News & Brews August 11, 2022
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Pa. GOP lawmakers receive FBI subpoenas, per sources
PennLive reports that according to several sources, “[f]ederal investigators delivered subpoenas or paid visits to several House and Senate Republican offices in the Pennsylvania Capitol on Tuesday and Wednesday.” Multiple sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the individuals were not targets of investigations but rather might have info of interest to the FBI. Read the full story here.
Fetterman camp launches ‘Real doctors against Oz’
Well, Democrat John Fetterman’s U.S. Senate campaign has launched a “Real doctors against Oz” tour to attack Republican Mehmet Oz for allegedly “making his fortune as a TV scam artist providing reckless medical advice.” I wonder when Republicans will launch a “Real blue collar workers against Fetterman tour” to highlight Fetterman’s good fortune to have his parents still financially supporting him into his 40s.
Pa. energy rates to increase next month
Here’s news no one wants to hear: “The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is notifying residents and businesses that electric generation prices for some customers are expected to rise on Sept. 1, 2022,” ABC27 reports. About half of the state’s major electric distribution companies will change their prices, and increases range from 1.3.% for West Penn Power residential customers to 19% for Penn Power residential customers. This follows rate increases in June that, for some customers, were as high as 45%.
Op-ed: ‘Proposed constitutional amendments on election integrity shouldn’t be controversial’
GOP Sen. Mike Regan (Cumberland and York counties) had an op-ed in the Express-Times outlining his support for two proposed constitutional amendments that, respectively, “would ask Pennsylvanians to decide whether ID be required in order to vote and whether the Auditor General should conduct post-election audits.” Regan writes, “There’s an old adage that says avoiding the appearance of impropriety carries as much weight, if not more, than the impropriety itself. It’s clear the public perceives wrongdoing in our electoral process, and it’s vital that we restore their trust.”
Dems ‘betting on progressives’ in key states
Pennsylvania joins Wisconsin in the spotlight of a POLITICO story on how in two key U.S. Senate races, “Democrats are placing their bets on progressives who have voiced support for Medicare for All, allied with Bernie Sanders and vowed to end the filibuster.” The piece notes, “The fact that Democrats are rallying behind [Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela] Barnes and [Pa. Lt. Gov John] Fetterman represents a departure from past election cycles, when they typically selected centrist candidates to be their standard bearers in battleground Senate races. That has worried some moderates in the Democratic Party who believe the candidates have baggage that could alienate swing voters.” That said, some early polling has given Democrats cause for optimism.