Politicians


This page was last updated on May 1, 2004.


 
Introduction Sen. Gerald LaValle (D-47)
President Bush Rep. Mike Veon (D-14)
Correspondence U.S. Representative and Senator Ratings
General Assembly expense guidelines Rep. Melissa Hart (R-4)
Rep. Vince Biancucci (D-15) Sen. Rick Santorum (R)
Rep. Frank LaGrotta (D-10) Sen. Arlen Specter (R)
Rep. Susan Laughlin (D-16) Stevan Drobac, Jr.

Introduction

Below is an overview of what I know about politicians of local interest.

When you visit a politician’s web site, be aware it is not designed to provide useful information.  A politician’s web site is a marketing tool designed to make the politician look good.  That’s why you will always find feel good stories and self-serving faux press releases but will never find a comprehensive voting record or a list of campaign contributors.  That’s true for all politicians regardless of party affiliation.  Please let me know if you find a politician’s web site that includes his voting record and a list of campaign contributors.

In fact, the Pennsylvania General Assembly doesn’t even publish votes on the web at all.  According to my state representative, you need to order the Legislative Journal from the Capitol Document Room in Harrisburg.  The clouds in the sky aren’t the only contributors to an overcast Pennsylvania.

Some state reps seem to believe they are U.S. representatives.  I see too many faux press releases telling the President and/or Congress to do this or that.  We elect state reps to represent us on state issues, not federal issues.  Their voices should carry no more weight on federal issues than yours and mine.  These folks need to learn to play their position, at least until Pennsylvania can maintain its roads, teach its children, becomes an economic powerhouse, et cetera.

I have to admit I had a negative stereotype in my mind before I began to communicate with politicians.  I’m sorry to say most of my exchanges with politicians of both parties have reinforced that stereotype.  That said, perhaps I’m the problem.  It may be a case of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I’d like to see a drastic cut in the number of state representatives and senators.  Pennsylvania has more legislators than any other state.  Below is a comparison with a few other states.

State House Senate Population Citizens/Rep
Pennsylvania 203 50 12,335,091 48,755
New Jersey 80 40 8,590,300 71,586
Ohio 99 33 11,421,267 86,525
New York 150 62 19,157,532 90,366
Texas 150 31 21,779,893 120,331
California 80 40 35,116,033 292,634

On a per-capita basis, Pennsylvania has approximately 77% more representatives than Ohio, 85% more than New York, 2.5 times as many as Texas, and six times as many as California!  Remember that these representatives also have support staffs and their attendant expenses (read: taxpayer dollars).  Is the Pennsylvania General Assembly a legislature or a jobs program?  A 2001/2002 investigation by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review showed that much of what our legislators spend is undocumented and there are no real spending limits.1

When you have that many full time politicians running around at taxpayer expense, there’s entirely too much time for “mischief.”  By mischief I mean sticking their noses where they don’t belong, as in the responsibilities of individuals, local government, and the federal government.

Correspondence

Overall I’m disappointed with the quality of correspondence I receive in response to my letters and notes.  Below is a list of my observations.

  • No response at all.  In some cases, the politician deleted e-mail notes without reading them.

  • Some politicians send only automated “thanks for writing” responses, no better than no response.

  • Some responses indicated my correspondence hadn’t been read past the subject line.  For example, a couple of responses thanked me for supporting the politician’s position when my notes expressed an opposing position.

  • When confronted with facts, many politicians change subjects.  In one case, the politician became combative.

  • “Facts” provided are less than accurate.  One politician wrote that Socialist Security was “A tax promise made to bail the government out of debt to support the expenses of war in the 40’s.”  The candidate didn’t know FDR signed Socialist Security into law in mid-1935, over six years before the United States entered World War II.

In another case, a politician presented a memo excerpt out of context to “prove” his point.  Unfortunately for the politician, I had access to the entire memo, not just the single sentence he quoted. Another candidate tried the same stunt on a different topic and actually defended omitting critical words from a quote!

  • Unfulfilled promises of follow-up information. This was when I asked politicians for data and facts supporting their position. In one case I received the equivalent of “trust me.”

The exception to the rule was State Rep. Sam Rohrer (R-Berks County). Though we remain at opposite ends of the spectrum with respect to public education funding, Rep. Rohrer -– or someone on his staff –- took the time to address each of my points in a four-page memo.

