If Pa. voters had their say today, three of President Obama’s top gun control priorities would become law.
According to the latest poll from Quinnipiac, Pa. has near-unanimous public support for universal background checks (95% to 5%) and healthy support for a ban on assault weapons (60% to 37%) and high capacity magazine clips (59% to 39%).
Respondents who identified as gun owners also supported universal background checks (95% to 4%) but opposed an assault weapons ban (51% to 45%) and magazine restrictions (57% to 41%).
All three are measures supported by Obama, who intensified his focus on gun violence in the wake of the December school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
As the number show however, universal background checks stand the strongest chance of success. Alengthy report this month by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Moriah Balingit detailed one example why: John Shick, the man who shot several people at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Oakland in March 2012, had navigated haphazard background check laws to obtain his guns.
57% of respondents said Pa. gun control laws should be stricter, 35% said they should remain as-is, and 4% said they should be less strict. 60% favored stricted federal gun control laws (and 32% the same, 5% less strict).
Asked, “Who do you trust more to make the right decisions about gun laws, the Republicans in Congress or President Obama?” respondents chose Obama 47% to 38%.
“Pennsylvanians join voters in Virginia and New Jersey, states where Quinnipiac University has found overwhelming support for background checks for every gun purchase,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Keystone State voters, especially voters in urban areas, seem to have had enough of gun violence. By large margins, voters don’t think assault weapons belong in the hands of any gun owner. Restrict the firepower of assault weapons or ban them entirely, Pennsylvanians say.”
The survey found 49 % of respondents believe gun ownership protects people from becoming victims of crime compared to 40% who said ownership puts people at risk. But that stops with semi-automatic assault rifles like that used in Newtown. 61% of respondents said those make the country more dangerous. Just 28% said they make the country safer.
The idea of having armed guards at schools would do more to reduce gun violence in schools than stricter 46% to 42%.
By a margin of 35% to 31%, respondents said they had an unfavorable impression of the National Rifle Association.
These numbers are the second release by Quinnipiac from the same survey, conducted from Jan. 22 to 27 using live interviewers calling landlines. The margin of error for the poll of 1,221 registered voters is plus or minus 2.8%. Pa. polls that use registration numbers rather than algorithms based on likely voters tend to favor Democrats by a few points and disadvantage Republicans compared to election results.
Yesterday’s releaseshowed Gov. Tom Corbett’s re-election numbers in trouble driven by a wide gender gap.
Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Luzerne) rose to national prominence based in large part on his reputation as a loud voice against illegal immigration while he was Mayor.
The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Hazleton’s strictest-in-the-nation ordinances, which would have punished landlords renting to illegal immigrants.
And so it’s little surprise that he categorically rejected Monday’s overtures by Republicans in favor of an immigration bill that includes amnesty for the more than 12 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States.
“A path to citizenship is giving a green light to anyone who wants to come here illegally,” he said.
“This is an amnesty bill America won’t be able to afford,” he said of the proposal by 8 Senators – 4 Democrats and 4 Republicans. “Making illegal aliens legal will cost American taxpayers $2.6 trillion over 10 years.”
“So many illegal aliens are unskilled. 60 percent have no high school degree, so many would ultimately be dependent on social programs, welfare.”
Yet, today’s proposal has been called a bipartisan breakthrough. It involves border enforcement, employer enforcement, a reformed legal immigration system, and a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants already living within the United States.
It appears the legislative proposal may have been devised to guide President Obama on immigration reform. The policy blueprint is meant to represent the interests of both Democrats and Republicans and will serve as the basis for legislation that the Senators hope to formally introduce in March.
And for an issue as complex as immigration, compromise may be the key. Democratic Senator Bob Casey supports immigration reform.
“While he has just begun to review this latest proposal, he believes that any time you have Republicans and Democrats working across the aisle to come to a bipartisan consensus on a tough problem that is a positive development,” said Casey spokesman John Rizzi.
Senator Pat Toomey (R) is reserving judgment pending further details of the plan.
