreciation of the legitimacy of politics, a much improved view of those who serve in government and elected office, and a commitment to be a constructive participant in the process.

As a bonus, the ELP also qualifies for Attorney CLE, Accountant CPE, and Engineer CEC. CW: Where can someone learn more or enroll?

EB: Find a brochure online at www.pabusinesscouncil.org/ executive-leaders-program.

6 NEWS

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

State House wins Best In GOP for 2012

BY PETER L. DECOURSEY, CAPITOLWIRE

On a night when state history was made and the GOP lost its first attorney general race ever, and lost the presidency among Pennsylvania voters, and a U.S. Senate seat, three state Senate seats, the treasurer’s office and the auditor generalship, one chamber stood out.

And for the first time in years, it was not the state Senate Republicans, normally the Best In Class every election year, for decades.

Instead, the House Republicans, building on a breakout in 2010 which put them at 112-91, which shrunk slightly to a functional 111-92 by Election Night, lost, at most, with recounts and other fun still potentially pending, at most three net seats, and more likely one or two at most.

So their worst case is probably 109-94 or 110-93. They lost one or two percent of their members in all likelihood. The state Senate, in the same tough year, fighting elections in the same 2001 districts, lost three seats, 10 percent of their majority.

They only won one seat the Democrats held, but Republican Tom Sankey not only thrashed Clearfield County Commissioner Mark McCracken, for the seat of retiring Rep. Bud George, D-Clearfield, but he thrashed him on tax and spending issuses, sticking to the House GOP script

in strong ads crafted by Ray Zaborney of Red Maverick Media.

And the Senate did splendidly compared to the statewide GOP candidates who were 0-5, making the Philadelphia Eagles look like they had a good season and losing 100 percent of the statewide races: The weakest win by a Democratic statewide candidate was DePasquale with 49.7 percent of the vote, but still, the House GOP either didn’t lose any seats – pending final tallies that were in some cases still elusive – or at most one or two.

Republican State Committee Chairman Rob Gleason’s statement, he ‘commended’ the GOP statewide candidates but ‘congratulated’ only two campaigns: that of U.S. Rep.-elect Keith Rothfus, R-Allegheny, and that of the House Republican Campaign Committee. Because you can only congratulate people who did well. “...I would like to congratulate Speaker Sam Smith, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, Representative Dave Reed and the HRCC for their electoral success this year.

The HRCC is poised to send a strong majority back to the State House this year.”

And the House GOP did so by and large campaigning on the same kind of opposition to taxes and resistance to expand-

ed benefits and spending that sunk the Romney and Smith campaigns.

And they did it in a year where their target seats were all in the west and they managed to pick up only one of them, while having to defend multiple seats elsewhere.

And they did it despite the continued farcical bumbling of the Lycoming County GOP. Mitt Romney won the county with 66 percent of the vote, but Rep. Rick Mirabito, an amazing candidate, won his Williamsport-based seat with 58 percent of the vote, because the Lycoming GOP can’t recruit candidates who can win a 60 percent GOP seat. And because Mirabito is amazingly good at wooing voters and sowing division in the local GOP. How? First of all, state legislator is about the highest level where you can knock on the door of everyone you want to vote for you, the last level where if just the people who know the lawmaker by first name vote for you, you win.

And as we saw, since no Democratic incumbents lost, and even in open seats, both parties mostly held serve, the lawmakers are very good at making those bonds with constituents.

But by voting so repeatedly for fiscallyconservative budgets and then defending

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them, the GOP sewed up that portion of the electorate. House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, wove a careful and brilliant path between public school educators and the folks who want them to be replaced by vouchers and charter schools, the House GOP won the support and donations from both for crucial incumbent defenses.

Even on issues where Democrats thought the Republicans overstepped, like the fetal ultrasound bill, to make women endure an ultrasound, potentially an invasive one, then watch it before having an abortion, the House GOP took few bullets on that issue.

Plus, House Speaker Sam Smith, R-Punxsutawney, and Turzai and House Republican Campaign Committee Chairman David Reed, R-Indiana, especially Smith and Turzai, raised money.

Lots of money. More than $5 million.

More than double what the Democrats raised, unlike 2010, when they won the chamber despite being out-spent by the House Democratic Campaign Committee.

Both Turzai and Smith toured the state, raising money, and both came in at close to $2 million raised for the caucus. Reed also exceeded his fund-raising targets, while other GOP House leaders were less prominent in fund-raising.

All three also acted as advice bureaus, and Turzai, an ardent believer in preparing candidates, made sure talking points and House GOP accomplishments were not only available, but in many cases, tailored to specific districts to help candidates like Rep. Sue Helm, R-Dauphin, who made major use of them.

Also, this western troika worked hard for eastern members with funds, support, their education policies and its political benefits, ensuring a sizeable majority for the caucus, despite east-west tensions occasionally rising in the caucus over the last two years, working closely with House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Adolph, R-Delaware, and others.

But mostly they just followed Turzai’s deceptively simple game plan: “Fiscal responsibility, private sector job growth and government reform. And fiscal responsibility and private sector job growth.”

Because the Senate GOP was largely defending open seats vacated by incumbents, several of its candidates distanced themselves from Gov. Tom Corbett’s budgets, especially his education reductions.

Turzai said: “We stressed that state spending on public education was the highest-ever in a number of our races and we did emphasize restorations of some funds. But we also focused on the fact that we did it while prioritizing fiscal responsibility and private sector job creation. We made holding the line on spending a major priority and voters knew that.

“We honestly believed we had a strong legislative record and we did not shy from it. The difference is that we followed through on our priorities: fiscal responsibility and private sector job growth.” CW

NEWS 7

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

It’s not over until it’s over As Capital Watch goes to press, several legislative seats are still up for grabs, and will not likely be known until the certification takes place.

House Republican and Democratic campaign officials agree that each has picked up a seat the other held going into this election, but there are three races left in dispute.