General Assembly expense guidelines

Below are annual expense guidelines for state representatives and senators.2  They are regularly exceeded but not by everyone.  Also, payments can be made from special “leadership” accounts, one for Democrats and one for Republicans.

  House Senate
Expense account $10,000 $10,000
District office $10,000 $15,000
Postage $4,000 $26,500
Per diems Up to $124 per day on legislative business Up to $124 per day on legislative business
Office supplemental $27,600

Includes up to $600/month for car lease or mileage reimbursement, office lease, telephone, and utilities

 
Rental car   Up to $600/month for car lease or mileage reimbursement
Flags   $480

Please note this data is from 2001.  I suspect these figures may be higher now.

Rep. Vince Biancucci (D-15)

Web site

Campaign contributors – 2002  Running unopposed in 2004

Salary: $61,890/year + expenses as of 2001

I live in district 15.

Other than seeing him 30+ years ago direct Center’s band when he was band director, I never had exposure to Mr. Biancucci.  However, we had a great band and the band members I knew liked and respected him.  Based on the positions he takes on his web site, he is a solid supporter of the Democrat Party socialist platform.  That said, he appears to be a follower so he may actually be a victim of party propaganda.

Regarding communication, e-mail messages usually receive no acknowledgement or response.  Of the 20 messages I sent during January 2003 – March 2004, I received responses to only two notes.  This was also true when Mr. Biancucci was executive assistant to his predecessor, Rep. Nick Colafella.  During that time, three of my four notes were deleted without even being read and the fourth simply received no response.

During early 2003, Mr. Biancucci made some statements about nuclear power plant security I understood were incorrect.3  I posed some questions to Mr. Biancucci and received no reply.  I then communicated with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and they confirmed my understanding.  I forwarded this information to Mr. Biancucci and received the following response in February 2003, “If you will bear with me, a reply will follow in the very near future.  We are researching some of the information that the NRC has provided to our analyst’s [sic].  Information that we have received does not support the NRC response.”  I followed up with Mr. Biancucci twice after that response but received no further communication on the topic.  It’s been over one year and I’m still waiting.  Well, not really.  The lack of a response told me all I needed to know.  It’s also possible Mr. Biancucci was a victim of Rep. Veon politics.  Rep. Veon had a history of grandstanding on this topic, when a Republican was governor.4

Rep. Frank LaGrotta (D-10)

Web site

Campaign contributors – 2002  Running unopposed in 2004

E-mail correspondence

Salary: $61,890/year + expenses as of 2001

I never met Mr. LaGrotta.  Based on local newspaper coverage and the content of the press releases on his web site, Mr. LaGrotta is a career politician and solid supporter of the Democrat Party socialist platform.  I don’t know if Mr. LaGrotta is a purveyor or a victim of party propaganda.

Below are quotes attributed to Mr. LaGrotta by InformationWeek.5

“What’s going on with this offshoring of American jobs to India and China is nothing but terrorism -- economic terrorism.  The job of government is to protect citizens, and that means protect them from terrorism from without, such as foreign terrorists flying airplanes into buildings, or economic terrorism from within, which is exactly what some CEOs of companies engaged in outsourcing are doing.”

“If my parents didn’t have Social Security around to take their money and invest it for them, and if they’d have had to make their own investment decisions, they would have lost it all.”

“It’s the government’s responsibility to those Americans whose jobs have been terrorized -- taken away -- to provide them with the income, benefits, education, training, etc., to compensate them for what they’ve lost.”

From these quotes, Mr. LaGrotta appears to believe protectionism promotes job growth, or at least doesn’t result in jobs going overseas.  Perhaps he has a different understanding of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act6 and its lessons than I learned.

It’s not clear if Mr. LaGrotta believes it is also economic terrorism when foreign companies like BMW, Honda, Michelin, Sony, Toyota, et cetera locate manufacturing facilities in the United States.  Should we demand these companies return their jobs to France, Germany, and Japan so their citizens won’t be economic terrorism victims?  As of April 2004, foreign-based companies provided about 4.8% -– approximately 267,000 -– of Pennsylvania jobs.7

In speaking of his parents and Socialist Security, it is clear Mr. LaGrotta subscribes to the socialism tenet that we as individuals cannot adequately take care of ourselves.  It’s sad when an elected official has so little faith in individuals.