Republicans faced a stark reality in the aftermath of the 2012 election: they were losing latino voters big time. It’s the fast-growing segment of the population. As soon as the day after Barack Obama was re-elected, several prominent conservatives gave up the fight on the issue.
(Obama will unveil his own immigration proposal today, reportedly very similar to the Senators’.)
Barletta said his party was making a mistake.
“They’re wrong. I believe there’s a lot of support because this is an issue they want to go away. But it’s not that simple,” he said. “I don’t know how fiscal conservatives could support something that would add $2.6 trillion to the deficit.”
He argued that the solution to immigration begins with a way to track current undocumented residents, followed by border security and then mandatory e-verify.
Washington — With 13 congressmen and two Senators, the number of members of Pennsylvania’s delegation who oppose abortion is the largest it’s been in years. Several of them spoke to rally-goers at the annual March for Life in DC on Friday.
There’s not an official crowd estimate, but organizers say between 500,000 and 650,000 people marched on the National Mall. The annual protest commemorates the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, 40 years old this year.
Reps. Glenn Thompson (R-Centre) and Keith Rothfus (R-Allegheny) joinedfellow legislators to welcome the protesters to Washington and to call for measures to provide alternatives to abortion nationwide.
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Butler) did not appear on stage at the rally but did express support in a press release issued by his office.
“The most fundamental of all human rights is the right to life, and today hundreds of thousands of Americans traveled to Washington, D.C. to affirm that right for all Americans, born and unborn. Among the marchers today were hundreds of residents from the Third District of Pennsylvania, who braved the frigid temperatures to be a voice for the most vulnerable in our society: the unborn. I am immensely humbled by their great affirmation of and commitment to life, and as their representative in Washington, I will continue to stand alongside them in their fight to defend life.”
After the march Pennsylvania residents were invited to a reception hosted by members of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation where Senator Pat Toomey spoke. Senator Bob Casey, Jr. later met with rally-going Pennsylvanians in the Hart Senate Building.
All 13 Republican members of Congress from Pa. identify as pro-life, as do Toomey, a Republican, and Casey, a Democrat.
Polls in the past year have painted a complicated picture of public opinion on this complicated issue. A majority of Americans describe themselves as pro-life versus pro-choice, according to a recent survey from Gallup. However just 29 percent of respondents in a recent Pew survey said they want to see Roe overturned.
Here’s what members of the Pa. delegation had to say during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Wednesday testimony about the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.
Democrats mostly offered warm words for the outgoing Secretary and prospective 2016 presidential hopeful. Republicans generally hammered her over her department’s handling of the security situation on the ground and the four American lives lost – including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Senator Bob Casey, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, had the first crack from the Keystone state. It was a lovefest.
“I want to express what I think is a widely shared sentiment today, both by way of gratitude and commendation for your work. We don’t have time today to fully list of all the achievements that you should get credit for,” he said. He asked how Congress could help State.
Clinton returned the sentiment.
“Thank you for those three topics you covered, and particularly your very clear focus on the IED problem and the ammonium nitrate problem in Pakistan. You and I have talked about this. You’ve gone there, I’ve gone there and carried that message and I thank you for making it an issue,” she said.
Clinton said that Congress could help by providing funding for security enhancements at U.S. embassies and outposts abroad.
Casey is the chairman of the Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs Subcommittee in the Senate, with jurisdiction over many trouble spots in the Middle East and North Africa.
On the House side, Rep. Tom Marino (R-Lycoming) is one of two Pa. members in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was far less warm.
He used photos to illustrate a link between a distinct black flag and al-Qaeda uprisings throughout the Middle East (including Libya). This link had been noted in a pre-Benghazi Department of Defense report.
“My point is this flag kept coming up,” Marino said to Clinton, “And you did not think that that was important enough to increase security when after how many embassies was this flag shown in demonstrations? I personally think that it would demand an increase in security.”
Marino also questioned the State Department’s retention of three workers believed to be culpable for the Benghazi intelligence disaster. Clinton clarified, stating that the three were on administrative leave, but still being paid due to federal regulations.
