News & Brews April 9, 2024
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Why Pa.’s attorney general race has national impact
Beyond the all-important races for president and U.S. Senate, “Pennsylvanians will be able choose nominees for another race with national implications when they vote in the primary for state attorney general.” So notes the Inquirer. “Whoever wins in November will be seen as a top contender for governor in future years.” What’s more, “State attorneys general have played an increasingly important role in national politics in recent years. GOP attorneys general have thwarted Biden’s student debt relief plan and other policies, while Democratic attorney generals led the legal fight against Trump during his presidency….”
Yass: ‘Trump is best for school choice, even if I won’t donate to his campaign’
Jeff Yass, managing director and a co-founder of Susquehanna International Group in Bala Cynwyd and longtime school choice advocate, writes in the Wall Street Journal that President Biden is “the most anti-school-choice president in history.” Earlier on, Yass gave mostly to Democrats, “whose lower-income, minority constituents were most victimized by underperforming schools.” But he “was wrong to think that Democrats would support school choice to help their constituents out of poverty,” as Dems are in the grips of teachers’ unions. “I don’t care about political parties and would happily support Democratic legislators who share my vision,” he writes. “I believe that the first Democratic governor who helps pass broad-based school choice will be remembered as a civil-rights leader of our generation. Sadly, no such Democrat exists today.” While Yass writes that he has not supported and has no plans to support Trump’s campaign financially, in the Trump v. Biden race, Trump is the clear school-choice choice.
WSJ: ‘Pa.’s fracking boom weighs on Biden’s re-election chances’
The Wall Street Journal reports, “Pittsburgh is at the center of a class inversion between the two parties that is redefining American politics. Democrats have traded their former blue-collar base for professional-class, metropolitan workers, while Republicans have become overwhelmingly dependent on working-class voters concentrated in far-flung suburbs, small towns and rural areas.” In 2020, President Biden’s Pa. victory “depended in large part on big gains among voters such as Josh Thieler, a software company manager and former Republican who is now part of the city’s heavily Democratic professional class. But those gains have been overtaken by opposition from voters like John Sabo, who works in the natural-gas industry, a sector that has given a boost to blue-collar workers in rural counties.” The story, linked here, is paywalled, but you can listen to a short Journal podcast on the same topic here, subscription free.
Op-Ed: No more ‘words, words, words … Show me!’
Our president and CEO, Matt Brouillette, writes in PennLive, “Since taking office, [Gov. Josh] Shapiro has waxed extensively—and expletively— about ‘getting sh*t done’ and being ‘competitive as hell.’ But behind his speech is little substance.” Instead of “empty words” Shapiro should focus on “concrete policies.” Matt offers several such policies to help the governor get started.
Biden’s LNG pause hurts Pa. workers
At a Pa. House Republican Policy Committee hearing yesterday, “Pennsylvania labor and industry groups expressed frustration about the Biden administration’s pause on new liquid natural gas (LNG) export terminals,” the Delaware Valley Journal reports. “We have more than enough natural gas to economically meet the needs of our commonwealth’s citizens while stabilizing the industry by opening new export channels,” testified Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association Executive Director Carl Marrara. “Using Pennsylvania natural gas to fuel our allies is good for Pennsylvania, the United States, and ultimately the geopolitical stability of the world.”