An electronic publication of
The Allegheny Institute for Public Policy
Jake Haulk, Ph.D., President
For updates and commentary on daily issues please visit our blog at alleghenyinstitute.org/blog.
As fit citizens, neighbors and running mates, we are tyranny fighters, water-game professionals, WPIAL and PIAA bound, wiki instigators, sports fans, liberty lovers, world travelers, non-credentialed Olympic photographers, UU netizens, church goers, open source boosters, school advocates, South Siders, retired and not, swim coaches, water polo players, ex-publishers and polar bear swimmers, N@.
Humm.
CAP Endorses Sen. Williams' School Choice Bill
HARRISBURG, PA—Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania (CAP) today endorsed Sen. Anthony Williams’ (D-Philadelphia) Opportunity Scholarship Act (SB 1405), which would give disadvantaged children in chronically failing school districts the financial assistance they need to pursue educational options.
”The Opportunity Scholarship Act will rescue thousands of children tragically trapped in failing schools,” said CAP Executive Director Joe Sterns. “There should be no greater priority for the politicians in Harrisburg than making sure every student in the Commonwealth receives a first-rate education.”
Sen. Williams’ legislation, SB 1405, would provide children in low-income households a scholarship to attend a non-public school if their public school is chronically failing. The bill defines “chronically failing” as having 40 percent or more of the student body scoring at or below the “basic” range in math and reading/writing for two consecutive school years. The amount of the scholarship would be equal to 100% of the Commonwealth's annual per-pupil school aid funding amount plus 50% of the school districts annual per-pupil school aid funding amount.
Post-Gazette NOW - Local News - Pittsburgh Panorama: "Hula hoop heaven, Highland Park"Sounds good for two reasons:
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Family gets back into pool, acquits itself well at Journal Star meet - Peoria, IL - pjstar.com: "Being out of practice did not equate to slow times for some participants in this year’s Journal Star Swim Meet at Central Park Pool.We were there!
Kyle Boerke swam his first race in eight years Sunday, the Trophy Shootout, against about 20 competitors. Yet he was able to win three events, including the mixed 200-yard medley, and fell just two seconds short of Patrick Inness in the men’s 100 butterfly.
Boerke was a member of the Peoria Area Water Wizards youth program and swam for Bradley University until its team was disbanded in 2002. Kyle graduated from BU in 2003 with a degree in psychology.
He then went to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore for his residency. Boerke now works as a clinical psychologist for OSF Saint Francis Medical Center.
It was this job that brought Boerke back to the swim meet. Boerke and his wife, Abby, moved back to the area earlier this month."
Grassroots public reform encouraged by The Pittsburgh Foundation - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The forum will cost $290,000. The money is coming from the Pittsburgh, Richard King Mellon, Grable, Hillman and Maurice Falk foundations."Give me a break. That is NOT going to work.
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As you read this article below, forwarded by Tom Koch, think about this: How many Indiana County, PA homeowners have lost their homes and most, or all of their equity to sheriff sales over the last 42 years for so called 'delinquent' property taxes they did not owe? Likely thousands of Indiana County homeowners and their families have lost many millions of dollars and had their lives disrupted by corrupt property tax assessments and taxes. The commissioners admit the property assessments are "out of balance"...which is a polite way of saying...THEY'RE WRONG and have been for decades.
It is a myth that if Indiana County eventually spends $2.5 Million for a countywide reassessment, this will mean the assessments will be fair and equitable. That has not proven to be true in Philadelphia, Allegheny County, Luzerne County, Fayette County and elsewhere. And the countywide reassessments will need to be redone every few years to comply with the Supreme Court ruling on base year assessments. That will cost millions more over the years.
Even the International Association of Assessment Officers (the professional organization of assessment officials) admits the inaccuracies of property taxes. The IAAO says any assessment within 10% of fair market value is deemed correct. However, if you and I have the same 'market value' home and you are over-assessed by 10% (by the IAAO standards of fairness) and I am under-assessed by 10%...you pay 20% more school, county and municipal property taxes than I do. You could pay hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars more each year than I do. Is that fair and equitable? If so, are you willing to also pay 20% more income taxes on the same income as I have? Or 20% more on gasoline taxes per gallon? Or 20% more sales taxes on the same purchases as I do. If it's unfair for you to pay 20% more than me on all the rest of those taxes, why is it fair for you to pay 20% more than me on property taxes?
The property tax system on primary residences is systemically corrupt, unfair, inaccurate, costly and a huge drag on our economy. The system cannot be fixed and should be totally abolished and replaced with broader-based, equitable, and less costly to collect sales and income taxes.
The Legislative Budget and Finance committee (the same group mentioned below) studied the STOP Primary Residence Protection plan and found it fiscally sound and viable. You may contact them for a copy of their study.
The county commissioners are correct that the legislature must change the system; it can't be done by the county commissioners. But the commissioners have a role in demanding it be done. Your legislators have failed to correct this mess for 30 years. So why are you going to re-elect them?
