Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl gets a down arrow this week for proposing to tax Pittsburgh’s college students’ tuition.  Students at Carnegie Mellon, Robert Morris, Duquesne, and especially at Pitt, are not fond of the idea, and you can’t blame them.  One week, tuition might go up because legislators can’t agree on a table games tax, and now the Mayor wants to tax tuition?  What happened to Pennsylvania trying to retain in-state college students?  Come on Mayor, weren’t you kicking field goals at W&J just a year or two ago?

 Not everyone may think Attorney General Tom Corbett had a good day yesterday, with a sometimes-awkward press conference punctuated by questions about his gubernatorial run, but we think that the average voter will see this in a positive light.  Publicly fighting corruption within the legislature matches well with his AG credentials and improving name recognition, solidifying his spot as the GOP frontrunnerto take back the governor’s mansion.  Still, Corbett’s staff should have better prepared him for the press conference.  Expect to hear increased calls (from both sides of the aisle) for Corbett to resign from his AG post to campaign.  It worked out well for (now Governor-elect) Bob McDonnell in Virginia, didn’t it?

US Rep. Tim Holden (D) is breathing easier now that State Sen. Dave Argall (R) is “99% sure” he won’t challenge Holden in the 17thDistrict.  Holden cruised to a comfortable, 30-point victory in his last election, but his district tilted slightly for McCain in the Presidential.  With Argall (most likely) out of the running, Holden’s vote against the health care bill, perceived by some as a political move to ward off GOP challengers, won’t be an issue.

Organizing for America, the community mobilization arm of the Obama Campaign and the DNC, struck back this week at GOP health care reform protesters, spending money and resources in the districts of GOP Reps. Charlie Dent (15th) and Jim Gerlach (6th) to call attention to their “No” votes for reform.  Both districts favored Obama in the Presidential election, and, especially with Gerlach leaving his seat to run for Senate, expect them to be prime targets for Dems in 2010. 

Philly-based gubernatorial candidate Tom Knox played his hand well this week, making his way into the “Bonusgate” stories with his public calls for AG Tom Corbett to resign his post as he seeks the state’s top job.  In a Democratic primary that will feature at least 5 candidates with limited statewide name recognition, Knox (with campaign manager Josh Morrow) was smart to take the opportunity to get his name into the public discussion dominating all corners of Pa.

Sam Smith.  The House Republican Minority Leader wasn’t indicted yesterday, but he will face questions over how much he knew about former Speaker of the House Jon Perzel’s alleged wrongdoing.  He was Perzel’s majority leader from 2003 to 2006, after all.

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