Free Press - June 8^th, 2006

Primary Election Results Quakertown Curfew

Dear Friends,

Good morning. Incumbent state senators and representatives plus congressmen and U. S. Senators have plenty to worry about. Next January, when the Pennsylvania General Assembly convenes after the fall elections, you’ll see 60 new faces. Seventeen incumbents lost their primary battles and 43 incumbents, State Senator Joe Conti among them, chose not to face reelection. They were too frightened to face the voters.

In Pennsylvania, incumbency usually reins supreme…sitting state legislators win 90 percent of the time. But not this year. The illegal pay raise, which both houses passed last summer, did them in. Who would have believed that voters would fire State Senator Robert Jubelirer and his colleague, Senator David Brightbill? These two spent 50 years (combined) in the legislature.

But it wasn’t the pay issue, alone which made voters so angry. Republicans control both houses of the state legislature. Governor Rendell on the other hand is a Democrat. Worse, he’s a Philadelphia Democrat. For 100 years, the legislature has been suspicious of Philadelphians of either party.

I believe that the Republican leadership has stalled administration-sponsored legislation ever since Rendell became the Governor four years ago. The Republican strategy was to deny any major legislative victory to Rendell. That’s the basic reason why voters still have not seen tax reform.

Finally, voters wearied about how business is done in Harrisburg. You might wonder why 50 state senators and 203 representatives blindly follow their leadership (the U. S. congress is no better). It’s about ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.’ And the stakes are high. It’s about passing out the pork…if a legislator insists upon voting his conscience or bucking the leadership, he’ll be a very lonely fellow.

I’ll always remember William Proxmire, the Wisconsin Senator, who made his colleagues furious because he issued periodic “Golden Fleece” awards. Proxmire exposed pork constantly, making his fellow senators very uncomfortable. In describing Proxmire, one of them said, “Bill Proxmire has all of the qualities of a dog…except loyalty.”

Former state senator Edward Howard had the same reputation. Ed was very popular with Bucks County voters but not with his fellow senators.

Unhappy voters struck back in the May Primary several weeks ago. It will be interesting to see whether the voter insurrection will continue into the fall and beyond. Next year is a municipal election. In Quakertown, there’s plenty of unrest. Property owners have experienced hefty hikes in their electric and water and sewer bills. I would not be surprised if incumbent councilmen get the axe.

In any event, my bet is that the legislature will get property tax relief finished by the November election. Panic is setting in. And you can count on the notion that school districts will not be able to give annual hikes without first gaining permission from the voters via a referendum. Incumbents are in the cross hairs.

Even Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick will have his hands full. His Democrat opponent, Patrick Murphy, is an unknown. But Fitzpatrick is a conservative Republican who won’t be able to shed the association with George W. Bush. Bucks County voters are mercurial. They know how to split tickets. In 2004, they voted for John Kerry and (then) Congressman Jim Greenwood, a moderate Republican.

I like Mike Fitzpatrick but his constituency is not as conservative as he is. Fitzpatrick opposes a woman’s right to choose (an abortion) and he’s against any form of stem cell research, which would destroy embryos. Mike’s position on these issues mirrors President Bush and Senator Rick Santorum. Both are unpopular. My bet is that Santorum will lose his reelection bid. It’s not advantageous to be an incumbent this year.

Item.

The curfew in Quakertown. Personally, I think that an 11 PM curfew for kids under age 18 is a good idea. A better idea would be to have the state legislature change the rules governing teenage drivers. Every legislator knows the statistics…the more teens riding in the same car increases the risk of tragedy. Prohibiting drivers under the age of 18 from having teen passengers would make a very positive change. Why the leadership in both houses hasn’t cured this problem is an absolute mystery.

Term limits would fix it of course. Give every legislator a max of 12 years, no longer. Thorny problems like teen driving and property tax reform would have been solved years ago. Alas, if you think that Pennsylvania’s legislature would even consider term limits…guess again.

Final item.

Residents from the Quakertown School districts should attend the school board meeting on Monday, June 12. Members of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC) will urge the school administration to abandon its present math program known as Integrated Math.

The Bethlehem and North Penn school districts quit Integrated Math. Parents there put tremendous pressure on their school boards to leave Integrated Math behind. Critics claim that I.M. does not adequately prepare high school graduates for college math. Recent graduates are expected to tell the Quakertown school board that they were not ready for college math. Some will testify that they chose not to seek technical careers in business or engineering because their peers have outgunned them.

Superintendent James Scanlon is circulating an anonymous survey to math and science teachers asking them what they think of I.M. Stay tuned…better yet, attend the June 12 meeting.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith