Apparently it’s not too early to start laying out the Christmas presents. That’s what we heard from Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey on Wednesday, whose campaign rolled out a quirky new Web page depicting Democratic rival Joe Sestak as a Grinch whose “spending habits” mean Christmas in July “will not be very merry.”

The page displays presents under a tree. Click on each one, and Toomey’s campaign offers up an example of what it considers wasteful spending, from bailouts to “pork” projects. It’s all very cute. But let’s see this idea adapted for Hanukkah in August. First campaign to incorporate a Menorah into its messaging this summer wins.

Meanwhile, the special election is over, but the big guns are still pitching in for newly-elected Congressman Mark Critz (D-12). Roll Call reports that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is stumping for moderate Democrats throughout August, Critz among them. The pro-life, pro-gun Democrat faces a rematch against Republican Tim Burns in November.

And hey, it takes time for the unemployment rate to creep back down. That’s what Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-3) was saying Wednesday, when her office noted that six of the seven counties in her northwest Pennsylvania district saw unemployment drop slightly in June (the other county’s rate didn’t change). Her argument encapsulates the challenge Democrats face in the messaging war, as they try to convince voters that things are getting better, even if it doesn’t always seem that way. The biggest change was in Erie County, where the unemployment rate dropped from 10 percent to 9.7 percent.

“The needle is moving in the right direction—however slowly, unemployment is decreasing in western Pennsylvania,” Dahlkemper said in a statement. “We still have a lot of work to do. It took nearly a decade of bad economic policy to put us into this recession; it’s going to take some time to get us out. But these new employment figures show us that we are on the path to recovery.”

Democrat Manan Trivedi waded into the simmering immigration debate Wednesday, calling for stepped up investigations into companies that hire illegal workers and singling out a suburban Philadelphia industrial contractor that has been accused of the practice.

The statement from his campaign, coming as emotions on the immigration issue are running high, appeared to be Trivedi’s first play for moderate and even conservative voters since he won the 6th District primary in May. In doing so, he inserted himself into what seems to be an acrimonious conflict between the company in question and local unionized construction workers.

Saying he was responding to “recent discussions with members of the Building Trades community,” Trivedi floated allegations that the Malvern-based company Forcine Concrete & Construction is using undocumented workers at a project site in Abington. Those allegations were first floated officially by Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (D-13), who has asked immigration authorities to investigate. The Abington project is in Schwartz’s district, while the company itself is based in the 6th District represented by incumbent Republican Jim Gerlach.

“If the allegations about this company are true, then a great disservice has been done to our community,” Trivedi said. “Companies that employ undocumented workers and guide them on how to operate outside the law are only encouraging more immigrants to pursue jobs in our country illegally. And with so many in our community already looking for job opportunities just like these, it is outrageous that any company would skirt the law by hiring undocumented workers.

“In any instance where there are questions regarding a company’s hiring practices,” he added, “it’s imperative that the company be investigated thoroughly by the proper authorities.”

In an interview, Forcine spokesman Greg Matusky adamantly denied the allegations.

“Forcine doesn’t hire illegal workers, under any circumstances,” he said. “Every one of these workers is legal to work in this country.”

The source of the conflict is Forcine’s project at Rydal Park in Abington, where the company and a subcontractor are not relying on unionized workers. But the only evidence available Wednesday was a YouTube video of workers at the project being questioned about their immigration status. The video, which had been viewed more than 23,000 times as of Wednesday and is embedded at bottom, seems to lack significant context, its origin is unclear and it cannot be independently assessed without further information.

Matusky said the video was misleading, and claimed it was produced by disaffected union members.

“All of the workers that are pictured in that video have been verified and reverified that they are legal and have the proper documentation to work in the United States,” Matusky said. “These are legal workers who are portrayed in this video, harassed by union workers.”

Forcine, he added, “goes to great lengths to verify the legal status of their workers.” He said the company had already filed a unfair labor practices complaint against the local carpenters’ union, The Metropolitan Regional Council of Philadelphia & Vicinity.

An official at the union could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Schwartz’s office confirmed that the congresswoman called for an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which also could not be immediately reached.

Later in the day, the Trivedi campaign clarified that it was not making allegations itself, but merely emphasizing that all allegations of improper hiring practices should be investigated by the appropriate authorities.

“A safe work environment is essential for all American workplaces,” Trivedi said in his statement. “As a doctor, I cannot tolerate companies jeopardizing their workers’ safety because they’re trying to hide their own illegal activity.”

Forcine took particular exception with the Trivedi campaign’s assertion that Forcine provides “exactly the type of jobs that should be going to one of the many skilled and trained American workers currently unemployed.” Matusky noted that discriminating against legal workers because of their citizenship violates labor laws. Matusky said that Trivedi, himself the son of Indian immigrants, is “espousing a policy which is in direct violation of federal labor law.”

Gerlach’s campaign, for its part, shrugged off Trivedi’s comments. The race is currently No. 4 on the pa2010.com Congressional Power Rankings.

“Trivedi has stated publicly he favors amnesty for 15-17 illegal immigrants,” Gerlach spokesman Mark Campbell said in a statement. “He supports the far-left fringe position on the amnesty issue. … Jim Gerlach has voted in favor of holding businesses accountable who knowingly hire illegals. … Trivedi favors amnesty, which would make all these workers legal, so what’s his point? Simply put, none. Trivedi’s just a hypocrite.”

This article was free to read, but it wasn’t free to produce. Support the nonpartisan journalism we do by clicking below.

In the wake of his most recent “insights” about the state of employment in Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett insisted that, contrary to accusations made by Dan Onorato’s campaign, he was not blaming out-of work Pennsylvanians for the state’s unemployment rate.

Whatever you say, Tom.

In case you missed it, Corbett said there are plenty of jobs available to Pennsylvanians, after someone apparently either showed him the classified sections of a few newspapers or alerted him to the fact that they seem to be filled with help-wanted ads. Of course, someone should have also explained to Mr. Corbett that many of those jobs are not only bogus, but even the ones that are legit often pay wages that are not enough to support one person let alone an entire family. And to qualify for those that are legit and do pay well—positions that are often advertised out of obligation but filled either from within or through network contacts—usually requires an educational and experiential background that many job seekers simply do not have.

But in suggesting that there are jobs out there, and insinuating that unemployed citizens simply are not taking or do not want to take them, Corbett is indeed blaming the unemployed of Pennsylvania for the state’s unemployment rate.

You see, the jobs are out there. That means if the unemployed are not taking them, they are intentionally remaining out of work, driving up the state’s rate of unemployment. If they would simply accept the jobs that are available to them, the unemployment rate would then decrease.

So, insisting despite all evidence to the contrary that there are jobs available and that Pennsylvania’s out-of-work are just not taking them, Corbett is, once again, saying that they are responsible for the state’s rate of unemployment.

He’s just saying it in a more obscure way this time.

An actor who was hoping to run as a libertarian in the 8th Congressional District has decided to call it quits.

Eric Wisener told pa2010.com this week that he doesn’t have the grassroots support he needs to run against incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy and Republican challenger Mike Fitzpatrick. Wisener insisted he has gathered enough signatures to get on the general election ballot, but said he doesn’t have enough of a political organization to mount a legitimate campaign in the fall.

“I don’t have a big enough network to make a lot of noise,” Wisener said.

His decision to withdraw came just as perennial candidate Tom Lingenfelter decided to enter the race as an independent. Wisener said he’s already planning to run in 2012, and will use the time until then to help the Libertarian party in Bucks County grow. For now, it’s possible that Wisener will become Lingenfelter’s campaign manager, both men said.

Wisener said he doesn’t want to just siphon votes away from the major party candidates.

“I don’t want to be a spoiler,” he said.

Grilled by a conservative talk show host Wednesday morning, the independent candidate in the 15th Congressional District blamed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on American foreign policy in the Middle East.

“They’re not attacking us because we’re free or we wear blue jeans or we listen to rock music,” Jake Towne said. “They’re attacking us because we’ve been over there. We’ve had troops in Saudi Arabia for many years before that. We were engaged with Iraq, we’ve had an embargo, we’ve been bombing their airspace literally for about 20 years now.”

Towne’s comments came during a somewhat contentious 14-minute interview on WAEB with Bobby Gunther Walsh, a conservative talker prominent in the Lehigh Valley. Towne is hardly alone in his analysis, as more than a few foreign policy experts have noted, among other things, America’s support for the militants during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, some of the same people who came to form Al-Qaeda. Regardless of any merit to Towne’s comments, they seem likely to turn off the kind of conservative voters he is hoping to peel away from incumbent Republican Charlie Dent.

A libertarian-leaning candidate who calls himself a “strict Constitutionalist,” the foreign policy section of Towne’s issues Web site is replete with positions that could anger conservatives, including calling the Iraq War “unconstitutional and illegal.”

