Editorial Roundup: Pennsylvania
LNP/LancasterOnline. January 3, 2024.
Editorial: Gov. Shapiro’s office should have furnished taxpayers with more transparency about the Governor’s Residence redo
No one expects the governor of Pennsylvania to live in a house filled with Ikea furniture that he had to assemble himself.
And we understand that some updates had to be made after the Governor’s Residence went unoccupied during the eight years Democrat Tom Wolf was in office and commuted to Harrisburg from his York County home.
We don’t begrudge anyone new toilets and fresh bedding. But did Pennsylvania taxpayers really need to foot the bill for a $4,600 king-size mattress and a $4,500 “power-reclining” sectional sofa with heat and massage features? We know that watching the Philadelphia Eagles, the governor’s hometown team, has been stress-inducing of late, but somehow we manage to do it without a massaging couch. Perhaps the 75-inch TV and five 65-inch TVs that cost taxpayers a total of about $6,600 weren’t such a good idea. Who needs to watch the Birds’ defense collapse in high definition?
A $170 coffee maker isn’t that surprising, but an $884 immersion blender with attachments? Two under-the-counter refrigerators for $7,007? Also, $5,626 for glass plates? And $2,000 for guest hand towels?
Referring generally to the items detailed in the documents obtained by LNP ' LancasterOnline, Shapiro spokesperson Bonder said the “purchases can kind of speak for themselves.”
And they do.
It’s what they’re saying that concerns us.
While no one expects the governor to live in Harrisburg without creature comforts, we agree with Eric Epstein, coordinator at government watchdog group Rock the Capital, who said the mansion upgrades were “a missed opportunity to exercise fiscal restraint.”
As LNP ' LancasterOnline’s White reported, “Bonder blamed inflation for the higher total spending for furniture, electronics, bedding and other items for the mansion under Shapiro when compared to past governors.”
That message — it’s inflation’s fault! — clearly wasn’t approved by Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
More than the actual spending, it’s the secrecy surrounding that spending that perturbs us.
As White noted, David Moyer was eager to share the news that his store, Benjamin T. Moyer Furniture in Sunbury, had supplied the Governor’s Residence with maple armchairs and a matching table, an accent table with two wing chairs, a writing desk with an inlay top, as well as six Adirondack chairs. The total price: $16,000.
And we understand that some updates had to be made after the Governor’s Residence went unoccupied during the eight years Democrat Tom Wolf was in office and commuted to Harrisburg from his York County home.
We don’t begrudge anyone new toilets and fresh bedding. But did Pennsylvania taxpayers really need to foot the bill for a $4,600 king-size mattress and a $4,500 “power-reclining” sectional sofa with heat and massage features? We know that watching the Philadelphia Eagles, the governor’s hometown team, has been stress-inducing of late, but somehow we manage to do it without a massaging couch. Perhaps the 75-inch TV and five 65-inch TVs that cost taxpayers a total of about $6,600 weren’t such a good idea. Who needs to watch the Birds’ defense collapse in high definition?
A $170 coffee maker isn’t that surprising, but an $884 immersion blender with attachments? Two under-the-counter refrigerators for $7,007? Also, $5,626 for glass plates? And $2,000 for guest hand towels?
Referring generally to the items detailed in the documents obtained by LNP ' LancasterOnline, Shapiro spokesperson Bonder said the “purchases can kind of speak for themselves.”
And they do.
It’s what they’re saying that concerns us.
While no one expects the governor to live in Harrisburg without creature comforts, we agree with Eric Epstein, coordinator at government watchdog group Rock the Capital, who said the mansion upgrades were “a missed opportunity to exercise fiscal restraint.”
As LNP ' LancasterOnline’s White reported, “Bonder blamed inflation for the higher total spending for furniture, electronics, bedding and other items for the mansion under Shapiro when compared to past governors.”
That message — it’s inflation’s fault! — clearly wasn’t approved by Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
More than the actual spending, it’s the secrecy surrounding that spending that perturbs us.
As White noted, David Moyer was eager to share the news that his store, Benjamin T. Moyer Furniture in Sunbury, had supplied the Governor’s Residence with maple armchairs and a matching table, an accent table with two wing chairs, a writing desk with an inlay top, as well as six Adirondack chairs. The total price: $16,000.
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Philadelphia Daily News/Inquirer. January 7, 2024.
Editorial: Menendez, Perry, and Mastriano follow a Trumpian example in the face of political scandals
Like the 45th president, each has been undeterred and unrepentant amid allegations of impropriety, wrongdoing, and abuse of their authority.
There was a time when disgraced elected officials would at least resign for the sake of the institution and the public they served. But instead, taxpayers are stuck for now with the likes of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.), U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R., York), and State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R., Franklin).
Menendez was charged with taking bribes in return for using his power to benefit foreign governments. Perry and Mastriano violated their sworn oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, when they aided and abetted former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
None of them have any business serving in a government the authorities say they worked to subvert. Yet, despite allegations that they abused their office, each man continues to pocket their six-figure, taxpayer-funded salaries.
Have they no sense of decency? That question used to mean something. But many of today’s elected officials are shameless.
The poster child, of course, is Trump. He bragged about grabbing women by their genitals and was found guilty of raping a woman. Trump was impeached twice and indicted four times, including for taking classified documents and inciting an insurrection. Despite a long list of transgressions, he remains undeterred and unrepentant.