As House Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman Brendan Boyle predicted in the wee hours of Nov. 7, Rep. Tom Quigley, R-Montgomery, was defeated by Democrat Mark Painter.

According to the unofficial and incomplete returns, Painter leads Quigley, 14,801 votes to 14,585. That was a race that Boyle said would be the Democratic “surprise” and Republicans did not see it coming..

In the lower Democratic turnout year of 2010, Quigley defeated Painter, 56 percent to 44 percent, with 19,685 votes cast. On Tuesday, there were 29,836 votes cast.

So with that race in the Democratic column, the GOP tally, at most, will remain as it has for six months, 111-92 It appears the GOP will hang onto a seat that of Rep. Justin Simmons, R-Lehigh, who ran against Democrat Kevin Deely.

The state website’s unofficial and incomplete returns show Simmons with 14,226 votes to 13,664 votes for Deely, but local returns show it closer.

A third race Boyle said Democrats have won, former Rep. David Levdansky, D-Allegheny, versus sitting Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Allegheny, is up in the air.

State Representative Nick Micozzie (R-Delaware) has a 300+ vote lead over challenger Sheamus Bonner. Micozzie released a statement declaring victory but will have to wait for absentee and provisional ballots to be counted as well.

However, on Nov. 8 Bonner conceded his challenge to Micozzie.

The results in the 39th district are still up in the air as incumbent State Representative Rick Saccone (R-Allgheny) has a slim lead over former State Representative Dave Levdansky. The total will be sorted out as absentee and provisional ballots are counted.

The state website, whose returns remain unofficial and in some counties, incomplete, shows Saccone with 14,274 votes to 14,238 for Levdansky, a 36-vote margin.

Here the results of other races throughout the state: HD-3: Democrat Ryan Bizzarro won the Eriebased seat of retiring Rep. John Hornaman (D-Erie), defeating Republican Jason Owen by 53.80 percent, 15,338 to 13,191.

HD-5: Republican Greg Lucas defeated Democrat Jason White with 55.1 percent, 12,542 to 10,202, in this Erie district.

HD-9: Democratic incumbent Christopher Sainato (D-Lawrence) won against Republican candidate Jason Murtha with 58.2 percent, 13,751 to 9,897.

HD-10: Democratic incumbent Jaret Gibbons (D-Beaver) defeated Rep. Michael See with 52.8 percent, 13,501 to 12,066.

HD13: Republican incumbent John Lawrence (R-Chester) defeated Dem. Eric Schott with 53.4 percent, 17,562 to 15,315.

HD16: Democratic incumbent Robert Matzie (D-Beaver) won against GOP challenger Kathy Coder with 56.4 percent, 15,476 to 11,975.

HD-25: Democratic incumbent Joseph Markosek (D-Allegheny) won against Rep. Mike Doyle with 54.8 percent, 15,272 to 12,575.

HD-29: Incumbent Rep. Bernie O’Neill (R-Bucks) won against Dem. Brian Munroe with 58.4 percent, 20,010 to 14,268.

HD-31: Dem. incumbent Steve Santarsiero (D-Bucks) defeated Rep. Anne Chapman with 57.7 percent, 20,495 to 15,010.

HD-44: Rep. Mark Mustio (R-Allegheny) defeated Democrat opponent Mark Scappe with 61.9 percent, 20,177 to 12,445.

HD-49: Rep. Peter Daley (D-Fayette) won a seat against Republican Richard Massafra with 54.7 percent, 11,906 to 9,877.

HD-54: Rep. Eli Evankovich (R-Westmoreland) beat Democrat Patrick Leyland with 65.6 percent, 17,667 to 9,259.

HD-55: Rep. Joe Petrarca (D-Westmoreland) kept his seat, defeating Republican challenger John Hauser with 56.30 percent, 13,258 to 10,297 HD-71: Rep. Bryan Barbin (D-Cambria) defeated Republican opponent Stalley with 56 percent, 12,437 to 9,792.

HD-74: Republican Thomas Sankey defeated opponent Democrat Mark

McCracken by 21.8 percent to flip the seat of retiring Rep. Bud George (D-Clearfield), 13,377 to 8,591.

HD-83: Rep. Richard Mirabito (D-Lycoming) kept his seat, defeating Republican Harry Rogers by 17.6 percent, 13,192 to 9,251.

HD-89: Rep. Rob Kauffman Republican (R-Franklin) kept his seat, defeating Democratic challenger Susan Spicka by 20.6 percent, 16,648 to 10,980.

HD-104: Rep. Sue Helm (R-Dauphin) retained her seat, defeating Democrat Chris Dietz by 12 percent, 14,084 to 7,199.

HD-112: Democrat Kevin Haggerty defeated GOP candidate Ray Nearhood, 17,020 to 5,841. This is the seat of Rep. Ken Smith, who Haggerty defeated in the primary.

HD-115: Democrat Frank Farina defeated GOP hopeful Theresa Kane, 13,722 to 7,675. He’ll replace retiring Rep. Ed Staback (D-Lackawanna).

HD-116: Rep. Tarah Toohil (R-Luzerne) retained her seat, defeating Democrat Ransom Young by 32 percent, 9,853 to 5,069 HD-120: Rep. Phyllis Mundy (D-Kingston) retained her seat, defeating Democrat Aaron Kaufer by 12.2 percent, 12,951 to 10,121.

HD-146: Democrat Mark Painter unseated incumbent Rep. Tom Quigley (R-Montgomery) by 1.8 percent, 10,362 to 10,006.

HD-151: Republican Rep. Todd Stephens kept his seat in Montgomery County, defeating Democrat Will Sylianteng by 9.2 percent, 19,879 to 13,457 votes.

HD-155: Republican Becky Corbin kept the Chester County of retiring Rep. (and her boss) Curt Schroeder from Democratic Downingtown Mayor Josh Maxwell by 7.2 percent, 19,601 to 12,190 votes.

HD-156: Republican Dan Truitt (R-Chester) kept his position representing Chester County, winning over Democratic opponent Bret Binder by In Chester County by 3.8 percent, 16,493 to 15,276 votes.

HD-157: Democrat Paul Drucker lost his seat in Chester and Montgomery counties to opponent Warren Kampf (R-Chester) in 2010 and again Tuesday night, by 3.2 percent, 15,713 to 14,711 votes.

HD-161: In Delaware County, Republican Joe Hackett (R-Delaware) kept his position, defeating Democrat Larry Demarco by 5.4 percent, 17,125 to 15,256 votes.

HD-166: Republican Bill Toal lost to Democratic incumbent Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) by 26.2 percent, 12,077 to 20,637 votes.

HD-177: Republican Rep. John Taylor (R-Phila) beat Democrat William Dunbar by 14.8 percent, 11,801 to 8,774 votes. CW

8 NEWS

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

Five generations go to the polls together Celebrating their ability to exercise the right to vote, five generations of the Wilkerson/ Chase/Payton Family gathered in Harrisburg on Tuesday for a group voting caravan. Led

by Andy Chase, 80, and his niece Shirley Wilkerson, the crew met first at Andy’s polling place on State Street in Harrisburg while Andy voted and then car-pooled to two suburban locations while the others voted. The voters (pictured above, from left to right) were Jasmin Payton, Londyn Wilkerson, Richard Payton, Shirley Wilkerson, Andy Chase and Lil Jackson. Myli Thomas (holding #6) was representing the next generation of voters.

“Although the youngest generation is not of legal age to vote, riding along with us sends a strong message to them: each vote counts!” noted Shirley Wilkerson. “We lead not only by example but also by inclusion.” CW

Mailer lands in mailboxes stating Voter ID required Despite a state court ruling that voters may be asked but cannot be required to show photo ID before voting, a mailer landed in some Harrisburg voters’ mail boxes, saying

photo ID was “required” to vote.

The return address on the mailer?

“Secretary of the Commonwealth,” at the state office address of that official, Carol

Aichele. And the mailer appears, according to officials who reviewed it, to be identical to one sent out in September by the Department of State, even down to the permit num-

ber. That was before Commonwealth Court Judge Robin Simpson ruled Oct. 2 that the new photo ID mandate would not be in effect for this election.

But no such mailers have been sent out by the department using the mail permit listed on the flier since Sept. 21, said Department of State spokesman Ron Ruman. And the last Harrisburg-area mailing was sent out Sept. 19, Ruman said.

As Capital Watch goes to print, officials were still looking to see if the mailer was a late-delivered anomaly, or a mailing mistake, or a fraud. Only one such flier had come to light as of 11:40 a.m. on Election Day. “This is nothing but blatant and illegal voter suppression,” said Senate Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman Daylin Leach. “Whoever did this should go to jail.”

“This was literally received the day before the election. It was sent to Harrisburg, where Democratic turnout is crucial in close races. I don’t know if this is targeted at our state Senate candidate or the presidential race or Kathy Kane for attorney general, the Democratic nominee for that office,” said Leach.

The mailer’s front page features a slogan used by the State Department in its public information campaign before Judge Simpson’s ruling: “IF YOU WANT TO VOTE, SHOW IT.” The mailer then states on the back page: “Under a new law, voters are required to show an acceptable photo ID with a valid expiration date when voting on November 6.

Registered to vote but don’t have an ID? Get one for free at a PennDOT Driver License Center (with supporting documentation).”

It then lists acceptable IDs, and on the bottom, uses language from earlier official mailers: “Learn more. Visit votesPA.com.” It then lists the official state phone number for that program. CW

NEWS 9

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

DePasquale plans for day-one review of DEP water-testing programs

BY KEVIN ZWICK, CAPITOLWIRE

The newly elected “independent fiscal watchdog” is planning to spend the next couple months building a staff and evaluating current employees to fulfill a day-one campaign promise.

On Nov. 6, York County Democratic Rep. Eugene DePasquale was a part of a wave that elected the first woman and Democrat to the attorney general office, returned an incumbent U.S. Senator to Washington for a second term, and expanded the state Senate Democratic Caucus by three seats.

DePasquale defeated fellow legislator Rep. John Maher, R-Allegheny, and Libertarian candidate Betsy Summers during the mid-term elections of Gov. Tom Corbett’s first term in office.

“I do think there’s people who like the idea of an independent watchdog on the governor,” DePasquale said. “It wasn’t a completely overriding element of the campaign, but it was certainly something that was out there.”

DePasquale’s day-one campaign promise is to dive into a politically charged area of state politics – auditing water-

Officials mulling expansion of Pennsylvania Lottery games Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration is considering expanding the state lottery system games to include monitor-based games, such as Keno, in bars and taverns as early as 2013.

That step, long sought by bars and taverns, but blocked by the Legislature and previous governors, is a way for the $3.5 billion lottery system to increase its revenue for state programs benefiting senior citizens, Corbett said.

And now, the administration believes it has the power to have Keno and online games legal without legislation approving it.

So Pennsylvanians may soon see monitor-based and online games, whether the management of the Pennsylvania Lottery goes to a private company or stays under control of the commonwealth.

Gov. Tom Corbett said those options are “on the table.”

The Pennsylvania Lottery currently is seeking a private firm to manage the lottery.

On Nov. 9 the Revenue Department on Friday issued terms and conditions of the private management agreement, encouraging bidders to include plans to implement monitor-based games by 2013, and Internet-based games by 2015.

Corbett administration officials believe an expansion of monitor-based and online games will not require legislative action. CW

testing programs in the Marcellus Shale region overseen by the Department of Environmental Protection.

The audit would determine whether the staffing levels at DEP are appropriate to regulate and monitor natural gas drilling and also will examine inspection and testing methods at regional offices for consistency, he said.

Kevin Sunday, a spokesman for DEP, said the department is budgeted for 202 oil and gas staff members. In 2011, DEP’s oil and gas staff has conducted 10,099 inspections of Marcellus Shale sites, which were more than double the previous year’s inspections, the department said.

