It’s Friday, and here at the Buzz, we can not wait for the soccer showdown between U.S. and England tomorrow.  Time to go all Lexington and Concord on the Brits.

PoliticsPA Reports…

It’s not over yet – Burn’s state chair election may not be sure thing. Spoiler Alert: Dan Onorato, who most assumed would line up with Burn, is not picking a horse in the race.

Stick with what works – The campaign manager for Rep. Dahlkemper’s first run at the House is back to run the second campaign, taking a leave of absence from Dahlkemper’s DC office.

Obama – Specter Post Mortem? – President Obama met with Sen. Arlen Specter for 20 minutes yesterday at the White House.  Specter was mum about the details of the conversation, but you can bet Specter wants to stay involved next year.

EPA Politics – Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) amendment limiting the EPA’s role in regulating greenhouse emissions failed yesterday yesterday, only receiving 47 of the 51 votes it needed for passage. Both PA senators voted against it, but look for Sens. Casey and Carper to possibly introduce compromise language later this year.

Later today, check back with us for the week’s Up & Down and PoliticsPA’s interview with Rep. Paul Kanjorski

Making Headlines …

Critz settles in – The successor to the late John Murtha took stock of his first days in office with the Post-Gazette, including reflection on some good-natured ribbing from a few of his colleagues.

Talking Heads – Philly radio host Michael Smerconish lamented in a Washington Post op-ed that TV and radio hosts have gone too far.

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best – Harrisburg is starting to develop contingency plans if Congress does not come through with $800 million in medicare funding. If the money does not come, Gov. Rendell warned that hundreds of employees might be laid off.

Smokers will smoke – The Post-Gazette did a story on what effect a 10 cent hike in cigarette taxes would mean for smokers. The result: it would not have much impact on smokers habits but it would raise more revenue for the state.

New look – Rep. Glenn Thompson revamped his website Thursday to allow constituents to get information quicker, faster and easier on what the congressman is up to.

Tags: Arlen Specter Barack Obama, Dahlkemper, Dan Onorato, Ed Rendell, Glenn Thompson, Lisa Murkowsi, Michael Smerconish, Paul Kanjorski

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