Free Republic

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Gov. Ed Rendell, one of Hillary Rodham Clinton's most visible supporters, said some white Pennsylvanians are likely to vote against her rival Barack Obama because he is black.

Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell says Barack Obama is going to lose votes because some white voters are not ready for a black president: "I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate." Rendell also said he thought race cost his Republican opponent, former NFL star Lynn Swann, around five points in the 2006 election for governor. Rendell's statement was jarring for me. Last summer, at my wife's high school reunion, I met a guy who grew up in Penn Yan and now works for a nuclear facility outside Pittsburgh. He's a Libertarian...

Rendell can't spin away Hsu By Brad Bumsted STATE CAPITOL REPORTER Sunday, September 23, 2007 HARRISBURG Capitol observers were astounded when Gov. Ed Rendell called Democrat fundraiser Norman Hsu, a felon and then-fugitive, "one of the best 10 people I've met." They're likely more astounded now. Rendell made the comment to The Philadelphia Inquirer; it became instant fodder for Capitol insiders. If Mr. Hsu is on the governor's Top 10 list, who else is on the list? Incredibly, Rendell last week backed off the statement at his first Capitol news conference since the Hsu scandal surfaced. The governor threw in...

PA GOP: Fast Eddie Robs Peter Paul to Pay Hillary Friday, September 14, 2007 Contact: Michael Barley HARRISBURG —Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Robert A. Gleason, Jr. was not surprised to see that Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton are involved in more fundraising scandals with another convicted felon, named Peter Paul. Paul alleges that Ed Rendell, then Chairman of the Democrat National Committee, told him to lie about his involvement with a 2000 Clinton for Senate fundraiser. “Apparently, when Sen. Clinton and Gov. Rendell need campaign donations, they dial up the list of America’s most wanted as...

Felon wants Rendell to testify By Brad Bumsted STATE CAPITOL REPORTER Saturday, September 15, 2007 Peter F. Paul of Asheville, N.C., contends in court documents that after The Washington Post pursued a story disclosing his felony convictions, Rendell asked him to lie in 2000 to cover up Paul's role in a Hollywood fundraiser he helped sponsor for Clinton. "He will be deposed. He's a material witness," Paul told the Tribune-Review in a telephone interview. Court documents allege in a civil lawsuit pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court that "Rendell, on Hillary Rodham Clinton's behalf, asked Paul to lie about...

Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. --Gov. Ed Rendell, despite pressure from gun dealers, decided Tuesday not to delay a database upgrade that will halt Pennsylvania firearms sales for three days. The Democratic governor said the shutdown to allow work on the criminal history database would last one day less than previously announced. The Pennsylvania Instant Check System will be down from 6 p.m. Sunday and return to operation at 6 p.m. Sept. 5. "It is clear that there will never be an ideal time to temporarily shut down the system so we can make changes necessary to ensure the system continues...

Domestic Terrorists Anti-Government Groups Often associated with unorganized militias, the Anti-Government movement actually embraces a much larger variety of groups and causes. The extreme fringe believes that the U.S. government is either the enemy or has been subverted by the enemy and must be actively defended against. Anti-Government Issues and Beliefs Gun Control is a conspiracy to enslave us starting with the removal of our ability to either defend ourselves or forcefully change our government. The first ten amendments of The Constitution are God given and all others are temporary, invalid or outright fraudulent. All judicial authority resides with the...

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Pennsylvania became the fifth U.S. state to seek universal health coverage for its citizens on Wednesday when it unveiled a plan to provide medical insurance for some three-quarters of a million residents who currently have none. Along with other states including Massachusetts and California, Pennsylvania is joining a growing movement among U.S. states to tackle the problem of residents without health care insurance, which according to some estimates number as many as 46 million Americans or about 15 percent of the population. The problem of uninsured medical costs, often left to be covered at taxpayer expense,...