Why would any commissioners support the re-elecction of legislators who have failed so miserably on this issue for three decades?
Learn more about why it is sensible and desirable to abolish all property taxes on primary residences and how it would create an economic boom in Pennsylvania at www.grandoldusa.com or www.spedunkie.com Hit on STOP.
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE INDIANA (PA) GAZETTE.
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Pittsburgh to host 2013 Frozen Four: "The NCAA has selected Pittsburgh as host of the 2013 Frozen Four hockey tournament, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.We were in Rochester, NY, when this happened recently -- and Rochester had its team in the Frozen Four.
The championship event, which is similar to college basketball's Final Four, will take place at the Consol Energy Center."
Ex-Cats trying to recapture their glory days in swimming: "It is so ironic. Beard used to be swimming's Next Big Thing, a gold medalist at 14. Now, at 28, she is attempting to qualify for her fifth Olympiad after giving birth to her son, Blaise, nine months ago.
'I'm nervous and excited,' the ex-Wildcat tweeted. 'I want to see where I am in my training. I'm crossing my fingers that my muscles remember.' Beard has not swum competitively for two years."
Report: City's liabilities shrinking, tax revenues growing - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The $16,000 report was paid for by a grant from the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, one of two state-picked boards overseeing the city's finances since 2004."A 14 page report costs $16,000. That's more than $1,000 per page.
A Badge of Dishonor: Ravenstahl's Solution to Pension Crisis - The Point: "Even more absurd is that as a scare-tactic, Ravenstahl suggested that he might need to lay off four hundred police officers if we do not meet this deficit. Why are the police always seemingly the first to go? Those we need the most are apparently the most dispensable. Since apparently neither the citizens nor the police rank high on Pittsburgh’s lists of priorities, I ask again, how did this happen?"The Police are not always the first to go. There was a time when the swim pools and rec centers got to be first and worst. Then there have been crossing guards, rodent control, bus routes, Great Race, Civic Arena, Brownfield redevelopment, traffic engineers, pedestrian walkways and stairs, capital budgets, ice rinks, G-20 protestors, a fire station even was rumored to be on the first or next list. To continue, schools, airport terminals, ...
Despite a dead river rat and fish, some leaves and branches, and too-warm water, conditions were nearly ideal for U.S. Master Swimming's "Search for Monongy" event -- even if few knew what the event name meant.Erik and I rode our bikes to the North Shore to soak in the event yesterday and check it out. So, we were there as the reporter was doing the interviews, talking to our friends, the Goldmans and Dave -- both quoted above.
About midday Sunday, 52 swimmers swam a 1.2-mile loop in the Allegheny River -- some doing it twice -- from the Heinz Field boat ramp against the current to a turn-around under the Clemente Bridge. During the first-ever 1.2 and 2.4-mile open water swim, one swimmer had to be fished from the river with cramps and another couldn't complete the loop.
But the rest praised the "flawless" and "well-organized" event as one great, wet adventure.
52 take a swim in tepid Allegheny: "Jimmy Goldman, 73, of Squirrel Hill, and his son, Carl, 46, of Greenfield, rode bikes seven miles to the river before the elder Mr. Goldman swam 1.2 miles -- 1.3 miles counting a wayward detour -- and won his 70-to-75 age division. The younger Mr. Goldman finished the 2.4-mile competition at 54:14, second only to Robert Clark of Pittsburgh, who finished in 53:02."
Then the tireless Goldmans pedaled home.
"The important thing is getting fed," the elder Mr. Goldman said afterward, eating a doughnut then a sandwich. "There were leaves, one bottle and something dead, but the river was really clear and clean, and a hair on the warm side."
Actually it was a tepid 84 degrees Fahrenheit with a gentle 0.1 mph current.
Most swimmers have high-school and college swimming experience and now are members of swimming clubs, including the event sponsor, Allegheny Mountain Masters, the local chapter of U.S. Masters Swimming, an organization of amateur adult swimmers.
The U.S. Coast Guard closed the 0.6-mile segment of the river to boat traffic, with River Rescue and volunteer kayakers available to help swimmers in distress.
Two people entered the "white-knuckles" division that allows fins and floating devices, but the other 52 swimmers were buoyed only by confidence.
"There are no lines on the bottom, and it's hard to swim straight," said Matt Meade, 45, of Mt. Lebanon, after completing the 1.2-mile race. "It was inspiring going under the big [Fort Duquesne] bridge and looking side to side to see the big city. It was pretty special."
Brian Day, 50, of Canonsburg, finished second overall in the 1.2-mile race with a time of 30:01, despite going 400 yards beyond the turn-around buoy under the Clemente Bridge. Janet McDonough, 51, of Cranberry, posted the winning 1.2-mile time of 29:08.
"Once you are in, you are committed," Mr. Day said. "You can't grab the wall and rest."