Rep. Susan Laughlin (D-16)

Web site

Campaign contributors – 2002  Not seeking reelection in 2004

Salary: $61,890/year + expenses as of 2001

I never met Ms. Laughlin.  Based on local newspaper coverage, Ms. Laughlin is a solid supporter of the Democrat Party socialist platform.  In a letter to the editor confirming this assessment, Ms. Laughlin stated, “In the commonwealth and in all other states, we share the wealth.”8  The “wealth” to which Ms. Laughlin referred was taxpayer dollars.  Further, sharing implies a voluntary act, and paying taxes is not a voluntary act.

Regarding communication, the only e-mail message I sent Ms. Laughlin went unanswered.  During May 2002, I asked for the cost/benefit analysis for the proposed new Ohio River bridge at Aliquippa.

Sen. Gerald LaValle (D-47)

Web site

Campaign contributors – 2002  Running unopposed in 2004

Campaign contributors – 2000

Salary: $61,890/year + expenses as of 2001

I live in district 47.

I never met Mr. LaValle.  Mr. LaValle appears to have no web presence other than his page on the Pennsylvania Senate’s web site.  This page provides little more than biographical and contact info.  Based on local newspaper coverage, he is a solid supporter of the Democrat Party socialist platform.  I don’t know if Mr. LaValle is a purveyor or a victim of party propaganda.

Here is one example of Sen. LaValle’s socialist leanings.  Sen. LaValle believes there should be a limit on how much inspection stations can charge for an emissions test.  Sen. LaValle said, “If we’re going to wait for the market (to work), the cost may level out, but it won’t get down to what we think is a fair price to the consumer.”9  Does anyone care to guess how many low volume inspection stations will close because they won’t be able to make a reasonable profit on the service?  What about the businesses that already purchased the testing equipment?  Dropping the price a business can charge doesn’t reduce the cost to the business of providing the service.  The price to us may drop, but how far will we need to travel and how far in advance will we need to schedule the inspection?  Remember, Pennsylvania Democrats want us to believe they can successfully direct the Pennsylvania economy.  Be afraid; be very afraid.

Regarding communication, four of four e-mail messages received responses and none were form responses.

Rep. Mike Veon (D-14)

Web site

Campaign contributors – 2002  Running unopposed in 2004

Salary: $61,890/year + expenses as of 2001

I never met Mr. Veon.  Based on local newspaper coverage and his web site, Mr. Veon is a career politician and a solid supporter of the Democrat Party socialist platform.  As a member of Democrat leadership in the House, he is a purveyor of socialist beliefs, not a victim as some rank-and-file elected Democrats.

In keeping with his socialist positions, Mr. Veon appears to be anti-business.  Below are a few examples.

  • During a 2003 attempt to increase unionization at The Medical Center - Beaver, Mr. Veon joined other local elected Democrats in a ritual bashing of Medical Center management.10

  • On a Democrat Party infomercial during late 2002 or early 2003, Mr. Veon stated taxes weren’t a big concern for business, claiming taxes were not among the top four or five issues concerning business.  I found that to be a less than credible assertion.  Business taxes are added to the cost of a product and what businessman will tell you cost/expense control isn’t tied with getting sales as his #1 concern?  An economic survey commissioned by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry contradicts Mr. Veon’s claim.11  The poll indicated healthcare costs (89 percent) were the #1 concern and business taxes (83 percent) were a very close #2.

  • His support for central economic planning is decidedly anti-business and anti-free market.12  Though liberals like to spin the formation of government bureaucracies for economic “development” as pro-business, they are not.  Instead of letting businessmen and businesswomen make choices using their own money in a free market, Mr. Veon believes politicians can do a better job using taxpayer paychecks and pensions.  Unfortunately, both history and simple logic show us time after time that central government planning of the economy doesn’t work.  If it did, we’d be speaking Chinese or Russian right now instead of American English.

I’m sure Mr. Veon will disagree with my assessment, citing the “economic development” group (Beaver Initiative for Growth) he founded and co-chairs with Mr. LaValle.

Regarding communication, we exchanged a few e-mail messages regarding funding of volunteer fire departments.  Mr. Veon would not provide data supporting his position in favor of state funding.  Essentially, his response was “trust me.”  I am suspicious of elected officials who refuse to produce verifiable data to support their position.