Marino’s response was quick and direct: “What is the hold-up in saying you let me down — I no longer need your services?”
Freshman Rep. Scott Perry (R-York) is also a member of the committee, but did not question Clinton.
And just for fun, former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Delaware) also threw in his two cents. He’s a former admiral, former U.S. Senate hopeful, prospective future candidate, and staunch Clinton ally.
While asserting that the Benghazi hearings “shouldn’t be about partisanship,” Sestak blamed Congress generally for reducing appropriations for diplomatic security. for the lack of Benghazi security. The former SEPA Congressman also called Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Kentucky) statement that would have “relieved [Clinton] of [her] post,” “so out of line.”
The beliefs and convictions of a member of Congress are important determinant of his or her votes. But effectiveness? That depends on the staff he or she assembles. Here is the official team of newly-minted Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-Allegheny).
This is the third of three features. You can check out the new staffs of Pa.’s other two freshmen here: Reps. Matt Cartwright (D-Lackawanna) and Scott Perry(R-York).
Armstrong Robinson
Chief of Staff: Armstrong Robinson
College and Graduate School: The George Washington University and The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law
Robinson brings extensive policy, constituent service, political and management experience to the team. Robinson previously worked for Representative Geoff Davis [KY-4] where he worked his way up from volunteer to Chief of Staff. His mother was from Pittsburgh.
Legislative Director: Danielle Janowski
Hometown: Grosse Pointe, Michigan
College and Graduate School: University of Michigan and The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management
Janowski moved to Washington, D.C. in 2009 to attend The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. She previously served in legislative roles in the offices of former Representatives Thaddeus McCotter [MI-11] and Rick Berg [ND-AL].
Communications Director: Edward Yap
Hometown: Oceanside, New York
College: University of Notre Dame
Yap previously worked for former Representative Nan Hayworth, M.D. [NY-19] and Representative Tom Rooney [FL-17]. Prior to joining Representative Rooney’s office, he served in various roles on political campaigns in Indiana, Michigan, and Virginia.
Executive Assistant: Ana Ellis
Hometown: Ridgewood, New Jersey
College: University of Vermont
Ellis most recently served as a Deputy Regional Political Director at the National Republican Congressional Committee. In her role, she focused on races in the Northeast and on the West Coast and assisted Rothfus in his 2012 victory. Ellis also worked for Representative Paul Gosar [AZ-1] as Executive Assistant. She will serve as the office’s primary point of contact for scheduling.
District Staff
District Director: Jonathan Raso
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
College: Franklin & Marshall College
Raso served as Finance Director for the 2010 Rothfus campaign and was Campaign Manager for his 2012 victory. In the interim, he managed the Pittsburgh office for Senator Pat Toomey, covering economic development for ten counties of Southwest Pennsylvania and much of the new Twelfth District.
Deputy District Director: Allison Beresnyak
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
College: Penn State University
Beresnyak has extensive constituent service and community outreach experience from her time working for Senator Rick Santorum [PA]. She will oversee constituent services and military academy nominations for the office.
District Staff: Ashley Sisca
Hometown: Mars, Pennsylvania
College and Graduate School: Denison University and Duquesne University School of Law
Sisca worked for the Pennsylvania State Senate throughout law school and most recently served as Executive Director of the Westmoreland County Republican Committee.
For the most part, it’s a matter of east vs. west. Of the Republican Congressman who voted against Tuesday’s bill for Superstorm Sandy relief, just one – Rep. Joe Pitts – represents a district that is mostly east of the Susquehanna River.
The limited impact that Sandy had in Pa. was concentrated in the eastern part of the state.
The GOP delegation voted 7 to 6 against the bill. All of Pa.’s Democrats voted for it, except Rep. Allyson Schwartz who did not vote.
The bill, which appropriated $51 billion to immediate relief costs as well as long term recovery, passed the U.S. House by a margin of 241 to 180. It moved mainly on Democratic votes; Republicans opposed the bill by a margin of 179 to 49.