Facing budget cuts over the past two years, DEP Secretary Michael Krancer has defiantly told lawmakers the department’s staff can handle the increased workloads from the Marcellus Shale industry boom.

But DePasquale says the safety of drinking water is something that deserves an independent review.

Future audits in DePasquale’s first term will include performance audits of job training programs at the Department of

Community and Economic Development, to grade the programs for effectiveness and revise or eliminate programs that fail. Also, he plans to audit local school boards in order to identify wasteful spending.

The unofficial election tally shows DePasquale with the lowest vote total out of any Democrat running for statewide office, but higher turnout from a presidential year boosted statewide Democrats. He received 49.7 percent, or about 2.6 million votes, over Maher’s 46.5 percent, or 2.4 million votes, and Summers’ 3.8 percent or 203,398 votes, according to the unofficial tally.

DePasquale and Maher also ran for their House seats and both won those elections.

The post of auditor general has been called the “independent fiscal watchdog,” with auditing authority over the state agencies and state-owned facilities, liquor stores, municipal pensions, district justices, agencies that receive state aid, and public school districts and other educational agencies.

The auditor general post is limited to two terms, a total of 8 years, if the incum-

Rep. Eugene DePasquale

bent wins re-election after his first term.

The current Auditor General Jack Wagner, D-Allegheny, will serve the rest of his second term, which expires at the end of 2012.

Since the 1960s, Democrats have held the post, with the exception of Republican Barbara Hafer who served two terms in the late 1980s until the mid-1990s. CW

10 NEWS

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

Pennsylvania Chamber Receives Outstanding Organization Award The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry received the 2012 Outstanding Organization Award at the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform’s (ILR) 13th Annual Legal Reform Summit Oct. 24 for its continuing contributions to the legal reform movement in Pennsylvania.

Under the leadership of President and CEO Gene Barr, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry has played an integral role in working to improve the state’s lawsuit climate by helping to pass “fair share” legislation that was signed into law last year and aiming to improve the state’s joint and several liability regime. The organization also has helped to shine the public spotlight on the problem of lawsuit abuse.

“We’re very pleased to honor the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry with our outstanding organization award,” said Lisa A. Rickard, President of ILR. “They have been a valuable partner to ILR in our legal reform efforts, and their work has been critical in exposing problems in the civil justice system and making Pennsylvania more competitive for businesses and job growth.”

Since its founding in 1916, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry has been an outspoken advocate of business and industry in Pennsylvania.

Serving thousands of member businesses

Gene Barr accepts the Outstanding Organization award on behalf of the PA Chamber.

statewide, its membership crosses all industry sectors and comprises business of all sizes – from sole proprietors to Fortune 100 companies – representing nearly 50 percent of the private workforce in the Commonwealth.

The annual Legal Reform Awards honor individuals and organizations whose outstanding work has contributed to making America’s civil justice system simpler, fairer, and faster for everyone. CW

NEWS 11

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

State Democratic chair says dump pollster In a letter to ABC27 and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Jim Burn urged the outlets to reconsider using Susquehanna Polling and Research for future elections.

Susquehanna’s polling produced wildly incorrect results that caused erroneous coverage and assumption and did a disservice to the outlets’ audiences. Chairman Burn is also urging other media outlets to no longer report the results of Susquehanna’s “laughably biased and incorrect polls.” Burn’s letter continues: ”Following the results of the 2012 election, I’m writing you in an effort to correct a major problem with the coverage you produced during the 2012 cycle. The pollster commissioned by your outlet, Susquehanna Polling and Research, consistently produced results that were out of step with independent public polls.

Because of your use of Susquehanna’s polls, your audience was significantly misinformed about the races that you covered,” Burn stated in his letter.

“Not only did Susquehanna Polling and Research incorrectly predict the outcome of the election, but the degree of inaccuracy of the poll display clear intentions of skewing results to favor Republican candidates. “’The Trib poll, conducted Oct. 29-31 by Susquehanna Polling & Research, found Obama tied with Republican Mitt Romney at 47 percent and Casey leading Smith 46 percent to 45 percent, with an error margin of 3.46 percentage points. Romney ended up with about 47 percent and Smith reached 45 percent, but their Democratic opponents outperformed the poll by 5 and 7.6 percentage points, respectively.’”

[Tribune Review, 11/08/12] “’Every poll in the past two weeks - except a Tribune-Review [using Susquehanna Polling] survey - showed President Obama would win Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes on Tuesday. Most of the seven surveys showed him winning by 4 to 6 percentage points, and he won by 5.2 points.’”

[Tribune Review, 11/08/12] “This is not a case of a well-intentioned firm that simply got the numbers wrong.

The Patriot-News reported that an ‘influential Pennsylvania Republican’ said, ‘... Mr. Gleason has been bestowing large amounts of money on consultants to come up with polls and [television ads] of dubious value...’

Susquehanna Polling and Research is the pollster for the Pennsylvania Republican Party and numerous Republican candidates and elected officials. They performed polling for the Pennsylvania Republican Party that showed the same inconsistent results. They are simply not an independent pollster and not the type of pollster a respected media outlet like yours should report or use. Their poor polling performance cannot simply be the case of bad samples or models, they have a built in bias

that led them to produce fake results that helped the narrative of their candidates and clients. Quite simply, they have a financial incentive to show close poll results.

“If you are to use a partisan pollster, other media outlets produce polling with far more reliable results by teaming a Republican pollster with a Democratic pollster. The track record of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s pollsters this election cycle show a much more credible model. Furthermore, other outlets use independent or nonpartisan polls and achieve much more accurate results.

“Ultimately, the model you used hurt the credibility of your outlet. To provide your audience with more accurate and credible coverage, we would suggest that you no longer use Susquehanna as a pollster or report on their erroneous findings.