<p>Philadelphia - A special three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals convened Wednesday to hear arguments on whether a Federal Civil Rights suit may proceed against Gov. Ed Rendell and overturn a 2003 lower court ruling that there was insufficient evidence. Rendell is charged with conspiring to suppress the First Amendment rights of protesters by having Teamsters Local 115 beat them while they demonstrated outside Philadelphia's City Hall during a Democratic fundraiser featuring President Bill Clinton. Rendell, who was mayor of Philadelphia at the time, admitted in a deposition following the Oct. 2, 1998 beatings to personally inviting Teamsters Local 115 Secretary-Treasurer John Morris and instructing the union to "drown-out" the Clinton protesters. "I specifically said I didn't want any interaction with the demonstrators. I wanted this to be extremely peaceful and extremely positive," Rendell also claimed in the deposition, which was taken two years after the fact. Morris was caught on video by local media placing a fedora over protester Don Adams' head, signaling the Teamsters to knock him to the ground and assault him. Adams was treated at a nearby hospital for a concussion, lacerations and multiple bruises. His sister, Teri, sustained minor injuries. Testimony from Morris' chief of staff revealed that, after the beatings, Rendell called Morris about the Teamsters who participated in the attack and said, "nothing is going to happen to these guys," and "I know how these things go." He then suggested that Morris and the Teamsters file a criminal complaint against Adams, which they did two days later on Oct. 4, 1998, alleging that he struck a woman in their group. Even though there was no police reports supporting the Teamster's claim, the incident was caught on video, and the District Attorney's Office pursued trial against Adams, who filed suit against the Teamsters and Rendell several months later. At one point, the Teamsters offered to drop their charges against him if he dropped his case. During that time, they launched a media campaign and accused Adams of being a woman-beater. Adams rejected the deal and was found not guilty on July 8, 1999. Five teamsters then pled guilty to various charges of assault and were granted probation, and Morris died in 2001. Arguments surrounding Rendell's involvement center not on how convincing the evidence is, but whether his interaction with Morris after the fact - consoling the Teamsters and advising them to sue Adams - can be used as evidence to support the charge of conspiracy. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in United States vs. Smith in 2002 that concerted actions to conceal unlawful behavior are relevant to a finding of conspiracy. The Supreme Court reached a similar conclusion in United States vs. Brodie last year. However, Philadelphia Law Department attorney Jane Lovitch Istvan, who represents Rendell, argued in brief, "The alleged conversation in this case ... contained no evidence of attempted concealment, nor is there a pattern of other alleged attempts to conceal." "I think he might have a case," Circuit Judge Restani said during oral arguments surrounding Adams' claim. The three circuit judges were appointed to hear the case from outside the Third Circuit Court's jurisdiction after a motion asking the entire Circuit to recuse itself was granted. This recusal was issued due to the fact that Rendell's wife, Judge Marjorie Rendell, sits on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.</p>

PITTSBURGH—In his new book, A New Direction: My Plan for a Better Pennsylvania, Republican gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann outlined his plan to increase job creation across Pennsylvania and stop Ed Rendell’s Harrisburg from hindering economic growth. The current administration’s burdensome business taxes cost Pennsylvania over 33,000 new jobs in 2004 alone. And in the Northeastern part of the state, manufacturing jobs dropped approximately 40 percent in Lackawanna County since 2000, 29 percent in the city of Scranton, and 15 percent in Luzerne County, according to newly released 2005 census data. The Swann/Matthews plan for job creation includes: · Returning the...

Hazleton Mayor Louis Barletta and Gov. Ed Rendell traded barbs over a new city ordinance that cracks down on illegal immigrants, with Rendell saying during a Thursday stop in Scranton that it had been drafted by “mean-spirited” politicians who “feed off hate and divisiveness.” Barletta disagreed, saying the ordinance simply upholds the law. The only mean-spirited remarks that Barletta said he could recall were made by two members of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, who publicly called Hazleton a “Nazi city” and said that Latinos would never assimilate into American culture. The Associated Press and The (Scranton) Times-Tribune...

RICHMOND, Va. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell says Virginia Democrats should get back to the progressive initiatives that made the party great and quit running campaigns as though they were imitation Republicans. Rendell spoke to about one thousand Democratic activists at the party's annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner tonight in Richmond. Rendell said John Kerry should have remained truer to Democratic ideals when he opposed Republican George W- Bush two years ago. Rendell is seeking re-election this year against a strong challenge from Republican Lynn Swann -- a Hall of Fame player on the Pittsburgh Steelers' football team from the 1970s. In...

Former Steeler great could ride team victory all the way to the Governor's office As Jerome Bettis and the Pittsburgh Steelers closed the book on a storybook season at Super Bowl XL in Detroit Sunday, the season of another Steelers legend was just kicking into high gear. Lynn Swann, the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player 30 years ago, is hoping to capture the Republican Party's official endorsement this Saturday in the Pennsylvania governor's race—an endorsement that has traditionally locked up the Republican primary election, which will be held in May of this year. And judging by the overwhelming support for...

Edwards sure doesnt like being seen in the reaverview mirror.. 'What took Kerry so long,' all the pundits have been asking.Well, we hear for all of his Lurch like slugishness, the real stick in the mud was John Edwards, who didn't want to concede. Presumably, he sees his politcal future now shrinking into the blinding glare of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's pantsuits..