Reached by pa2010.com Wednesday afternoon, Towne said that “all I’m trying to do is point out that there are reasons why these things occur. American’s history in Afghanistan and Pakistan needs to be understood. … There’s no one thing we did [to cause 9/11], but we have to be very honest when we look at foreign policy and the American government.”

The radio interview came at a time when he is taking up more media oxygen in the race than some expected, mostly because Dent’s campaign has said it doesn’t want the independent participating in debates between Dent and Democratic challenger John Callahan.

During the interview, Towne was also grilled about the fact that a band scheduled to perform at a campaign event this week, Poker Face, has been condemned by the Anti-Defamation League for anti-Semitic lyrics. Dent’s campaign has pushed the issue in recent days. Towne reiterated that he didn’t know of everything the band has said and doesn’t agree with them, but did not back away from having it perform on his behalf. Walsh was particularly dogged in pushing Towne on the matter, noting that a member of the band once referred to the Holocaust as a “Holohoax.”

“I do find a lot of their comments objectionable and over the top,” Towne said. “But, again, the claims against them, I don’t believe their anti-Semitic.”

Walsh jumped in: “You know what? I don’t beleive you’ve done your homework. And I do believe, quite honestly, that it’s over for you if you don’t do something. And it may already be too late.

Later, Towne and Poker Face issued a joint statement, reported by The Morning Call, announcing that the band would not perform at his campaign event. A local Tea Party group had already criticized Towne for inviting the band.

“In order to avoid distraction from Charlie Dent’s gross incompetence and performance as the people’s employee and undemocratic whining to avoid debating independent Jake Towne,” the statement said, “Poker Face and Towne for Congress have jointly decided to cancel Poker Face’s performance at this Friday’s Freedom Concert.”

Click here to listen to the full interview, courtesy of WAEB.

Editor’s note: The full radio interview above was compiled from smaller audio clips provided by WAEB. Though it may sound like there are skips or edit points at certain parts of the audio file, nothing was done to change the order, substance or context of the radio interview. Also, this story was updated shortly after publication to reflect Towne’s comments to pa2010.com.

Guess what? The Delaware River Port Authority has been making news again and not about anything positive. It revolves around the same issues we hear about in our local city halls and in Harrisburg: abuse of public resources, inappropriate pay and excessive perks.

Back in April, I argued that transportation issues need to be a high priority for voters this year, in particular the DRPA. With the recent news coverage, it is even more apparent that gubernatorial appointments to the DRPA board are vitally important, as is the mission the governor instructs those appointees to undertake.

So whenever you are at a forum and have a chance to ask a question of the gubernatorial candidates, or are listening to them speak, here are some DRPA-related ideas to keep in mind.

•Car allowances

When they are making $200,000 a year, with pensions, it is hard to justify needing to pay them between $9,000 and $17,000 a year to get to work as well.

•Free E-ZPass transponders

When you are in charge of raising the tolls on the bridges, you should give the public a little self-respect and pay for the increases as well. It’s insulting to raise tolls and give yourself exemptions to them.

•Where the money goes

Toll money should go to the ports, bridges and rapid transit across the river (which affects wear on bridges), not to political pet “economic development” projects.

•Transportation vision

The current plans are to spend $2 billion dollars to run passenger rail service from Woodbury to Camden in New Jersey and a slow trolley between two casino sites on a relatively deserted waterfront in Philadelphia. A more appropriate and aggressive vision for expanding rapid transit with bridge toll money would be to get people off the bridges, such as NJ rapid transit service to the Naval Yard, Stadium Complex, Broad Street Line and/or University City.

A lot of money is collected by the DRPA as well as a lot of money borrowed. It is very important we start paying more attention to its goings on as well as making sure our elected officials are paying attention as well.

The writer, a Republican activist and former ward leader in Philadelphia, is chairman of the policy group Reform League of Philadelphia.

Despite capturing less than two percent of the vote last time, Tom Lingenfelter is once again trying to represent the 8th Congressional District.

Lingenfelter, a political activist and former intelligence agent, is hoping to run as an independent in the Bucks County district, where incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy is facing off against Republican Mike Fitzpatrick. But with the Aug. 2 deadline to file nominating petitions only days away, Lingenfelter acknowledges he may not be able to gather the required number of signatures to gain ballot access.

