Protestors force Govs. Christie/Corbett to duck out the back

[Divernan]

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! Protestin' that is! Two notoriously Republican governors were protested today at the iconic Pittsburgh restaurant, Primanti's.

Re-electing fellow Republican Gov. Tom Corbett is “a top priority” for the Republican Governors Association, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said during a campaign event at Primanti Brothers in the Strip District on Friday afternoon. Christie, chair of the RGA and a potential GOP presidential contender, said he is willing to spend “a lot of money” to see Corbett remain in office.

Corbett, a Shaler Republican, said states with Republican governors have a track record of creating jobs and strong economies. Corbett appears to be trailing his Democratic opponent, Tom Wolf, a York County businessman, by 20 percentage points, according to a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute release this week.

About 10 minutes before the governors arrived at Primantis in black SUVs with tinted windows, protesters holding signs that said “One Term Tom” gathered outside. The crowd grew, then booed and chanted as Corbett, in a white, button-down shirt and no necktie, left Primantis through the back and climbed into the SUV before it pulled away.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/6236412-74/corbett-republican-christie#ixzz33tRYliKO
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

[FarPoint]

1. If the Priminti Brothers support Republicans ...

I'll NEVER eat there again.

[Divernan]

2. Wimpy Post-Gazette doesn't mention Govs. slinking out the back door.

Pittsburgh/Allegheny County has always been overwhelmingly Democratic, and the region's newspaper, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had an editorial board which leaned heavily Democratic. It was a huge shock when the P-G endorsed Republican Tom Corbett for Governor in 2008. Since then, Corbett has performed so shabbily that he has the lowest rating of any Pennsylvania governor in the state's history and is most notorious for having sold out to Big Fracking.

Yearly fracking severance taxes: TX-2.7 Billion;N.Dak. $1.9 bil.;PA.$204 Million

The IDIOT GOP neanderthals in the state legislature are STILL not pushing Corbett for serverance/extraction taxes on fracking comparable to all other major fracking states. The projected state deficit is currently $532.5 million deficit and expected to grow to $1.3 billion or more by June 30, 2015.

The numbers from a Pew Charitable Trust research study are for 2011. So that makes THREE years that Pennsylvania has foregone approximately $6 billion dollars in tax revenue from those blood-sucking, environment destroying frackers.
http://www.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/fracking-for-state-dollars-85899447047

But states collect vastly different amounts of severance tax revenue on oil and gas. North Dakota, for example, imposes an 11.5 percent severance on oil, subject to certain exemptions, and collected nearly $1.9 billion in all severance taxes in 2011, up from just $83,000 in the pre-fracking days of the 1990s.

Pennsylvania has no severance tax at all. Instead it has an impact fee that helps localities fix roads and other drilling damage. The impact fee brought in $204 million in 2011, but that was only about half of what the state could have collected had it used a tax comparable to that of neighboring West Virginia, by one estimate.
Pennsylvania is the only state with substantial oil and gas reserves that does not have a severance tax. Even tax-averse Texas has one: It levies 7.5 percent on natural gas and 4.6 percent on oil, which helped to bring in $2.7 billion in combined severance taxes for the state in 2011.

Again, the Post-Gazette has heartily endorsed fracking at the county airport and under a major county park. The other regional paper is the Tribune Review, owned and financed by uber conservative Richard Scaiffe. And yet the Tribune-Review does not suck up to Corbett or fracking like the Post-Gazette. Coverage of Corbett-Christie is another example. The PG does not mention those two gutless GOP leaders ducking out the back door to avoid protestors. The Trib does. Here's the P-G article.

Gov. Chris Christie was in Pittsburgh raising money for GOP candidates today, and he promised to spend campaign cash in the state as well. “I’ll be spending plenty of money in Pennsylvania, the New Jersey governor said in his role as the head of the Republican Governors Association.

In the face of early polls showing his neighbor, Gov. Tom Corbett, as a distinct underdog in his race for re-election, Mr. Christie insisted that the Pennsylvania race would be a top priority for the RGA and predicted that polls would tighten on the way to a Corbett re-election victory.

Mr. Corbett’s challenger, York County businessman Tom Wolf, was across the state in Philadelphia today, accepting the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union, one of the state’s largest public employee groups. Mr. Wolf posted big early leads over the Republican incumbent in a trio of post-primary polls released earlier in the week.

After appearing at a private fundraiser for the RGA, the two governors made a ritual political pilgrimage to Primanti’s in the Strip District. Republican and Democratic demonstrators engaged in a cacophonous competition on 18th Street, while the two governors greeted patrons inside. Chants of “Four more years,’’ and “No more years,’’ blended as Mr. Corbett and Mr. Christie shook hands and posed for pictures inside the iconic Strip District spot.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/06/06/Chris-Christie-Tom-Corbett-Pittsburgh-governor-campaign-Tom-Wolf-Pennsylvania/stories/201406060211#ixzz33ta28byk

[tech3149]

3. Good riddance Gov Gasshole n/t

[Penn Voter]

4. One-term Tom

One-term Tom should start sending out his resumes. Someone hasn't told him that Pennsylvania ranks near the bottom in job creation!

[Divernan]

5. He doubtless has lucrative positions already arranged & his income will skyrocket.

As governor, his salary is a measly $187,000 a year. If he had the brains god gave the Pirate Parrot (doubtful), he is praying he won't get re-elected! Then it will be quid pro quo time from all the corporate interests he's sold out to. First, he'll go with a high-power law firm which represents Frackers - like his DEP stooge, Krancer, did, as a full partner. Then he'll have multiple board appointments and consulting fees. Former PA Governors Ridge and Rendell have really cleaned up. Corbett will be clearing a million a year without breaking a sweat. Then it will be hasta la vista, relatively modest little home in Shaler Township. Frankly, I doubt he'll even stay in Pennsylvania, as polluted the air and water and roads will be with the Big Frackers and their 24/7 truck traffic, and light and noise pollution.

Pay for directors at Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) companies rose to a record average of $251,000 last year, the sixth straight year of increased compensation since federal rules began requiring disclosure.

Boards have boosted pay for their members a total of 15 percent since 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) topped the list after handing out a $9.5 million retention bonus. News Corp. (NWSA) and Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST), which awarded some directors more than $1 million in consulting fees, came in second and third.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-30/board-director-pay-hits-record-251-000-for-250-hours.html

[davidpdx]

6. I'd say throw tomatoes at them

but that is tomato abuse.

[blkmusclmachine]

7. Mmmm. Donuts.