Those who voted ‘no’ from Pa. included Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Erie), Tim Murphy (R-Allegheny), Scott Perry (R-York), Joe Pitts (R-Chester), Keith Rothfus (R-Allegheny), Bill Shuster (R-Blair), and GT Thompson (R-Centre).
They had two primary objections: that the bill contained pork, and that its price tag was not offset by other spending cuts.
“Unfortunately, the package voted on today results in another $50 billion borrowed from our kids and grandkids,” said Rothfus. “Moving forward, I will work with my colleagues to craft better ways to budget and pay for future natural disaster relief.”
“I support immediate financial support for those impacted by Hurricane Sandy, but cannot support more taxpayer abuse under the guise of emergency relief,” said Thompson, whose press release also noted that the bill contained funding for items like Amtrak funding.
Perry and Rothfus had earlier voted against a smaller, provisional package of Sandy aid; the other 16 members of the Pa. delegation supported that measure.
The Sandy relief bills has provided a big test to the GOP House, which has been forced to choose between anti-spending party orthodoxy and the awful political optics of congressional inaction.
Voting ‘yea’ were Reps. Lou Barletta (R-Luzerne), Charlie Dent (R-Lehigh), Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks), Jim Gerlach (R-Chester), Tom Marino (R-Lycoming) and Pat Meehan (R-Delaware).
“I believe we need to be very careful about every dollar that our federal government spends as we are facing record deficits,” said Meehan. “While we continue our work to put our fiscal house in order, we cannot stand by while so many of our neighbors in New York and New Jersey – those areas hit the hardest – are still suffering. Many of them without homes, without jobs, and without any support.”
Charlie Dent and Mike Fitzpatrick have joined 22 other members of Congress as a part of the “Problem Solvers Group.” Organized by No Labels, the bipartisan collection of officials aims to bypass gridlock and address the nation’s continuing economic issues.
“I am proud to join No Labels in promoting the ‘No Budget, No Pay’ Act as well as my own legislation I have introduced to end the Congressional pension, freeze Congressional pay, and strengthen restrictions on lobbying,” Fitzpatrick said in a No Labels press release.
The group was unveiled in New York City Monday.No Labels is nonpartisan organization dedicated to pragmatic governance. Its national leaders are former Utah Gov. and 2012 GOP presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman and West Virginia Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin.
The ‘problem solvers’ is a response to the recent crisis-to-crisis style of congressional action.
“The simple fact is that right now, there are businesses not hiring, workers not working and investors not investing as a direct result of the gridlock in Washington,” Huntsman said Monday. “Hearing that and knowing that should light a fire under everybody in Washington. But it hasn’t yet. So No Labels has to light that fire.
“We have to walk before we run. We have to build trust, and you can’t build trust if you don’t have relationships,” Dent told Colby Itkowitz of theAllentown Morning Call. “And what I liked about this group is that we actually sit down and break bread and talk about things. That’s not a small thing.”
Dent, of Lehigh County, and Fitzpatrick, of Bucks County, are both Republicans and the only Pa. legislators to join the group. Each voted with his party most of them time in the previous Congress – though less than the average GOP member (81 percent for Fitzpatrick, 86 percent for Dent according to the Washington Post votes database).
The beliefs and convictions of a member of Congress are important determinant of his or her votes. But effectiveness? That depends on the staff he or she assembles. Here is the official team of newly-minted Rep. Scott Perry (R-York).
Note how many names are staying on from the staff of former Rep. Todd Platts, the man Perry succeeded.
This is the second of three features. Check out freshman Rep. Matt Cartwright’s team here. Next up: Keith Rothfus.
Chief of Staff: Lauren Muglia
Hometown: Middlesex, NJ
College: Dickinson College, Carlisle
Muglia has extensive legislative, policy and military experience. She has served at the executive and legislative levels of government since 1992. She was commissioned into the U.S. Army in 1990 and presently serves in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel where she’s been deployed twice to hostile fire zones.
Deputy Chief of Staff: Bob Reilly
Hometown: Lebanon, PA
College: Shippensburg University
Reilly previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff to former Congressman Todd Platts. He oversees Congressman Scott Perry’s district offices in Gettysburg, Wormleysburg and York and serves as liaison to state and local elected officials, the business community and non-profit organizations to help identify solutions for issues facing the 4th District. He previously worked as a newspaper reporter and as a writer/consultant for the transportation construction industry.