It’s the third time in as many election cycles that he’s eyed a seat in Congress. He tried to run as an independent in 2006 but failed to get on the ballot. He got on the ballot in 2008 but won less than 6,000 votes. And he was considering a run in the GOP primary this year He’s also previously run for lieutenant governor, and he challenged Arlen Specter for the Republican Senate nomination in 1998. In a recent interview with pa2010.com, Lingenfelter said he wasn’t planning to run this cycle because of a car accident earlier this year. But he decided he had to give it a shot.

“I would be sorry if I didn’t do it,” Lingenfelter said. “I think the country needs me.”

Pennsylvania law makes it difficult for independents to get on the general election ballot, and Lingenfelter needs almost 4,000 signatures at minimum—significantly more so if he hopes to head off a possible ballot challenge.

Lingenfelter said he just couldn’t bring himself back Murphy or Fitzpatrick.

“I would love to support someone else,” he said, “but good candidates are hard to find.”

Attorney General Tom Corbett is apparently unmoved by calls for him to resign from office and focus on his gubernatorial bid.

Corbet, the GOP nominee, told Fox29 on Wednesday that his tenure as attorney general will only end when his term is over or if he is elected governor in November. He noted that Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell would get to appoint a successor if Corbett resigns now, “and I’m not going to do that.”

“The people of Pennsylvania reelected me in 2008 with a very sizeable number of votes to do a job,” Corbett said, “and I’m going to keep that job until such time as I finish that term, or the people decide to make me governor of Pennsylvania.

See video of Corbett’s comments below.

Now that he’s going to trial in the so-called Bonusgate scandal, state Representative Bill DeWeese (D-Greene) wants court proceedings to conclude before the November election, saying that voters should have a chance to judge Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett from the results.

DeWeese, in an interview with the subscription-only news service Capitolwire, said he’s ready for trial. Facing reelection in the fall, he has his own political reasons for wanting the trail behind him.

“Tom is running on his record as attorney general, asking voters to judge him on his record as attorney general,” DeWeese told Capitolewire. “So the citizens of Pennsylvania have a right to see this trial in October, not next March. We are ready. These are straightforward charges and we have answers for them, and when our case is heard, I am confident that 12 jurors will absolve me of the charges, just as the voters in the 50th District did when I won my primary against two strong challengers.

“This could be tried in a week and should be tried in October,” DeWeese added, “so before they decide on him for governor, people can get an idea of how Tom has conducted himself in August.”

National Democrats have added two more competitive Pennsylvania House districts to the long list of races they are targeting for advertising buys in the coming months.

Politico reports that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is reserving airtime in both the 7th and 15th Districts. In the 7th, Democrat Bryan Lentz and Republican Pat Meehan are vying for the seat left open by incumbent Joe Sestak. In the 15th, White House recruit John Callahan is mounting a challenge to incumbent Republican Charlie Dent.

In the first slate of ad buy reservations disclosed last week, the DCCC looked to shore up vulnerable incumbents. In Pennsylvania, that meant promising airtime for Kathy Dahlkemper in the 3rd District, Chris Carney in the 10th District, Paul Kanjorski in the 11th District and Mark Critz in the 12th District.

The DCCC holds a significant financial advantage over its GOP counterpart, the benefit of which is quickly becoming clear. Of the 10 House races considered competitive by pa2010.com, the DCCC has already signaled it will make ad buys in six districts.

The 7th District is currently No. 1 on the pa2010.com Congressional Power Rankings, while the 15th District is currently No. 5.

Just when media attention to Tom Corbett’s well-publicized employment gaffe was dying down, the Republican candidate for governor breathed new life into the controversy Tuesday.

Corbett was speaking to reporters after a Delaware County campaign stop when he said, once again, that there are plenty of jobs available.

The Inquirer reports that Corbett, citing newspapers that have been publishing loads of help-wanted ads, said: “Are there jobs out there? … How would you interpret that?

“You guys asked me if there are jobs out there,” Corbett told reporters. “If I am a common citizen, the average citizen, and I look at a newspaper… and I see jobs—what’s the answer to that question?”

The comments soon led to another round of stories on the blogosphere. And just as he has been since the issue first reared its head earlier this month, Democratic rival Dan Onorato was quick to pounce.

“Tom Corbett still doesn’t get it,” Onorato said in a statement. “Pennsylvania needs a governor who can get our economy back on track, and Tom Corbett’s remarks prove once again that I am the only candidate with the understanding, the experience and the plan to turn this economy around.”

