POLS ON THE STREET: Why Is Trump Spending Time in Philadelphia?

REPUBLICAN Presidential candidate Donald Trump made another visit to this city in his effort to win Penna.’s 20 electoral votes – this time at Union League. Is he wasting time?

by Joe Shaheeli

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump must know Philadelphia has been a wasteland for GOP presidential candidates for over 60 years now. More so, especially since Congressman Bob Brady took over the reins as chairman of the city’s Democratic Party. Party registrations favor Democrats a bit over 7 to 1.

So why is Trump coming here? And to boot, doing what no politician in his right mind would have done, he criticized the way Philadelphia is being managed. He charged the city is plagued by crime and poverty and is on the decline. That wouldn’t endear him to much of our citizenship.

CITY COUNCIL President Darrell Clarke is joined by State Rep. Donna Bullock as they take their place in the line of march at the annual Labor Day Parade. Photo by Joe Stivala

Trump’s criticism brought immediate response from Chairman Brady, who blasted Trump for his insults and his stereotyped efforts to divide our city and country. It makes one wonder where he hoped to get votes from this city’s populace.

Also, what was behind his strategy to meet with Philadelphia Black church leaders – who usually listen well, ponder what they heard, and then lead their parishioners to the polls to vote for the Democratic nominee, in this case Hillary Clinton?

This week, he set a record for Philadelphia appearances by a Republican candidate for President, meeting with supporters at the Union League yesterday morning. This was a quickie, with press-credential notices going out at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

He may have noticed while here that there has been a change in the hierarchy of the local GOP. He saw Black Republican ward leaders and heard from one of them, 22nd Ward Leader Calvin Tucker, who leads that growing group of GOP minority. He found new vibrancy in the local GOP leadership.

Odds are he will come back at least one more time, hoping by his appearances to whittle down the hefty majority Hillary is expected to get through the efforts of Brady and the Democratic City Committee. The Republican City Committee is hoping for a surge of Trump voters in parts of Northeast and South Philadelphia. His presence reportedly has been received by many of the old Rizzocrats, who are still registered as Democrats, their voting Republican this time could have an impact.

Old news now is the latest CNN poll, which shows Trump leading Clinton by two percentage points with the popular vote. Both are under 50%, with Libertarian and Green Party votes making up the remaining percentage points.

Eyeing numbers like these, Trump must be seeking the state’s electoral vote and sees a chance to tip Pennsylvania in his favor.

The most recent Monmouth University shows Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton leading Republican Donald Trump among likely voters in Pennsylvania by 8 points, 48-40%.

Of course, Hillary will need to personally thank Brady, who some believe has cloned himself, since he manages to rally the troops for every Democratic at scores of functions. That was very evident this week during his rallying speech at the Labor Day Parade and the day after, with a McGinty rally at Sheet Metal Workers Hall. While other Congress Members are traveling leisurely in their districts, Bob continues to be a dominant figure in this presidential campaign, making sure the party machinery is geared to get out the vote.

Trump may have banked on the fact his appearance will draw protestors, getting him more news coverage. He was right. Instead of letting him come and go while ignoring his presence, protestors ensured his presence here became very newsy on television and print media reports. They unwittingly got him time and space he could not have gotten had they simply skipped his visit.

Polls continue to show African American voters are very loyal to the Democratic Party and particularly to Clinton. Still, Trump continues to snip away at that group, arguing their core interests have been ill-served by establishment Democrats.

Is Katie McGinty Riding on Coattails?

US SEN. Bob Casey delivers a pep talk to union members for Kathy McGinty, who he hopes will beat US Sen. Pat Toomey in November. If she does, she will owe much to the efforts of DCC Chairman Bob Brady, seated center. Photo by Wendell Douglas

If Pennsylvania goes Democrat in the Presidential election this November, Hillary Clinton will need to thank Congressman Bob Brady and Democratic US senatorial candidate Katie McGinty for getting the turn-out-to-vote message that produced the victory.

McGinty has been bouncing from event to event in the last two weeks in close succession to make a believer out of any campaign manager. She’s gotten the extra battery juice from recent polls which show she has moved ahead of Toomey in the polls.The Monmouth Poll mentioned above also found her leading incumbent Republican US Sen. Pat Toomey by a margin of 45-41%.

