House Republicans have set a vote for next Wednesday, Jan. 12, on repealing Obama’s health care reform bill. The legislation likely won’t stand a chance with Democrats in the Senate and never get to the president’s desk for a sure-fire veto, but it may still put anti-HCR Democrats such as Jason Altmire and Mark Critz on the spot. (Unlike Altmire, Critz has never had to cast a vote on the matter, but has long said he’s against it.)

In 2010, Pennsylvania elected a new governor, unelected an old senator, and moved decisively toward installing the GOP as the dominant political party. Now, as the new year gets underway, it’s a good time to assess where we have been, what problems lie ahead, and what opportunities beckon. Six key areas comprise mileposts from the past year and signposts to the future.

Congratulations to all of the lawmakers being sworn in today in Harrisburg. State Rep. Jesse White challenges Rep. Christiana to re-introduce his bill to sell the Governor’s mansion. Rep. Christiana, it turns out, already was. In the first good budget news in 300 years, PA received $191 million more in December revenue than anticipated. Jon Delano breaks down the Allegheny County Exec race, and the State Supreme Court just might not be a rubber stamp for GOP redistricting plans after all.

The Pennsylvania Progressive Summit, an annual meeting for all of Pennsylvania’s liberal activists, has announced their 2010 award winners and their nominees for Progressive Video of the Year. Here is the release.

Pennsylvania Senator-elect Pat Toomey graces the front page of the New York Times website this afternoon. The story paints the portrait of a man with sincere and consistent conservative views, but also a willingness to be open-minded and work across the aisle. Toomey is politically pragmatic too, as he cannot alienate Democrats and Independents if he hopes to be re-elected in 6 years.

Good News for Preborn Children and Their Mothers; Abortion Totals Decrease in Pennsylvania!   Harrisburg, PA – Statistics released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health

It seems Rep. Patrick Murphy, who lost his re-election bid despite being a hero to progressives and having oodles of boyish charm, will have a place to go now that he’s leaving office: Philly-based business law firm Fox Rothschild.

Happy New Year, politicos. Hopefully everyone had a relaxing holiday weekend, and welcome to 2011. For a holiday, the weekend was fairly busy with political

The uproar over the job offer aimed at preventing Rep. Joe Sestak from running for Senate has faded, and the extent to which — despite public pronouncements — it was, in fact, viewed as politics-as-usual became clear this morning when Rep. Darrell Issa said he wouldn’t investigate the incident.