Now, Trump is back putting the country through hell as he runs for president again. He never takes responsibility and always blames someone else.
Other politicians see how voters tolerate such abuses and now follow Trump’s lead. They have no regard for the corrosive effects they are having on government institutions and civil society.
Take Menendez (please). He and his wife, Nadine Arslanian, were indicted in September for accepting gold bars, a luxury car, and tens of thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for using his power to help three businessmen.
In October, a superseding indictment accused Menendez of taking bribes in exchange for providing “sensitive U.S. government information” that found its way to Egyptian military and intelligence officials, and ghostwriting a letter to Senate colleagues urging them to lift a hold on $300 million in U.S. aid to Egypt.
Last week, another superseding indictment accused Menendez of further abusing his office to help a New Jersey developer obtain millions of dollars in investment from a fund with ties to the government of Qatar.
Most normal humans would walk away in disgrace, especially after dozens of their colleagues called on them to resign. But Menendez said he is not going anywhere.
Menendez, who dodged separate bribery charges in 2017, has not been convicted of a crime. But the legal cloud is a distraction and renders the senator largely ineffective. More troubling, donors who may seek favors from him are contributing to his legal defense fund.
Meanwhile, there is perhaps nothing more egregious than a public official participating in a plot to overturn a presidential election. Perry had an extensive role in Trump’s coup attempt.
Perry worked with Trump apparatchiks in the U.S. Justice Department to spread lies about election fraud and decertify the vote in Georgia. Perry voted against certifying the election in Pennsylvania — but conveniently didn’t challenge the outcome of his own reelection.
Perry defied a subpoena from colleagues in the House that investigated events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021,insurrection. The final House report mentions Perry 22 times and referred him to the Ethics Committee.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) said Perry sought a pardon from Trump during his final days in office, which Perry denied. FBI agents seized Perry’s telephone, though the congressman said he was not a target of any federal investigation.
Last week, a longtime good government activist in Harrisburg filed a lawsuit seeking to have Perry removed from the upcoming state primary ballot because of his role in the insurrection. Article 3 of the 14th Amendment says people who engage in insurrection are unable to hold office.
Perry fits the Article 3 criteria. And the same goes for Mastriano.
Mastriano was Trump’s “point person” in the fake electors scheme in Pennsylvania. He was in direct contact with Trump in the lead-up to the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol.
Mastriano spread false information about vote totals in Pennsylvania, though like Perry, Mastriano did not challenge the votes regarding his state Senate race. Mastriano used campaign funds to bus protesters to Washington and marched to the Capitol with insurrectionists.
Last week, State Sen. Art Haywood, a Democrat who represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties, filed an ethics complaint against Mastriano for his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
“The Senate is a place of integrity, and this complaint is to uphold that integrity,” Haywood said.
Unfortunately, Mastriano, Perry, and Menendez know nothing about integrity. Voters should keep that in mind, as all three of these disgraced officials are up for reelection this year.
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 5, 2024.
Editorial: Unemployment is at record lows. Why are people down on the economy?
It’s hard to deny that the economy of Western Pennsylvania, and of the United States as a whole, is doing remarkably well — especially in the wake of the COVID pandemic and subsequent inflation. The jobless rate in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area ended the year at a record low 3.5%, even lower than the national average, while adding 16,800 jobs over the year.
These figures are out of keeping with a tense national economic mood. Something’s going on that’s not captured in the topline numbers.
The last time the U.S. unemployment rate was this low was in 1969. And other unemployment metrics, such as those taking into account those who have given up on finding work, are just as strong.
One slightly discouraging sign is that the labor force participation rate — the percent of adults working or seeking to work — is still down nearly 5% from the peak of 67% at the turn of the millennium. This means millions more Americans are opting out of the labor force entirely. But the rate has also completely recovered from the pandemic shock, and so is not seriously depressing the unemployment rate.
Wage growth, too, is strong — even when controlling for recent high inflation. In fact, wage growth outpaced inflation over the past 12 months, and low- and middle-income Americans did better than high-income Americans. So neither discouraged workers nor inequality explains the ambiguous economic mood.
One explanation is that inflation has a lingering psychological effect, even when wages are keeping up. The price of Cheerios is more noticeable, on a day-to-day level, than a subtle boost to the direct deposit. People feel price hikes more than they feel their neighbor getting a job or a raise.
High interest rates, too, can kill the mood, even if they aren’t killing spending.
One place where inflation and interest meet is the housing market — and here we find something startling. From 2021 to 2023, the average age of first-time homebuyers rose from 33 to 35. And in the third quarter of 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal, the average new monthly home payment had soared past average monthly rent by over $1,000: about $3,200 to $2,200.
At the same time, the median household income in the U.S. is about $75,000. By the rule of thumb that housing should cost, at most, 30% of gross income, that means the median American household can afford about $1,900 each month. And average home payments are nearly 70% higher than that.
In other words, the financial and personal stability of home ownership is completely out of reach for more and more middle-class Americans, and broad economic data won’t mean much to people who have a job but can’t afford a home of their own.
Low unemployment is still better than high, and more jobs are better than fewer. The economy is strong, or at least it could be much weaker. But that doesn’t mean everyone does, or should, feel the same way about it.
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