Her ads on television continue to disappoint, as a poll of campaign managers indicates similar concerns. That concern is the fact most television watchers glance away when commercials start and turn back maybe to view the message. What they see are picture after picture of US Toomey. She’s been warned. These ads are confusing at best.

Like It or Not, Judicial Question Makes It to Ballot

A final reworded ballot question regarding the state’s mandatory retirement age for judges will be decided by voters as planned after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was deadlocked over a lawsuit challenging the rewording of the question. Additionally, the state’s high court upheld a lower court ruling rejecting a challenge by Senate Democrats of the General Assembly’s decision to move the reworded ballot question from April’s primary-election ballot to November’s general-election ballot.

Both decisions now mean voters this November will decide if the Pennsylvania Constitution is amended to increase the mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 75.

Union Peace Comes to Wolf Administration

An overwhelming majority of the members of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Council 13 voted to ratify a new three-year contract with the State, bringing labor peace to the Wolf administration. AFSCME represents the majority (about 30,000) of the State’s 45,000 unionized employees. That contract is expected to have a net cost of around $279 million during its three-year term, according to information supplied last week by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration. The Fiscal Office will also produce a cost analysis of the contract.

A similar contract is being considered by the Services Employees International Union Local 668 and should soon be approved.

Doesn’t Pay to Be Top AG Aide

Newly installed Attorney General Bruce Beemer has fired two top aides to former AG Kathleen Kane. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Beemer fired Patrick Reese, Kane’s former bodyguard and driver, and Jonathan Duecker, her chief of staff. The OAG said it would not have any further comment on the issue since it’s a personnel matter.

Reese remained employed at the OAG despite being convicted of contempt of court in December for spying on other employees. Duecker was promoted by Kane despite two sexual-harassment claims against him.

PUC Proves PPA Right as It Upholds Uber Fine

THIS powerhouse of candidates and elected officials at the Labor Day Parade showed tight relationship between labor and Democrats. From left are Sharif Street, State Rep. Dwight Evans, Bill Rubin, Jim Harrity, Controller Alan Butkovitz, State Rep. Steve Santarsiero and Sheriff Jewell Williams. Photo by John J. Kline

The Public Utility Commission voted 4-1 to uphold an unprecedented $11.4-million fine against Uber for operating in Pennsylvania in 2014 without commission approval.

Part of the PUC’s oversight is regulating taxi services in Pennsylvania. In a statement, the PUC said the size of the record fine is “entirely due to the sheer number of violations which occurred.”

The PUC said Uber made an “intentional and calculated business decision” to begin operations in Pennsylvania without receiving authority, providing 122,998 trips prior to receiving authority. Then, Uber provided more than 20,000 trips after a complaint was filed by the Bureau of Investigation & Enforcement, and an additional 42,000 trips after a cease-and-desist order had been issued.

In May, following the PUC decision to fine Uber, Gov. Wolf and Pittsburgh-area officials asked the agency to reduce the fine. “I am disappointed by the Public Utility Commission’s affirmation of their record fine against Uber,” Wolf said in a statement. “In addition to providing jobs throughout the commonwealth, ride-sharing services like Uber are helping to make communities safer and more accessible. We should be supporting emerging companies investing in Pennsylvania like Uber is in Pittsburgh with its center for advanced technology research – not putting those investments in danger.”

WARD leader and organizer of Operating Engineers Local 542 Lou Agre met up with Henry Nicholas, leader of 1199C Hospital Workers. Photo by Joe Stivala

But Chairwoman Gladys Brown and Vice-Chairman Andrew Place said the fine is large because of the number of violations. “We do not take lightly the fact that the civil penalty imposed in this case is the largest in this commission’s history,” Brown and Place said in a joint statement.
“However, the reason the penalty is so large is because we were faced with an unprecedented number of violations committed by Uber.”

Robert Powelson, the dissenting vote, said he thought the fine was “inappropriate and inconsistent with Commission precedent.”

Statewide Offices Making The News

Candidates will be competing this fall for a statewide office in Pennsylvania badly tainted by corruption, and it isn’t just the Attorney General’s office, says Republican candidate for Treasurer Otto Voit.

He points to the Treasurer’s last elected occupant, Rob McCord, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges.

The Republican candidate is Berks County businessman and Army veteran Otto Voit. He’s 58 and has served 17 years on his local school board.

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