Onorato’s campaign, however, overreach on the facts in responding to Corbett’s latest remarks, charging that Corbett blamed the state’s unemployment rate on “out-of-work Pennsylvanians.” But Corbett, The Inquirer reports, was adamant in saying he wasn’t repeating his controversial claim that some Pennsylvanians are staying unemployed to collect unemployment benefits.

“That statement is in the past,” Corbett said. “We’re beyond that. We’re talking about creating jobs for the future.”

•Also on pa2010.com: As Onorato hammers away, two PR strategies emerge, and GOP frets

President Obama is about to go on “The View”—but Gov. Ed Rendell thinks that’s not such a good idea because the president should only do “serious shows.”

“I think the president should be accessible, should answer questions that aren’t pre-screened, but I think there should be a little bit of dignity to the presidency,” Rendell said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

We’re assuming Rendell’s rule doesn’t apply to governors, considering that the former Philadelphia mayor is a longtime fixture on “Eagles Postgame Live.” Rendell was in favor of Obama going on “Morning Joe.” Check out a video clip of his remarks at bottom.

Meanwhile, Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6) is giving big bucks to the National Republican Congressional Committee. Gerlach has given $100,000 so far this cycle, the latest cash coming in the form of a $44,000 contribution made during an NRCC fundraiser on Tuesday. Politico first reported news of the contribution, which took us by surprise considering that Gerlach represents a Democratic-leaning district in the Philly suburbs and is facing another stiff challenge, this time from Reading doctor Manan Trivedi. We were doubly surprised in light of Gerlach’s relatively modest cash-on-hand advantage.

Mark Campbell, Gerlach’s longtime political adviser, told us the same thing he told Politico: that the contribution was made partly because an internal campaign poll found Gerlach holding a big lead over Trivedi, 54 percent to 29 percent. “We are never overconfident, and we always run like we are 10 points down,” he said. “But it’s safe to say Jim Gerlach’s views represent the values of the taxpayers of the 6th District.”

We don’t necessarily doubt the results of the poll—Trivedi has done barely an iota of paid media. But it’s worth noting that just earlier this week, friend-of-the-site Alex Isenstadt reported that Gerlach is among a number of “endangered incumbents” being boosted in fundraising call sessions by party leaders. And Gerlach could effectively get that money back if the NRCC ends up doing independent ad buys on his behalf. Trivedi spokeswoman Lindsay Fritchman pointed this out in pushing her own narrative. “This transfer pretty much demonstrates how much trouble [Gerlach] is in,” she told Politico. “He’s handing them the money because he knows that’s the only way he can beat Manan.”

The race is currently No. 4 on our Congressional Power Rankings.

And speaking of House seats that are in play, the National Journal has identified two Keystone State districts as being among the 40 seats most likely to switch parties this fall. One is the open seat in the 7th District, where Democrat Bryan Lentz and Republican Pat Meehan are vying in the state’s most competitive House race. The other is the 11th District, where incumbent Democrat Paul Kanjorski is trying to fend off yet another challenge from Republican Lou Barletta.

Former President Bill Clinton will be pitching in next month to keep the Governor’s Mansion in Democratic hands.

Clinton will be in Philadelphia Aug. 10 to headline a fundraiser for Democratic nominee Dan Onorato. Only hours earlier, Clinton will be in Allentown to help raise money for congressional candidate John Callahan. Clinton is by far the biggest gun deployed by Onorato’s campaign to date.

Donors will need to shell out at least $1,000 to attend the downtown fundraiser at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, The Inquirer reports. Donors can attend a VIP reception for $10,000.

Revelations about a rock band set to perform at a campaign event for Jake Towne have given Congressman Charlie Dent (R-15) an opening to make a less overtly political argument for excluding the independent candidate from campaign debates.

Dent has taken some flak on the blogosphere ever since pa2010.com reported last week that his campaign doesn’t want Towne included in debates between him and Democratic challenger John Callahan. But after saying that Towne would distract from the debate between the two main contenders, Dent’s campaign shifted gears slightly and noted that Poker Face, a band performing at a Towne fundraiser on Friday, has been castigated by the Anti-Defamation League for the violent and anti-Semitic views espoused its song lyrics.

“Given this information, we are calling on John Callahan to immediately join us in telling organizations interested in sponsoring debates that neither he nor I will agree to participate in any debate involving Jake Towne,” Dent said in a statement. “I’m calling on John Callahan to put aside politics regarding Mr. Towne and do the decent thing—don’t give credence or a public platform to someone enmeshed in ideas of anger, violence, anarchy and bigotry.”

