October 13, 2023
Triad Strategies encourages everyone who supports the people of Israel in the aftermath of last weekend’s horrific terrorist attacks to please go to this link and lend a hand. We stand with Israel and pray for the safe return of all the innocent lives being held by Hamas.
Late last night, U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise withdrew from the race for speaker of the House after falling way short of the 217 votes necessary. Congress, therefore, is still paralyzed a full two weeks after Kevin McCarthy was deposed, and there looks to be no path forward. This particular version of the House Republican Conference is, in the words of one GOP member, leaderless and rudderless. In other words, the House GOP is making a clown car look like an E-Class Mercedes.
Congratulations to the Atlanta Braves for becoming the first MLB team in history to win 100 games in back-to-back seasons and be eliminated from the playoffs by the same team both years! The Phillies are heading back to the NLCS, people, and no one likes them, but they don’t care!
Our own U.S. Sen. John Fetterman appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week, and in addition to showing off his impressive one-liner skills, he explained how his stroke has turned him into a strong advocate for people with disabilities in America. Of course, the media coverage was all about his hoodie, so there’s that.
The Biden administration announced today that Pennsylvania will be part of not one, but two regional hydrogen hubs, funded with up to $7 billion from Uncle Sugar. Governor Shapiro quickly pointed out that no other state will be part of two hubs, so the nation’s clean energy future is gonna run right through the Keystone State.
The General Assembly has missed the boat on dueling plans to move next year’s primary election date, at least according to the counties who have to run these elections. We are sure someone will explain to us why the second week in October is the closing of the magic window for an election that won’t happen until next spring.
Meanwhile, legislative action is expected as soon as next week on a bipartisan plan to open Pennsylvania’s primary elections to independent voters. Recently, five former Pennsylvania governors sent out a joint letter asking for this change to become law. If you can get the Fab Five to agree on something, you probably barking up the right tree.
A rather sobering report was released this week detailing in stark fashion the Commonwealth’s failure to fund higher education, by just about every metric imaginable. In fact, “abysmal” is how the report described Pennsylvania’s support of higher education. In TOTALLY UNRELATED NEWS, Pitt, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln have still not received funding for the budget passed in July.
A group of state House Republicans have proposed a package of bills to crack down on looting. To be fair, protests are a way of life in this country, but using a protest to help yourself to some flat screens and iPhones is not cool. Unless, of course, you are protesting the use of locks and plate glass windows. By the way, we hear a lot about looting, but very little about pillaging. Have we eradicated that stuff?
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald this week presented his eighth and final budget for the second-largest county in the state. The tidy, little $3.4 billion spending plan keeps property taxes flat for county residents and is a good representation of Fitz’s run as ACE. Never flashy, but always quietly effective.
While some Pennsylvania lawmakers continually flirt with legalizing and regulating so-called skill games, there are states that are actively protecting their lotteries and casino revenues instead. The Virginia Supreme Court this week banned those games, while the Kentucky legislature did the same weeks ago. Odd how easy that was, huh?
As the race for one open Pennsylvania Supreme Court kicks into overdrive, it is worth reminding y’all that there are two, count ‘em, TWO, open Superior Court seats up for grabs in November. Read up on the candidates who are vying to sit on the second-highest court in Pennsylvania.
In our Shameless Client Plug, we give a big shout-out to Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger, as he took his team down to see our friends at Precision Custom Components in York. PCC is very busy building parts for the U.S. Navy submarine fleet, and Siger and his boss, Governor Shapiro, are pledging investment in job training and facility expansion. When national defense meets manufacturing and workforce development, it is a win for all.
Over on the Triad Socials this week, our own Mike Manzo talks about next year’s election in the 10th Congressional District with ABC-27 News. Check it out!
Mike was also a guest on This Week in PA, so we are not entirely sure when he had time to do any actual work for the company.
Also, we were proud to support City and State PA’s digital summit this week on behalf of our kick-ass tech clients.
In our We Can’t Make This Up segment, we take you to Aurora, Colorado, where a very large pig named Fred is in custody after spending days on the lam (pig on the lam, get it?), committing all kinds of property crimes. After five people finally subdued him, he was given his own pen with a trough, a soft bed and even a baby pool to wallow in. And that’s what is wrong with our country. We are soft on crime!
That’s what passes for news around here, as a gorgeous weekend begins and the new session week looms like the grim hand of the reaper, hanging over our heads. From all your friends at Team Triad, have a great weekend!