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These are the most — and least — prosperous places to live in Pennsylvania | The Numbers Racket
It’s been about ten years since the Great Recession officially ended in 2009. And by most measures, America’s economy is humming along at a pretty good clip. But, as recent research by the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution demonstrates, not every part of the United States has shared equally in that return to prosperity. In fact, […]
Say it with us: Weather isn’t climate | Monday Morning Coffee
Good Snowy Monday Morning, Fellow Seekers. This weekend’s spate of snowy weather has us thinking about climate change – mainly, why are we even debating this any more? Just about every civilized nation on earth has recognized it. Yet us stubborn Yanks sit here, staring at the sun, arguing what’s clear as day before our eyes. […]
Money for Pittsburgh air base won’t be affected by Trump’s emergency declaration: report
An $85 million project aimed at helping an Air Force Reserve station near Pittsburgh accommodate larger C-17 cargo planes won’t be affected by the Trump administration’s plans to shift federal money away from defense projects to construction of a border wall. The Morning Call of Allentown reported Friday that funds for the construction of those […]
Top Pa. Senate Dem launches anti-poverty bills. Is this the AOC effect in Harrisburg? | Friday Morning Coffee
A Philadelphia Democrat wants his colleagues to be required to consider the impact of their policies on the poorest Pennsylvanians,
Pat Toomey & Brian Fitzpatrick: A tale of two Republicans | John L. Micek
The experience of two Republican lawmakers from Pennsylvania — a state that President Donald Trump won in 2016, and one that remains critical to his reelection chances — tells us a lot about the state of the GOP in 2019. First up, there’s U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, the Keystone State’s junior United States senator. If […]
Pennsylvania is a pretty good place to raise a baby, new report finds
Pennsylvania is making progress at encouraging strong families, and becoming a state where infants and toddlers can grow up in good health and encounter positive early learning experiences, a new report has found. The Keystone State is listed among 13 states, including neighboring New Jersey and Ohio, that are “improving outcomes” when it comes to raising […]
Casey, Pa. Dems want to know if Trump’s border wall declaration will hurt state military projects
Pennsylvania’s senior U.S. senator wants the Pentagon to come clean on how President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration on the border wall could potentially affect roughly $200 million worth of military construction projects in the Keystone State. Casey, joined by every Democratic member of the state’s U.S. House delegation, sent a letter to acting Defense Secretary […]
Pat Toomey plays ‘Hamlet’ on TV. The House is going to force him to choose | Thursday Morning Coffee
Good Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers. Let’s take a moment to consider the case of U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey. If we know one thing about the Lehigh Valley Republican, it’s that he often plays it cagey, keeping his thoughts to himself, waiting until the last moment before he makes his opinion on a big issue public. Consider […]
How Pa.’s House delegation voted on that gun background check bill
The majority-Democrat U.S. House voted 240-190 Wednesday to approve the first, major piece of standalone gun-control legislation to come before the chamber in two decades. The bill, which requires universal background checks on all firearms purchases, now goes to the Senate for consideration. President Donald Trump has threatened to veto the legislation. Here’s how every […]
Gov. Tom Wolf didn’t have a fave superhero, but he did love “Classics Illustrated” — which explains so much
Gov. Tom Wolf held an Q&A session on Instagram on Wednesday. And while it lacked the intensity of … say … the Watergate hearings, there were a few surprise glimpses into the psyche of Pennsylvania’s chief executive. For one, the session did settle the “Debate We Didn’t Even Know We Were Having” over whether Wolf […]
Gov. Wolf’s campaign wants to raise $20k for Democrat in North Carolina congressional race
Now that it doesn’t have to worry about raising cash for re-election, Gov. Tom Wolf’s campaign apparatus is looking for other places to flex its fundraising muscles. Mission accomplished? In a Tuesday email blast, Wolf’s campaign asked supporters to help them raise $20,000 by Thursday at midnight so that Democrat Dan McCready’s campaign can meet […]
The U.S. House is going to vote on gun background checks. The pre-game among Pa. lawmakers is going how you’d expect
The majority-Democrat is expected to vote Wednesday on the first, major piece of gun-control legislation in two decades: A bill that would require universal background checks on all gun purchases. Writing in The Washington Post earlier this week, former U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello, R-Pa., observed that the bill, as currently written, would “require a background […]