Their results were embarrassing and they performed significantly worse than any

“Ultimately, the model you used hurt the credibility of your outlet.” of their peers who were also polling in Pennsylvania. Using Susquehanna Polling and Research provided a disservice to your audience and I urge you to consider changing your pollster for future elections.”

In a Nov. 9 article, Susquehanna’s president, Jim Lee told the TribuneReview: “Susquehanna underestimated turnout among Democratic-friendly segments of the population. Young voters and Philadelphia-area Democrats turned out in numbers close to those in 2008, when Obama won the state by 10 points.

“That caught me off guard. I didn’t think that was going to happen. I didn’t think the enthusiasm was there.”

Lee compared the presidential election of 2008 to that of 2012 where voters ages 18 to 29 were a key constituency in Obama’s 2008 victory, when they turned out in record numbers.

“I was suggesting it would be lower with that age group, given unemployment was considerably higher” for them, Lee said.

In an interview conducted by PoliticsPA, Chris Borick, Director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion says, “They thought they were looking at a different electorate than the normal methods showed. You don’t build a turnout model based on optimism or pessimism. I don’t even like to weight for party.”

“Republicans use polls – as Democrats often do – for tactical reasons. I think the goals of their polling had an impact on the methods.” CW

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12 OPINION

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

Editorial

Deciphering the 2012 elections The ancient Etruscans predicted the future by haruspicy – the skill of reading the messages hidden in the liver of a newly slaughtered sheep.

This sounds messy and it truly annoys the sheep, so we prefer to look to the results of the Nov. 6 election to forecast what Pennsylvanians might expect politically in the coming year or two.

First, we need to take a clear-headed look at the remarkable outcome of the Attorney General’s race. Kathleen McGranahan Kane not only won convincingly over Republican county prosecutor David Freed, she led the Democratic ticket, outpolling President Barack Obama by 3 million votes to Obama’s 2.8 million. It makes her the odds-on “bright star” in the new Democratic firmament (an honor that will be difficult but not impossible to defend if she takes some cues from Barack Obama’s own meteoric rise to the world’s top elective post). All she has to do is keep her campaign promises – and perceived promises.

First, she must prove that she is the person that Democrats chose in the Primary over former Cong. Patrick Murphy – that she is a prosecutor and that she will be an activist in fighting corruption and abuse.

She went out on a limb promising to investigate what really happened in the Jerry Sandusky case but that opens up two mine fields – pursuing the “real story” of the “Sandusky conspiracy of silence” will pit her against the culture of Penn State and a sitting Governor in a situation where provable facts will be a scarce commodity. Her hard line on the Sandusky case clearly won her votes over David Freed’s “kinder and gentler” approach on how he would handle a review of who did what and when but now she will have to deliver some demonstrable results.

As a fail-safe, she should take a page from the playbook of another success-

ful woman candidate in this year’s election, U.S. Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Warren never held political office before, either, but built a national reputation around consumer education and consumer protection. Both Kane and Freed talked about the need for an energized consumer protection division in the Attorney General’s office. Kane would be well-advised to make it happen.

While Corbett has to look over his shoulder at the potential for an aggressive, investigating attorney general, he’s probably got more vexing concerns going into a 2014 re-elect from his party’s Far Right.

Tom Smith’s decisive loss to incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey must be frustrating to his conservative supporters who joined him in pouring $20 million into the race only to see Casey, too, outpoll Obama.

But, giving credit where credit is due, Smith was a total political unknown and a former Democrat before he entered the Republican Primary this year. A more seasoned candidate with the same funding resources (or having Smith’s ability to selffund) and Casey would have had a much more difficult time retaining his seat. It might be tempting in 2013 for Corbett to move to the middle of the road, ala New Jersey’s Chris Christie, but he’s got to worry about the 2014 Primary before he can get to the General Election.

For Bob Casey, 2013 may well be his year to shine. He will no longer be a freshman Senator and there will be a critical need for a “voice of reason” in the U.S. Senate. He got comfortable in the campaign explaining his approach as a man who was willing to work behind the scenes to get results. Now that he has been “outed,” people will be watching to see what kind of role he takes in brokering any successful efforts to reach across the aisle to forge programs to stave off a new

recession. He may well have a willing partner in Pennsylvania’s junior senator, Pat Toomey, who doesn’t have to worry about proving his conservative credentials to anyone and can afford to be a statesman for the good of the nation.

The Kathleen Kane election will also force her statewide office-mates, Auditor General-elect Eugene DePasquale and Treasurer Rob McCord to raise the level of their game as well. DePasquale’s predecessor, Pittsburgh’s Jack Wagner, was

able to garner headlines almost any day of the week by uncovering and reporting even small fiscal abuses in government because he was the only investigative game in town. Now he will have competition.

For McCord, he’s been an exemplary fiscal manager but has never been much worried about letting his light shine out from under the basket. With aggressive leaders Kane and DePasquale competing for media attention, McCord will have to work harder to tell his story to the public. CW

There ought to be a law against vote maps The U.S. Supreme Court in 1964 established clearly the concept of “one person, one vote.” It wasn’t “one state, one vote” or “one acre, one vote.” It wasn’t even “one corporation, one vote.”

That’s a hard concept for your brain to tell your eyes whenever a news media outlet shows you a voter distribution map based on political subdivisions – the ubiquitous “red state/blue state” maps.

There ought to be a law barring news media from using such maps because they cause such cognitive dissonance for conservatives and liberals alike. Okay, it would be wrong to make it a law, but it would behoove news media who are so eager to

fact-check the candidates to take a good hard look at the way spatial mapping misleads the public.

Because population density is not uniform and because partisan voter behavior is fairly predictable (if you live in the wide open spaces, you’re more likely to vote Republican), spatial maps end up showing lots more red than blue. Your eyes end up telling your brain, “Gee, there’s so much red in that map, the red guys must have whupped the bejabbers out of those blue dudes.” Then your brain has to patiently explain to your eyes, “No, those blue areas contain much more than half of the nation’s population.”