Legislative Director: Marianne Myers
Hometown: Spring Grove, PA
College: West Virginia University
Marianne moved to Washington D.C in 2001 after working in the PA State House for four years to work with Rep. Todd R. Platts (R-PA). Marianne made the transition to the private sector in 2004 with an International PR firm, GolinHarris. Marianne returned to Capitol Hill in 2011 as Legislative Director for Todd R. Platts to serve the constituents of south central Pennsylvania.
Director of Operations/Scheduler: Carol Wiest
Hometown: Millersburg, PA
College: Harrisburg Area Community College
Wiest has extensive scheduling and management experience with the state and federal government. She worked for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and most recently for Congressman Todd Platts.
Communications Director: Ryan Nawrocki
Home: Baltimore, MD
College: St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Nawrocki previously served as the Communications Director for Rep. Andy Harris (R-M.D.). Before joining Rep. Harris’ office he worked as the spokesperson for BWI Marshall Airport and in the administration of former Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich.
Muglia delivers books to Bosnian students during a 2003 mission. Source: Stars and Stripes. http://www.stripes.com/news/bosnian-students-benefit-from-major-s-good-deed-1.942
One month after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, twelve eastern Pa. mayors gathered for a press conference in Media, Pa. They urged Congress to take action on gun violence.
The event, organized by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization, marked the release of a new television ad featuring family members of gun violence victims. They implored national political leaders to limit the accessibility of guns to criminals.
The ad will air on national cable and on cable in the Philadelphia and Lancaster areas. It was produced by the firm Devine Mulvey and paid for by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Action Fund.
A spokesperson for the group declined to specify the size of the buy in Pa. Typically when an organization keeps such numbers close to the vest, it means that they aren’t spending much. Most likely, the ad is targeted to drive news coverage more than influence average viewers.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a coalition of more than 830 mayors, making it the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country. Its co-founder and most vocal member is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The group supports several federal measures including requiring universal background checks for firearms purchases and an outright ban on the sale of so-called assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
“We all agree that we need to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, terrorists and people who are seriously mentally ill, but about 40 percent of guns are sold in this country without federal background checks. It’s not an infringement of the Second Amendment to require background checks for anyone who buys a gun,” said Jayne Young, the Mayor of Lansdowne and one of the participants in today’s press conference.
Bucks County Commissioner Robert Loughery – sometimes mentioned as a possible congressional candidate in 2016 – revealed a bit of his TV viewing habits at a meeting this week.
Loughery, the Chair and one of two Republican Commissioners, spoke to Democratic minority Commissioner Diane Marseglia.
“I watched ‘Downton Abbey’ last night,” Loughery told her. “You could be like our ‘dowager countess?’”
Marseglia laughed, smiled politely and responded curtly. “I’d really be careful there,” she told the board chairman.
And not wanting to bungle his first commissioners meeting of 2013, Loughery at once offered Marseglia yet another title. “I meant to say ‘duchess.’”
No such duchess is prominently featured on the PBS drama.
The dowager countess Violet Grantham, portrayed by actress Maggie Smith, is characterized by PBS as an “immensely insufferable” matriarch who “does not cease to surprise those around her with her sometimes meddling, but often wise, counsel.”
The friendly banter between Loughery, elected in 2011, and Marseglia, first elected to the Board in 2007, illustrated a key difference between them: Marseglia has never watched ‘Downton Abbey.’
It’s unlikely to be an issue even if, as is possible, both square off again for another office in the future.
Marseglia has been listed as a possible candidate for Congress in PA-8, either as a challenger to Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks) in 2014 or when Fitzpatrick steps down in 2016. If she’s on the ballot In four years, she may face Loughery – seen by many as a natural successor to Fitzpatrick who also served as Commissioner during his first run at the House.
Fitzpatrick has said he would not run for re-election in 2016.
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