U.S. Representative and Senator Ratings

The table below shows various ratings for U.S. representatives and senators of local interest.  A rating of 100% is the best for each group.  That is, an ACU rating of 100% means you are a good conservative, a CAGW rating of 100% means you are a hero for taxpayers, and an ADA rating of 100% means you are a good liberal.  I don’t know of similar ratings for commonwealth legislators.

I included Rep. Toomey in the table below because he competed in the Republican primary for Sen. Specter’s senate seat.

  ACU 200213 ACU Life CAGW 200114 CAGW Life ADA 200215
Rep. Melissa Hart (R-4) 96.0% 95.0% 70.0% 70.0% 0%
Rep. Pat Toomey (R-15) 100.0% 97.0% 100.0% 94.0% 0%
House PA Republicans 92.5% 85.5% 74.4% 72.3% 4.5%
House Republicans 91.2%   76.6% 74.9% 5.3%
House PA Democrats 14.0% 17.8% 17.0% 18.2% 81.5%
House Democrats 12.8%   18.1% 20.3% 85.5%
Sen. Rick Santorum (R) 95.0% 87.0% 79.0% 78.0% 5.0%
Sen. Arlen Specter (R) 50.0% 56.0% 60.0% 52.0% 35.0%
Senate Republicans 90.3%   77.3% 73.4% 11.1%
Senate Democrats 15.7%   14.5% 18.9% 85.5%

Rep. Melissa Hart (R-4)

Web site

Campaign contributors – 2002

Salary: $154,700/year as of June 2003

I live in district four.

I never met Ms. Hart.  While Ms. Hart gets consistently good marks from the ACU and CAGW, she appears eager to put taxpayer dollars into the hands of her constituents.  I’d like to believe Ms. Hart votes against these programs but feels compelled to support constituents who apply for these funds.  I’d like to believe this, but I have my doubts.

In a letter to the editor, Rep. Hart’s press secretary actually bragged about Ms. Hart’s efforts to bring inappropriate federal spending to Beaver County.16  The letter was in response to a letter entitled “Where’s Our Pork?” in which the author asked, “So what did we get?”17

Regarding communication, I sent Ms. Hart seven e-mail messages since September 2002.  Only two of those notes received a reply or acknowledgement and both appeared to be form responses.  I received one response over two months after I sent the original note.  That’s not a timely response, especially when it’s a form response.

Sen. Rick Santorum (R)

Web site

Campaign contributors – 2004

Salary: $154,700/year as of June 2003

I never met Mr. Santorum.  While Mr. Santorum gets consistently good marks from the ACU and CAGW, he appears eager to put taxpayer dollars into the hands of his constituents.  As with Ms. Hart, I’d like to believe Mr. Santorum votes against these programs but feels compelled to support constituents who apply for these funds.

Regarding communication, it’s a little more difficult to track responses since Mr. Santorum doesn’t publish his e-mail address and does not intend to change this policy.  To send Mr. Santorum an e-mail message, you have to do it on a form on his web site.  I’m sure Mr. Santorum has this policy to reduce spam, but it only makes corresponding with him more difficult for the rest of us.  Many times a constituent needs to make his opinion known to several legislators.  Requiring people to go to each legislator’s web site to send a note isn’t constituent friendly.

I believe I received a response to every note I sent.  However, all responses were delivered via “snail mail” and were form responses.  One response even thanked me for support of his position even though my note opposed his position.  It seems a contradiction that a person who espouses fiscal responsibility would reply via the more expensive -– and slower -– U.S. Postal Service.  It also seems strange for a time in which we have ricin and anthrax mail incidents.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R)

Web site

Campaign contributors – 2004

Salary: $154,700/year as of June 2003

I never met Mr. Specter.  For a Republican, Mr. Specter gets poor rankings from the ACU and GAGW.  Consistent with these ratings, Mr. Specter gets much better ADA ratings than the average Republican.  In other words, Mr. Specter is a RINO.  I’ve seen op-ed pieces claim Mr. Specter tends to be liberal during the first four years of a term but leans a little less to the left in the two years leading up to an election.

Regarding communication, I sent several e-mail messages and I received only automated responses thanking me for taking the time to write.

His current primary campaign commercials claim he has a record as a fiscal conservative.  Given his poor CAGW ratings and the fact that Sen. Specter received the CAGW “Porker of the Year” award for 2003, I don’t believe his commercials.  Once I find I can’t believe a person in one area, I find I can’t believe him in other areas.