Literally, “you can’t believe your eyes.” CW

NEWS 13

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

Survey shows Pennsylvanians support rigorous statewide academic standards

C E N T R A L

states through the National Governors Association, the idea, once explained, was supported strongly (67 percent).

Those surveyed also strongly supported the potential benefits resulting from a more rigorous public school curriculum that would result from implementing CCSS at every grade level in Pennsylvania. A total of 68 percent said a more rigorous curriculum would make students better citizens; 76 percent agreed students would be better prepared to get a first job; 71 percent believed it would help make them life-long learners and 64 percent believed they would be better prepared for college.

Better than one in five surveyed (22 percent) said the biggest advantage for having CCSS at every grade level was that it would help ensure that all high school graduates have the knowledge and skills necessary to enter the workforce. Almost as many people (19 percent) noted that it would ensure that all graduates have mastered knowledge required to begin a successful college career.

About one in six surveyed (16 percent) thought that the biggest advantage of having statewide standards at every grade level was that students and teachers would know what is acceptable and what is expected.

One of the key features of Common Core State Standards is that all participating states would voluntarily align their learning requirements with other states. Voters

P E N N S Y L V A N I A

participating in the survey saw value in this, with 70 percent stating that it was important to them that Pennsylvania’s educational system compares favorably with the education programs of other states. Similarly, 71 percent of participants want Pennsylvania’s educational system to compare favorably with education in other countries.

Most participants (55 percent) said they believed Pennsylvania’s educational system compared favorably with other states with about one in five (20 percent) said they believed Pennsylvania schools were better than those of other states. Respondents weren’t so sure about how Pennsylvania schools ranked worldwide. A total of 16 percent said they felt Pennsylvania schools were “strongly better” or “somewhat better” than other nations; 25 percent said they thought Pennsylvania schools are about the same. But, 42 percent said they felt Pennsylvania public schools were worse than those in other nations.

Another key component of the Common Core initiative is a set of exams that would be shared by many states — the Common State Assessment (CSA). The federal No Child Left Behind law first required uniform exams to chart progress toward proficiency and Pennsylvania created the PSSA exams. Soon, Pennsylvania will begin to replace the PSSAs with new assessments known as the Keystone Exams. An over-

Y O U T H

B A L L E T

whelming 70 percent of survey respondents agreed with the statement, “Every student in the state should have to pass a common exam to make certain the same core material is being learned.”

Survey respondents also shared their belief that more rigorous academic standards and proof of proficiency through common assessments would reduce the amount of remedial education needed by college and other post-secondary students. Sixty-two percent of respondents said that average recent graduates of a public school in Pennsylvania might need ”some” remedial training after graduating from high school and 19 percent said recent graduates require “a lot” of remediation.

About one in three surveyed said they saw a strong role for business men and women in public schools to “serve as mentors for students.” Others said the best way for businesses to be involved in education would be in “helping to set curriculum and standards” (16 percent), donating money to local teachers and schools (11 percent) and donating equipment to local teachers and schools (11 percent).

The Tarrance Group conducted the survey among 600 registered voters via live telephone interviews between Aug. 13 and Aug. 16. Each interview lasted 22 minutes and calls completed included 20 percent cell phone users. The estimated margin of error in a survey of this type is plus or minute 4.1 percent. CW

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Fewer than one in three Pennsylvania voters in a new poll would give public schools in the state an “A” or “B” grade, but two out of three agree that implementing tougher standards that would be common across the 50 states would improve educational performance.

In a survey of 600 registered voters conducted as students were preparing to return to school from the summer holiday, only slightly more of those interviewed (47 percent) gave their local public schools an “A” or “B” (excellent or above average) than public schools in general (32 percent). Two out of five Pennsylvania voters surveyed gave the Commonwealth a “C”(for average) grade.

The poll was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Business Council Education Foundation and conducted by The Tarrance Group, a national polling firm.

Even though many surveyed think schools are doing a fair to excellent job, almost half (48 percent) believe public schools in the state have gotten worse in the past 10 years.

The survey underscores the public’s desire to improve Pennsylvania education.

In fact, better than four of five (83 percent) of those surveyed agreed with the statement, “The same standards should be taught in every part of the state.” And although only 20 percent of voters said they had ever heard about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) initiative launched in Pennsylvania and 45 other

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14 OPINION

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

The audacity of pandering President Obama is correct to be concerned about the student-loan crisis. Last year, the total amount of student debt exceeded $1 trillion, while unemployment of recent college graduates has stayed stubbornly high. This enormous debt could diminish the standard of living of our nation’s youth for decades.

But, as so often true with this president, he correctly identifies a problem and then looks for government-centric solutions instead of free-market ones.

Worse, he looks for a politically appealing solution that sounds great in twitter but, once examined in detail, actually makes the original problem worse. His latest soundbite solution to student debt is the “Pay as You Earn” plan. This program would cap the amount that students repay their loans at 10 percent of their income. After either 10 or, at most, 20 years, anything not paid back is forgiven. In other words, taxpayers would pay off the loan.

This ill-conceived policy will actually drive up college costs and incentivize people to get degrees that are not in demand in the 21st-century global economy.

Student-loan costs are soaring because college costs are soaring. Over the last two decades, the cost of a college degree

has tripled, which is 2 1/2 times the rate of inflation. While technology is driving down the cost of most industries, it’s not happening at universities. “Pay as You Earn” will only worsen this trend.

Why would any student care what the cost of college is if his actual payment has little to do with the eventual cost? Might as

BY STEVE WELCH

The overall unemployment of recent college graduates is 8.9 percent. But that rate varies depending on one’s degree. The unemployment rate for art history majors is a whopping 12.6 percent, with more than half working at jobs, often low-paying ones, that have nothing to do with their degree. On the other hand, recent electrical

Student-loan costs are soaring because college costs are soaring. Over the last two decades, the cost of a college degree has tripled, which is 2 1/2 times the rate of inflation. well spend $180,000 for a four-year degree, rather than get a comparable education at $70,000. Either way, the loan payment is going to be 10 percent of one’s annual income.

