One Dem's greed/arrogance may cost party majority in PA House

[Divernan]

(First there was his greed in a pushing for a late night vote for a 16% pay raise (with additional thousands for himself as a leader); followed by his arrogance in being the ONLY legislator of either party who did not listen to the public's screams of outrage which led to repealing the raise.)
www.post-gazette.com
Pittsburgh, Pa.
In defeat, Veon pays the price for pay raise
Thursday, November 09, 2006

By Bill Toland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Minority Whip(D) Mike Veon lost in an upset to newcomer Jim Marshall, while Minority Leader(D) Bill DeWeese survived an Election Day scare. And the fault lines, observers say, can be traced all the way back to July 7, 2005, straight into the Capitol, where the General Assembly voted to increase its own pay by a minimum of 16 percent, with thousands more for party and committee leaders. With a couple of races yet to be decided, it could prevent the Democrats from grabbing the majority in the House.

Mr. Veon and Mr. DeWeese, initially, were the only two legislators in either chamber who refused to vote in favor of the repeal. Mr. DeWeese eventually relented, but Mr. Veon never did. "I never really thought about voting any other way," he said earlier this year. Neither Mr. Veon nor Mr. DeWeese could be reached yesterday. "This is obviously residual from the pay raise," said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College. "There were a number of Democrats who voted against him in the primary and still didn't come back. Across the state, the pay raise has gone away, but district by district it was still a problem.

"The irony would be if the Democrats fall short of taking over the House by one seat, and it's his seat." It appears that may end up being the case: The GOP is clinging to a one-vote, 102-101 majority in the state House. Two photo finishes in Chester County are leaning Republican, but will be examined by Democrats for the rest of the week -- one of the leads is just 19 votes. Had Mr. Veon only taken care of business in his own district, the House majority probably would have flipped to the Democrats, and he would have been in line to be majority leader.

And Mr. DeWeese may have returned to the speaker's chair, something he's coveted for years. He still might, if Democrats are able to eke out one more victory, or if Gov. Ed Rendell can convince a single Republican to switch sides. "Mike Veon was the band leader" of the crowd that organized and ratified the late-night pay raise, Mr. Epstein said. "People were tired of his tune ... Mike was totally unrepentant."

[NOLADEM]

1. More proof that when you act like a Repuke Light DINO, you get treated like one

Small lessons like this are good warnings for our party not to become out enemy. We MUST keep perspective, discipline and ethics at the fore of our renewal.

[Divernan]

2. Off topic, but re NOLA: Photo Exhibit at NYC's Metropolitan Museum

Last weekend I saw a special photographic exhibit at the Met - 20 very powerful pictures of NOLA after Katrina - a picture truly is worth a thousand (or more) words. Here's the link - you can see the pictures and also listen to an audio.
www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId={23E721E6-F42D-4773-8FF7-B1EE1CDD00A9}


New Orleans after the Flood: Photographs by Robert Polidori
September 19, 2006–December 10, 2006
The Howard Gilman Gallery
Learn more about this exhibition.

View images from this exhibition.

Visit the online Met Store for related publications, reproductions, and other products.

Robert Polidori describes his experience depicting the loss and pathos of a civilization in chaos in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:


Subscribe to the podcast.

Download the audio file. (4.1 MB)

Listen to the full audio program. (RealPlayer: 8:54 minutes)


"New Orleans after the Flood: Photographs by Robert Polidori" marks the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent floods that devastated New Orleans. The exhibition features approximately 20 large-scale color photographs that Robert Polidori created during four extended visits to New Orleans between September 2005 and April 2006. These quietly expressive photographs present a candid and intimate look at widespread destruction—an incomprehensible landscape of felled oak trees, houses washed off their foundations, and tumbled furniture.

The exhibition is made possible by Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen

[NOLADEM]

3. Thanks for the link, and thanks for caring.

Pleas encourage everyone you can to visit. We are back as far as tourism is concerned, and tourism is really the very best way to help us. It educates, it promotes many separate industries in the city and keeps the city running.

Really, really important.

Thanks again.

[dsc]

4. actually I respect him

I admit I don't know the ins and outs of how the pay raise came into being but he deserves kudos for sticking to his guns.