Callahan campaign manager Justin Schall, who, like Towne, has called Dent’s reluctance to participate in a three-person debate a sign of weakness, framed things differently.

“Mayor Callahan thinks all anti-Semitic behavior is deplorable and the whole idea behind ‘debating’ someone is that you disagree with him and his views,” Schall said in a statement. “Mayor Callahan looks forward to telling Jake Towne to his face exactly what he thinks of the deplorable anti-Semitic fringe groups with which he chooses to associate.”

But Dent campaign manager Shawn Millan said that would be a distraction.

“We need to be talking about jobs and the economy… people in the Lehigh Valley know that Jake Towne is in the wrong on this,” Millan said in an interview. “Some people are so beyond the pale that you don’t give public credence to them by having a public debate.”

Towne, for his part, defended the band while still keeping their message at arm’s length.

“The views of any the five bands present at the Freedom Concert are not necessarily the views of Towne for Congress,” Towne said in a statement. “If any of the bands were believed to be anti-Semites, they would not have been invited to play at the concert.”

Attorney General Tom Corbett has taken significant criticism for his pledge to not raise taxes if elected governor. That was to be expected from Democratic rival Dan Onorato, who hasn’t ruled out raising taxes to fill a budget gap expected to be as high as $5 billion next year. But it’s the friendly fire from state Senate Republican Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi that has wounded the AG (aspiring governor).

Speaking just days before he helped Gov. Ed Rendell pass his last budget, Pileggi said of Corbett’s no-tax pledge: “It will be an extremely challenging year next year, and… I don’t see how he can do it, frankly.”

It’s unsurprising that Pileggi can’t comprehend cutting spending because he, for instance, voted to spend $30 million on an unnecessary soccer stadium in his district. And despite a $1 billion deficit in this budget, he voted to spend $10 million on the Arlen Specter Library and another $10 million on the John P. Murtha Center for Public Policy.

Of course, eliminating waste only partially answers the question of whether or not Corbett can balance the upcoming budget without raising taxes. Assuming there’s the political leadership and will, the Commonwealth Foundation (CF) has identified a way.

First, it is important to remember that if spending had been held to inflation over the past eight years of Rendell rule, we’d have ended the fiscal year with a surplus rather than a deficit (even without federal stimulus money). Since 2003, the state’s total operating budget grew from $45 billion to $66 billion, while the General Fund Budget grew from $20 billion to $28 billion. While inflation was under 20 percent, spending in Harrisburg increased by 47 percent. This growth is unsustainable.

So where do we cut? At CF, we have identified over $4 billion in spending that should be cut from state government-$1 billion from the General Fund Budget, $2.21 billion from other operating funds, and $926 million from the capital budget and off-budget programs. Specifics are available here.

In addition to these cuts, reforms in public education, welfare, corrections and transportation will add up to billions more in annual savings to the taxpayers.

For example, we’ve identified a dozen reforms in corrections that would generate significant savings to the taxpayer, such as privately-run prisons that have proven savings of 5-20 percent in per-prisoner costs. Our conservative projections are that if Pennsylvania placed just 30 percent of inmates in privately-run prisons we could save $100 million annually.

In education, the K-12 public school system received state funding increases of 46 percent, from $7 billion to $10.3 billion, under Rendell. Of course, property taxpayers are also spending another $14 billion on their local public schools. Today, taxpayers are paying over $13,000 on average per year per student. Fortunately, significant savings in public education can be found. For example, giving parents more school choices for their children has proven to lower the cost of public education. Charter schools cost taxpayers 25 percent less per pupil than traditional public schools, and the Educational Improvement Tax Credit-which provides an average scholarship of $1,100-produces even greater taxpayer savings. Expanding educational options not only benefits children, but taxpayers.

The elimination of “prevailing wages” for school construction would produce $400 million in annual savings. Simply allowing taxpayers to pay the average occupational wage in a market rather than arbitrarily inflated union wages on construction projects would significantly lower the need for higher taxes.

In welfare—the single largest portion of the state’s budget—Auditor General Jack Wagner projects that eliminating waste and fraud would produce upward of $1 billion in savings.

Reforms in transportation would save tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars annually through public-private partnerships and competitive contracting in mass transit.