To drive down tuition rates, we need more students to focus on the actual shortand long-term costs of college.

One of the unspoken problems with our economy is the skills gap. We have too few people prepared for the jobs of the 21st century.

engineers have an unemployment rate of 7.1 percent, and an average starting salary of $57,000. This is good, because they will be forced to pay off the loans of the kids who received degrees in philosophy.

Obama’s policy will continue to push people toward degrees that are not in demand. As an engineer, I am the first to say that the training is hard.

Often, would-be engineers and others working toward hard-science degrees have to work night and day and struggle to grad-

uate. But it’s worth it. The market is telling us that hard-science degrees are needed.

Even the president speaks about the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math, but he pushes policies that diminish the likelihood that students will pursue these much-needed degrees.

To improve secondary education and accessibility, the focus must be on reducing costs and improving results. We should subsidize students, not schools, and let students shop for the best value. Why give more tax dollars to universities that often spend it without regard to how students benefit?

We should also encourage policies that use technology-enabled open courseware, which allow universities to share their course material freely with the world via the Internet. That’s the kind of policy that would ensure that the American university system continues to be accessible, while at the same time the envy of the world.

Obama needs to stop pandering, and instead work to ensure that our schools help make the 21st century another American century. CW Steve Welch is the founder of DreamIt Ventures and KinderTown.

Working together to keep pennsylvania green

BY JOHN R. HANGER, ESQUIRE

You have probably seen Hillandale Farms eggs in your local grocery store. But few people know that this forward-thinking Adams County egg producer is working with EnergyWorks BioPower, LLC (EnergyWorks) to create a first of its kind bio-energy project in Tyrone Township in Adams County. The Hillandale/ EnergyWorks project is a model for how “out-of the-coop” solutions can benefit farms, save money, and reduce both water and air pollution.

Hillandale Farms has been operating in Pennsylvania for 14 years. During this time, Hillandale has demonstrated that it is a leader in egg production, technologically and environmentally. Since Hillandale Farms is the largest chicken laying farm in Pennsylvania, the waste produced by millions of layer hens is substantial and must be handled safely. With an eye towards environmental stewardship, Hillandale began to look for solutions. It found EnergyWorks, a full service provider of ecosystem services.

Hillandale and EnergyWorks will use gasification technology to transform chicken waste (biomass) to renewable energy.

The electric plant will generate about 3.25 MW of electricity, enough for about 2700

homes. The electricity will mainly run the farm and plant, with any excess electricity sold back to the grid.

This plant not only will reduce Hillandale’s electricity bills but eliminate over 34,000 tons of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas annually and recover about 13,000 tons of mineral byproducts, that can be recycled as

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has certified the plant as a nutrient credit generator with a projected annual capacity of over 1,000,000 nitrogen credits and 53,000 phosphorous credits, making it Pennsylvania’s largest certified credit generator. The plant is expected to be up and running by the end of 2012.

This plant wouldn’t have become a reality without support from government and the private sector, however. fertilizer or livestock-feed supplement.

Today, all of the farm’s droppings are stored and then spread on land as fertilizer, resulting in potential runoff of nitrogen and phosphorous into our local waters and the Chesapeake Bay. Once the new plant is up and running, the process will contribute toward Pennsylvania’s 2025 target reductions in nutrient loading to the Chesapeake Bay in amounts equivalent to 3.5 percent of the target for nitrogen and a 4.4 percent of the target for phosphorus. The Pennsylvania

This plant wouldn’t have become a reality without support from government and the private sector, however. EnergyWorks received loans from Pennvest, the state program that helps support projects that improve the Commonwealth’s water and sewer infrastructure. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) was instrumental in creating regulations and policies to foster the development of alternative and renewable energy projects in the Commonwealth generally and eliminated

barriers for the Hillandale project. Over 60 percent of the costs to develop and construct the project will go to Pennsylvania companies, providing immediate benefit in terms of manufacturing and construction jobs.

The local utility, Metropolitan Edison, worked with Hillandale and EnergyWorks to put in place the energy sales contract needed to make the plant economically viable. Pennsylvania State University and several of the state’s poultry and livestock feed producers are working with EnergyWorks to qualify the mineral byproducts as commercial feed supplements. This initiative is an important step toward conserving phosphorus as a limited, non-renewable resource.

The project may be a model of an agricultural and energy project that could be replicated across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and possibly America. If so, it could help usher in a whole new era of sustainable animal agriculture. CW John Hanger is special counsel to Eckert Seamans. He served as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection and is an expert on energy, environment, green economy, competitive electric markets, and utility regulation.

OPINION 15

NOVEMBER 2012 CAPITAL WATCH

Know your style and theirs Investment style is. . .

So many theories and options, so much debate on the market and where it is heading.

The average investor can be overwhelmed. Looking backwards, the government and other agencies report information about housing, manufacturing and jobs based on yesterday’s news and numbers. The stock market, however, is a forward-looking mechanism based on future and anticipated projections. One entity looking backwards and the other looking forward. Could this be why so many predictions go awry and so many economists get it wrong? If you are going to follow any investment advice, you need to understand the source of the recommendation and their investment style and concurrently understand your personal investment style as well. Several mathematical models are used to analyze expected returns, but many use different investment styles. What are they? How do they work, and do they match your objective and expectations? Let’s take a look at some different investment styles.

1. Growth Investing: Growth investing typically involves finding small to mediumsized companies (may involve some large cap that generate earnings or revenues greater than the market at large.) One of the major differences with the growth style vs. the other styles is the investor gains are expected to come from increases in stock values and not from shareholder dividends. If you as an investor are looking for income to supplement your retirement or lifestyle, growth investing is probably not where you want to be.

Growth managers and investors are more at ease with paying a premium for a stock based on price per share than other styles of investments if they detect earning potential.

