Bob Casey. The senior Senator from Pennsylvania was named Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, which oversees a review of U.S. economic policy. He’ll have to balance both parties and both chambers of Congress, but it’s a chance to really prove his mettle. Not to mention a reason for businesses and their lobbyists to attend Casey’s fundraising events over the next two years.

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PA House Dems and GOP. Good copy, bad government. Democrats: you have a 112-90 minority. If you don’t have good will with the other party, you don’t have squat. Republicans: numerous, unpopular amendments are part of the process. Get over it.
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Party Chairmen. Jim Burn’s call for Majority Leader Mike Turzai to step down, and Rob Gleason’s call for Minority Leader Frank Dermody to step down, evokes a metaphor. Specifically, a parent walking onto a Little League field to not only dispute a call, but also demanding that the umpire turn in his uniform.
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Rob McCord. Treasurer McCord was dogged in his pursuit of a ticket to attend the state Gaming Control Board’s executive session meetings, and was rewarded with an injunction from Commonwealth Court Judge Keith Quigley allowing him to do so.  The Board’s whimsical logic – that McCord wouldn’t be able to separate his status as an elected politician from the sessions’ supposedly non-political nature, is a classic meeting of pot and black kettle.

Judy Schwank. The special election in SD-11 is a chance for Democrats to wash the awful 2010 taste out of their mouths. Schwank earned the Democratic nomination unanimously and you’d better believe that Democrats will do everything they can to make sure that they start off 2011 with a win.
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Ed Rendell. The former Gov didn’t miss a beat. He started at NBC news this week, a dream job where he is paid to share his opinions. He also rejoined the firm Ballard Spahr as a partner. Just a few problems: it violates a promise Rendell made never to rejoin the firm, and it introduces a number of possible conflict-of-interest concerns about the end of his term.

Pat Toomey – Pennsylvania’s newly-minted United States Senator showed a sharp political acumen by addressing the new Tea Party caucus but not actually joining it. It’s clear that Toomey is determined not to follow Rick Santorum too far outside the 40 yard lines of Keystone State politics. And his committee assignments were pretty good, too.