Finally, there are actions that would generate not only significant one-time revenues but also ongoing increases in funding for the Commonwealth. These include the sale of the state’s liquor stores, which would generate $2 billion or more up front, as well as higher annual tax revenues; privatization of the state’s student loan giant PHEAA, which would generate $2 billion or more; and the leasing of the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a private operator, which would generate $12 billion or more.

To be sure, none of these reforms will come without a fight from entrenched bureaucracies and special interests. But if Tom Corbett is to keep his pledge not to raise taxes, these are the battles he’ll have to fight on behalf of the taxpayers in Pennsylvania.

The writer is president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg-based conservative think tank.

I’ve been taking a brief vacation from Pennsylvania politics, and am leaving for a real vacation next week. But I wanted  to get in a few comments before I left.

• Things looks even worse for the Democrats, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, than I had thought. Instead of moving back to the center, Democrats have pretty much doubled down on their liberal agenda, like shoppers who know the store is closing and have to cram in every last purchase while they still can. That kind of approach, coupled with anemic economic growth, doesn’t bode well for November.

• While the GOP has a big advantage, it is always possible to blow it. Tom Corbett’s remarks about unemployment are a great example of this phenomenon. The next time Corbett wants to try out his theories of economic behavior, he should call Rick Santorum on a private line, and leave it out of his speeches.

• Joe Sestak letting J Street defend him from the charge of being anti-Israel is a little bit like Shirley Sherrod calling Michael Steele for help with the NAACP. Better to attract attention to something he’s good at, like naval strategy or bashing Arlen Specter. Wait, Specter isn’t running any more, is he?

See you in a week or two.

I had a few thoughts I figured I’d share after reading one of the recent “Leftovers” posts on pa2001.com Central.

I must say, I am glad to finally see some real people of faith standing up to the “pretenders” who like to throw around self-serving claims about their supposed “religious beliefs” along with cherry-picked scripture to—as Catholics United’s executive director Chris Korzen put it—“score cheap political points and lead voters astray.” Everything reported from Korzen’s statement should have been said a long time ago, and I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks, Mr. Korzen. And please keep up the good, and desperately needed, work.

Another item from that same post, however, made me laugh.

Let me first say that, up to this point, I’ve seen nothing not to like about 3rd District GOP candidate Mike Kelly. He appears to be personable, charming, charismatic, a font for delightful metaphors, down-to-earth, and, astounding for a Republican these days, firmly grounded in reality. One thing he’s not, though, is a young-un.

Nonetheless, he has been added to the NRCC’s “Young Guns” program for tracking congressional challengers.

Now, I get that the political parties have to have their plans in place to assist their candidates across the board, and that catchy names attract attention as well as much needed dollars. But come on, “Young Guns” for campaigners who are middle-aged or greater? Keith Rothfus, the GOP’s contender in the 4th District, got a nod too, and this guy’s gotta be around my age!

Surely the GOP can do better than to offer up a program name that provides an unintentional laugh-fest to anyone who looks a little more closely at the details.

The competitive 7th District House race could very well end up being a three-man contest.

Jim Schneller, the Tea Party candidate who is running as an independent, said this week that he has collected enough signatures to get on the ballot. Pennsylvania election law makes it very difficult to gain ballot access as an independent or third-party candidate. Schneller needs about 4,200 signatures, equal to two percent of the total votes that incumbent Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) received in 2008. With the Aug. 2 deadline to file nominating petitions looming, Schneller says he’s gathered about 5,200 signatures.

“I’m building a lot of momentum,” Schneller told pa2010.com. “We think we’ve got a sufficient buffer to overcome any feasible challenge. The quality of our petitions is way above par.”

Whether Schneller will ultimately see his name on the general election ballot remains to be seen. Political operatives typically prefer to gather twice the number of signatures required to head off a ballot challenge, and in such a competitive race, a challenge is not unlikely. The race has already been full of petition-related conflict, with the Democratic candidate bringing ballot challenges against both his primary opponents and the sole Republican candidate.

Schneller said “we will fight” any challenge.

“We have the real McCoy,” Schneller said. “We haven’t done any kind of fudging and we’ve put together a set of about 125 petitions that show registered voters in the proper district.”

Schneller has raised about $8,000 to date, and finished June with about $7,000 in the bank, according to campaign finance data. He would seem to have little realistic chance of prevailing in November, with far less money, name recognition or political organization than both Democrat Bryan Lentz and Republican Pat Meehan. But in the state’s most competitive House race, he could play a key spoiler role, drawing conservative votes away from Meehan, who is still seen by most political insiders as the favorite.