Overall winners and runners-up received Dick's Sporting Goods gift certificates, while age-group winners won blue and red ribbons.
Event organizer Katherine Longwell, of Sewickley, and chairwoman of Allegheny Mountain Masters, said the "Search for Monongy" -- local river lore about a man-eating catfish named Monongy -- was so successful the so-called search will be repeated next year.
And, for sure, cheers erupted when Dave Watterson, 52, of Brentwood, was the last to emerge from the river, uneaten by Monongy, after the 2.4-mile swim. An organizer even proclaimed with sounds of surprise, "We didn't lose anybody." Drying off, Mr. Watterson said he was more than anxious to repeat the river hunt for Monongy.
"They should hold another one in January," he said.
Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10193/1072155-51.stm?cmpid=newspanel1#ixzz0tWYQC1qD
Pittsburgh offers plenty of refreshing water havens during the summer months: "Pittsburgh offers plenty of refreshing water havens during the summer months"
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Pennsylvania state budget disappoints again
Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania calls budget "failure" and "fantasy"
Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania
3915 Union Deposit Road #223
Harrisburg, PA 17109
www.lppa.org
For Immediate Release: July 9, 2010
Contact: Doug Leard (Media Relations) at Media-Relations@lppa.org or
Michael Robertson (Chair) at 1-800-R-RIGHTS / chair@lppa.org
Harrisburg, PA - The state legislature keeps finding new ways to disappoint Pennsylvanians at budget time. While our last budget was unconscionably late, this one is a mix of failure and fantasy.
This budget fails to cut spending at a time when our fiscal position is precarious. General fund spending increased from $27.8 to over $28 billion while the state’s total operating budget jumps from $65.9 to $66.4 billion. The budget ignores the past two years of revenue collection decreases that led to a general fund $1.2 billion gap last year and a $3 billion gap the year before.
The budget fails to cut pork and reintroduces "Walking Around Money" (WAM) reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review to be between $65 and $100 million. In addition, it provides millions for the construction of the John P. Murtha Center for Public Policy and the Arlen Specter Library Project Center. It irresponsibly ignores both the coming public pension crisis that will require a $5 billion increase in annual payments in 2010 and the coming loss of federal stimulus funds in 2011-2012 fiscal year.
In June, The Commonwealth Foundation released “A Taxpayer's Budget 2010: Responsible Spending for Pennsylvania” which identified opportunities to cut over $4 billion in wasteful state spending in Gov. Rendell's proposed FY 2010-2011 budget. Their report also offered a series of recommendations for resolving the current revenue shortfall and reducing the size and burden of government on Pennsylvanians. The budget failed to take advantage of these opportunities.
Instead, our state legislature fantasizes in their budget calculations that Pennsylvania will see a 3.2 percent increase in revenue collections at a time when unemployment is growing and business is receeding. An even greater fantasy is that the budget calculation assumes $850 million in Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funds that have yet to pass Congress. According to Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, "No one, including the governor, thinks we'll receive $850 million."
Commented Brian Bergman, State House Candidate in the 119th district, “Yet again, Pennsylvania's government has failed to pass either a balanced budget or an on-time budget. Where are the incentives to do either? There is nothing currently in the PA Constitution or statutes that puts any penalty on the representatives in Harrisburg if they fail in their duties. It's time to hold them accountable - vote them all out and elect new people that will truly work FOR the citizens of Pennsylvania and will enact consequences when the Legislature fails so completely in their duties.”
Mark Crowley, LPPa Media Relations, summarized “It's no surprise that this budget was created behind closed doors. They suspended the rule requiring a public comment period. The disappointing result certainly shows this lack of transparency.”
The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in Pennsylvania and the United States. More than 200,000 people across the country are registered Libertarians, and Libertarians serve in hundreds of elected offices. Please visit www.LP.org or www.LPPA.org for more information.
Steelers host youth football camp: "The Pittsburgh Steelers will host a second youth football camps in the Pittsburgh area in July. The Pittsburgh Steelers Youth Football Camp will feature instruction from some of the best high school and youth coaches in the area, as well as current and former Steelers players.
The camp is $175 and is open for children between the ages of 6-14. They will participate in non-contact drills and skills sessions to win awards and prizes including autographed items. All campers will receive two tickets to a Steelers’ preseason game, a camp T-shirt, a one-year Steelers Kids Club membership, DVD highlights from the camp and other giveaway items.
The camp will be held at West Allegheny’s DeMichela Stadium on July 19-20. The camp can hold up to 200 players, and will run from 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. each day."
Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan acknowledges possibility of group not owning club - ESPN Dallas: "Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan acknowledged Thursday that his group, which includes Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg, might not end up owning the team. He added that he wasn't sure what he might do after this season should Houston businessman Jim Crane, who is trying to get back in the bidding, ends up owning the team."
Pittsburgh Public Schools: "District students amoung 2,900 volunteers at U.S. Women’s Open (Jul 8, 2010)