January 31, 2025
Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the victims, civilian and military, who perished in the awful crash over the Potomac River Tuesday night. And we join our fellow Americans in thanking our first responders for once again rushing toward tragedy with no regard for their own safety.
There were plenty of fireworks coming out of President Donald Trump’s office this week, as the executive orders just kept on keeping on. But before we discuss any of his latest and greatest hits, we would like to call attention to the fact that POTUS has apparently found a place to keep about 30,000 of those pesky immigrants he is planning to deport: Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now that Gitmo is gonna be back in business, we would hope that this administration has the good sense to re-hire Col. Nathan Jessup to oversee the operation. Frankly, we WANT him on that wall. We NEED him on that wall!
Freezing all federal spending may have seemed like a good idea in theory (or written out in crayon on the back of a cereal box), but suffice to say it went over like a dozen over-priced rotten eggs. Not 24 hours after Trump signed the executive order, the wheels of state governments began to fall off, including in some of those red states who voted for the president. The order was revoked just two days after issuance.
Speaking of over-priced eggs, bird flu is doing its part to make sure that our collective cholesterol levels plummet. The price of a dozen eggs is rapidly approaching 10 bucks, with no end in sight to the price increases. Now, we were ASSURED this was the fault of one Joseph Robinette Biden, which leads us to wonder why the dude is STILL in charge of egg prices long after he’s left D.C. Maybe we need an executive order on egg prices?
On Monday, the markets took a plunge as China’s AI foray, DeepSeek, flooded into the world market. The Chinese government touted this new achievement in AI saying it only cost around $5 million to develop. Sure, that sounds totally plausible. It was difficult to ascertain, however, if the app was developed in Wuhan or Tiananmen, since DeepSeek is apparently programmed not to discuss either of those two places. But yeah, only $5 million to develop. Honest.
This week, Governor Shapiro launched his PA Lightning Plan, a comprehensive set of initiatives meant to hypercharge Pennsylvania’s energy economy and future. Now our cautionary note to those who immediately started blasting away at the plan on social media. You may not love everything in Shapiro’s initiative, but one thing is certain. Much as Trump won the national election, Shapiro won the Pennsylvania election, and it really wasn’t all that close. So, if you wanna get something done on energy, compromise is literally the ONLY path.
Can we take a moment to talk about why anyone in their right mind would want to be a county commissioner in Pennsylvania? There you are in a job that in most cases doesn’t pay much, watching as all the problems the state and feds can’t solve eventually fall into your lap. You have limited powers to raise revenue, but the unfunded mandates never seem to stop coming. In any case, those intrepid souls were back in Harrisburg this week with a few reasonable asks of their state brethren. First, fix the election code (which has been their standing request since 2021.) Second, properly fund the mental health services that end up as county responsibilities. And finally, fix the 911 funding system so that when people call that number it actually works. Doesn’t seem like a lot to ask, but maybe we are crazy, which means we should run for county commissioner.
Philadelphia will be the center of the celebration in 18 short months, as the nation’s semi quincentennial kicks off. To say there are a few small events planned (MLB All-Star Game, World Cup, etc.) around our nation’s 250th birthday would be a massive understatement. The economic impact to our fair city is going to be measured in the billions, but alas, it may cost a few hundred million just to pull it all off.
As we mentioned earlier, county commissioners (and county election officials) have been begging the state to clarify election laws for a long time. Compounding the problems, apparently, is the fact that the state has not yet updated our master voter database, the SURE system, quickly enough. We don’t know a lot about anything, but we do know this: if that system isn’t running cleanly and efficiently by the time the next gubernatorial tilt is on the ballot, there is gonna be big trouble, right here in Susquehanna River City.
And speaking of elections, national political pundits have already zeroed in on the two most important bellwether states when it comes to judicial elections this year, those states being Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Why? Can’t we just be left alone for five minutes? Do we really need to endure another hundred million in campaign spending in an odd numbered year? Save us from this hellscape, Steve Kornacki!! CALL OFF THE DOGS!
The state Senate advanced a few bills of note, none larger than the reauthorization of utility shutoff regulations, known around these parts as Chapter 14. That expired piece of PA law caused quite the showdown last year between the House and Senate, and if this week is any indication, the upper chamber is ready for another fight.
As details of Governor Shapiro’s next budget proposal begin to leak out, one overlooked part of the governor’s emerging legacy is his dedication to tourism. For decades, elected officials loved to tout the fact that tourism was Pennsylvania’s second-largest industry, while giving tourism exactly ZERO love in state budgets. But Shapiro has certainly shown that when he talks about our Great American Getaway, he walks the talk, too.
You can find out what we think will be in Shapiro’s third budget by tuning in to watch Triad’s own Todd Brysiak preview the plan on Monday. Then, you can watch Triad’s own Mike Manzo on Tuesday, reacting in real time to the governor’s budget address. In short, if you need to know about the Pennsylvania budget and you are not following Triad, shame on you for six weeks, fool.
Did we mention that Mr. Brysiak also landed on City & State’s top 100 government affairs professionals list? True fact! He said the thrill was far superior to anything an Eagles Super Bowl win could provide, so he has decided not to even watch the big game!
In our We Can’t Make This Up segment, we don’t even have to leave the state! On Monday, the Johnstown Flood Museum was closed due to… wait for it… flooding. The ungodly cold that hit the Keystone State last week caused a water line break in the museum, creating not only a minor flood, but also perhaps the funniest thing to happen to Johnstown since the Hansen brothers played for the Chiefs.
That’s what passes for news around here, as January finally gets the hell out and we look forward to the budget battles of 2025, which get underway next Tuesday. Our team will be on the hill, in the studio and Number 1 on your radio dial! From all of us at Team Triad, have a great weekend!