But Schneller doesn’t see himself as a spoiler.

“There’s a great groundswell for some real change,” he said. “We know that victory is within our sights.”

Joe Sestak tried to break bread Monday with a few captains of industry, or at least their policy watchdogs. With such a dynamic at work, one can only imagine how the Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon turned out: a little too dyspeptic.

Pan to the Hilton Harrisburg ballroom, where in front of the Democratic Senate candidate there sat entire tables filled with business leaders whose faces were set like stone, their arms clenched across their chests.

With body language like that, who needed air conditioning?

Still, Sestak sailed full-speed ahead, trying to persuade the audience he’s not the “Nancy Pelosi-liberal” that Republican opponent Pat Toomey declares him to be.

“If you are committed to an ideology, you can’t change course,” Sestak said.

He took exception to the charge that he’s in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi.

“I didn’t agree with Speaker Pelosi when she backed Arlen Specter,” Sestak joked.

Better to get off the subject of the House Speaker and point out the differences between himself and Toomey, the former three-term congressman from the Lehigh Valley.

Sestak, a second-term Delaware County congressman, painted himself as a leader who seeks pragmatic solutions.

Toomey, meanwhile, is a former banker who “has dedicated his life” to dealing the kind of “exotic financial instruments” that helped sink the economy, Sestak said.

“My opponent believes what’s good for Wall Street is good for Main Street… despite all the evidence to the contrary… that prosperity trickles down,” Sestak said.

These are largely uncharted waters for Sestak, who has had to change his tune since defeating Specter in the Democratic primary.

Sestak won largely because he was able to paint Specter as an opportunist. What was unnecessary material in that primary fight was the fact that Sestak and Specter shared voting records on many issues Democrats care about, including the $787 billion stimulus package.

Now, with such clear ideological differences in play, Sestak’s tactics and message have had to change, while Toomey has been able to stay on message, hammering the government bailouts and stimulus and the passage of health care reform legislation.

This has put Sestak in the position of having to face withering criticism from conservative voters who will use the deficit and Congress’ votes on bailouts and stimulus as a prime litmus test.

This is an area where Specter had pretty clearly defined his response, saying a vote for those bailouts was a vote to keep the country from sinking into another Great Depression.

It’s a message Sestak would do well to appropriate, given the mash-up he delivered Monday when he was asked about the federal bailouts.

Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association board member David Taylor asked for an accounting of those bailouts.

Confronting the critical inquiry, Sestak ended his answer with an analogy about how the economy had been torpedoed and was sinking and “we had to caulk holes.”

The man who asked, however, was utterly unmoved.

“His direct answer was incomprehensible and then it disintegrated into baby talk about the house being on fire,” Taylor said.

The fact is, it’s not exactly clear what Sestak meant, which is a problem.

Fiscal conservatives are eager to connect all the watery dots of the bailouts and stimulus spending and link them to the impending implosions of state and local economies.

They’re eager to make a case that it’s not the failure and abuses of an unregulated “free” market that has imperiled the economy, but Nancy Pelosi liberals who think all big business is bad business.

“The market is like a kidney,” Taylor said. “It sorts out what’s good and bad, but you lose that market function when businesses that should have been allowed to fail are bailed out.”

Sestak said he aims to reach across the ideological divide.

“I’m not saying I changed anyone’s mind, but I saw a few nods,” he said.

Don’t know where he was looking.

Congressman Chris Carney (D-10) isn’t happy about the recently-leaked trove of Afghan war documents.

Carney, a Navy Reserve commander, said this week that whoever leaked the documents “committed treason in my eyes.” The documents were released to news organizations by the Web site WikiLeaks, and their publication late last weekend has drawn renewed scrutiny to prosecution of the almost-nine-year-old war.

“You never want that [information] to fall in the hands of your enemies,” Carney told a local newspaper in northeast Pennsylvania. “And the thing is you never know who your enemy is going to be at any given time.”

Carney said news organizations reporting on the leaked documents “displayed enormously bad judgment,” and challenged whoever leaked the documents to explain themselves to “the families of those that we’ve lost at war.”

“It’s unconscionable and, from my perspective, unforgivable,” he said.

The sophomore Democrat faces former U.S. Attorney Tom Marino in November. The race  is currently No. 10 on the pa2010.com Congressional Power Rankings.