2. Contrarian Investing: Contrarians do not believe the markets are efficient.

Contrarians, as the name implies, will go against the crowd. They traditionally will buy when others are selling and sell when others are buying. A Growth Investor style would buy a stock at its high 30-day moving average, but a Contrarian investor rarely would.

Contrarian investors usually follow a buy and hold strategy once their stock is purchased.

Some of the pitfalls of being a Contrarian investor is getting there too early. Another potential problem with Contrarian investing is called “catching a falling knife”, because the stock dropped 40 percent doesn’t mean it won’t drop another 50 percent. This style may be beneficial if the industry or stock inefficiency is correctly identified.

3. Momentum Investing: The most important element with momentum investing is market and stock direction. Nothing else is as important. If as a child or adult you played organized sports, the winning equation was “the hottest player on the team got the ball”.

Why give the ball to the struggling player? Such is the case with momentum investing.

This strategy is polar opposite to contrarian investing previously mentioned. This strategy is considered an “active management style.” Momentum investing also uses technical indicators such as buy/sell ratios, moving averages and breath of the market technology.

Transition cost and taxation can be negative factors of any “active management style” and momentum investing is no different. This style if done properly will, for the most

SCOTT C. WEAVER, CFP, CFS, CAS

part, have the investor out of the market in a long down market and invested during a long bull market.

Becoming more popular given the extreme market swings during the past several years, momentum investing is something to be investigated.

4. Buy and Hold Investing: Unlike Momentum investing, Buy and Hold is a fairly “passive investment style.” Bonds are usually held to maturity, stocks are held through good and bad market cycles. This strat- Scott C. Weaver, CFP, CFS, CAS egy is traditionally lower in cost, more tax efficient, less work to keep up with ever-moving trends. This style requires a bit more patience and a longer view of the market and market swings. The bad news for this style of investing has been the large market swings during the past several years.

5. Market Timing: With no long term consistency, market timing attempts to take advantage of short term changes in fundamentals and security prices. More like gambling than investing, market timing can be fun and exhilarating but also carries high risk along with it. Because most investors react on emotion, both fear and greed, many fall prey to market timing newsletters and solicitors. One trick of market timing publications is to recommend many different ideas and investment choices then “cherry pick” the winners and not mention the losers. As with any business, there are good ones and bad ones. Just make sure you do your homework.

6. Value Investing: The market often overreacts to bad news, whole industries and just not individual stock fall out of favor and with it the market will throw the “baby out with the bathwater.” Good companies are taken down with the bad. I believe this is an ideal environment for the value investment style. Value investors look for the hidden gems based on price to book and sales earning history, just to name a few. They are both fundamentalist and contrarians combined with a long term buy and hold strategy.

Some very famous Wall Street firms and investment icons follow and use this value style.

Essentially, they are looking for growth but at a fair price. The same similar risk are is inherent within this value style as with the contrarian, particularly getting there too early, bad research or just bad luck.

Identifying your investment style is important. For instance, do you get your snow blower tuned up in the summertime or wait until the first snow fall. The last time you saw a movie, did you follow the critiques’ advice and follow the crow or did you go see the movie anyway? Are you a trail blazer, or do you find comfort in numbers? As you answer these questions, my hope is that you are one step closer to finding your unique style.

Happy Investing! CW

Source: Personal experience and previous education as a Certified Fund Specialist, Certified Annuity Specialist and a Certified Planner has afforded Scott a lot of information and experience on investment styles. As managing money, Scott utilizes the above on a constant basis. This information is provided for informational purposes only. The information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be reliable but its accuracy or completeness is not guaranteed. This information should not be construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security by the Academic Wealth Strategies or NEXT Financial Group, Inc. Any opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Securities and investment advisory services offered through NEXT Financial Group, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. None of the entities named herein are affiliated with NEXT Financial Group, Inc. 1250 N MOUNTAIN RD STE 4 HARRISBURG, PA 17112 • (717) 652-4965 • Toll free (877) 837-3024.

Younger Americans do care about national issues

BY PAUL T. CONWAY

Young Americans surprised many pundits last night and confirmed what Generation Opportunity has seen first-hand on both social media and at the grassroots level – this generation remains fully engaged in national issues and is extremely concerned about how the poor economy and lack of full-time jobs continue to devastate their everyday lives, careers, and future dreams.

Notably, last night, President Obama saw the highest defection rate from his margin of support in 2008 of any age group among young Americans 18 – 29, who decreased their support of him by a margin of at least 6 percentage points.

Underneath these numbers, young Americans are truly reshaping how they think

about issues like taxes and regulation, largely due to high unemployment; hence, we believe you will see an increase in this shift among young Americans in 2014, 2016, and moving forward. The fact that young Americans will represent 38 percent of the electorate by 2020 makes this all the more relevant.

In the days ahead, it will be important for President Obama and his team to remember that young Americans want meaningful, full-time jobs in their career paths of choice and are increasingly looking for less government involvement in their daily lives. They have given the President another opportunity to fulfill his promises, to match his actions to his rhetoric, and to demonstrate an ability to achieve results in these areas.

Over the next four years, young Americans will watch carefully to see if the President honors his commitments, and, if he fails to do so, they will work with organizations like Generation Opportunity to hold him and his allies in Congress accountable.

For future campaigns, the results of last night’s election further demonstrate, yet again, that to succeed in garnering the support of young Americans, they must engage them fully in social media and must embrace the technologies that young Americans utilize to inform their opinions. More importantly, campaigns need to demonstrate that they respect the intelligence and influence of young Americans and provide them the content

necessary for individuals to reach their own conclusions.

Paul T. Conway is President of Generation Opportunity. Generation Opportunity is actively organizing young adults across America through grassroots tactics, voter registration, and voter turnout efforts, engaging over a quarter million young adults. The organization’s social media platforms have amassed a total fan base of more than 4 million. Facebook pages post links to relevant articles and reports from sources ranging from the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO), to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Brookings Institution, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and The Heritage Foundation. CW