If I ever had any doubts, this next issue would have clinched my vote for Pat Toomey.

With alleged support from the Specter campaign, Transportation Communications International Union management sent Pennsylvania union members a letter encouraging Democrats to switch temporarily their party registration so they could vote in the Republican primary.  Union management wanted Sen. Specter to defeat Rep. Pat Toomey.18  Union management wanted to make sure that if a Democrat doesn’t win the Senate seat in the general election, the liberal Sen. Specter will.

This isn’t the only attempt by Specter to use this tactic to subvert the will of Pennsylvania Republicans.  Sen. Specter is also encouraging Jewish Democrats to switch registration so they can vote for him in the primary!19

I believe these actions tell Pennsylvania Republicans –- and Democrats for that matter -– all they need to know about Sen. Specter.

President Bush and Sen. Santorum disappointed me when they threw their support behind Specter.  This allowed Specter to run a campaign ad claiming the election wasn’t Toomey vs. Specter, but Toomey vs. President Bush.  In other words, if you voted for Toomey in April you were really voting against President Bush in November.  I believe this scared a lot of Toomey supporters into voting for Specter.  Without the support from Bush and Santorum, Pat Toomey would be the Republican candidate in November.

I know many Republicans -- including President Bush and Sen. Santorum -- rationalized their support for Specter, but abandoning principle comes at a high price over a long period of time.  Sooner rather than later, Republicans -- including President Bush and Sen. Santorum -- will wish Pat Toomey had won.  I intend to write-in Pat Toomey when I vote in November.  I know many will claim this will be a wasted vote, but voting your principles is rarely a waste.


1. Legislative Spending Reports; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; 2001 and 2002.

2. Lawmakers’ spending kept secret from public; Brad Bumsted; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; August 12, 2001.

3. Biancucci to sponsor homeland security legislation; Rep. Vince Biancucci; February 5, 2003.

4. Veon introducing bill to arm patrols at nuclear plants; M. Bradford Grabowski; Beaver County Times; June 23, 2002.

5. Business Technology: The Silos Of Protectionism: Time To Raise Them, Or Raze Them?; Bob Evans; InformationWeek; March 15, 2004.

6. Smoot-Hawley Tariff; U.S. Department of State.

7. State ranks 7th in ‘insourcing’; Jim McKay; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; April 8, 2004.

8. Letter to the Editor - A good investment; State Rep. Susan Laughlin (D-16, Conway); Beaver County Times; May 21, 2002.

9. Lawmakers: Cap emissions-test fee; Martha Raffaele (AP writer); Beaver County Times; February 10, 2004.

10. Rallying cry - Medical Center workers consider unionization effort; Beaver County Times; September 17, 2002.

11. PA Business Leaders Rank Lawsuit Abuse As A Top Concern; Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry; September 30, 2003.

12. Manufacturing study highlights need for state commitment; Bill DeWeese and Mike Veon; March 10, 2004.

13. Annual Rating of Congress, American Conservative Union.  According to the web site, “The American Conservative Union is the nation's oldest conservative lobbying organization.  ACU's purpose is to effectively communicate and advance the goals and principles of conservatism through one multi-issue, umbrella organization.”

14. 2001 Congressional Ratings, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW).  According to the web site, “Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization representing more than one million members and supporters nationwide.  CAGW's mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the federal government.  Founded in 1984 by the late industrialist J. Peter Grace and syndicated columnist Jack Anderson, CAGW is the legacy of the President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, also known as the Grace Commission.”

15. 2002 Voting Records, Americans for Democratic Action.  According to the web site, “ADA is the nation's oldest independent liberal political organization, dedicated to individual liberty and building economic and social justice at home and abroad.  Since 1947, we have led public opinion and coalitions by taking early, principled stands on a broad range of domestic, foreign, economic, military, social and environmental issues.”

16. Letter to the Editor - Hart Delivers the Goods; Lee Cohen; Beaver County Times; January 12, 2004.

17. Letter to the Editor - Where’s Our Pork?; John Fardo; Beaver County Times; January 9, 2004.

18. Union Urges Penn. Voters to Choose Specter Over Toomey; Associated Press; FoxNews.com; March 24, 2004.

19. Primary Base; Jim Geraghty; National Review Online; March 18, 2004.


© 2004 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.