News & Brews September 18, 2024
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Task force on Pa. assassination attempt expands scope to Florida
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports, “The Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump, chaired by Butler County Republican Mike Kelly, asks for a briefing no later than Friday” on the second attempted assassination of the former president that happened this past weekend in Florida. “In addition to information and documents related to the July 13 Butler rally, the letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray asks for ‘all documents and information related to any potential connection between the attempted assassination on July 13 and the attempted assassination on Sept. 15, 2024.’”
Pa. Dems have ‘slimmest’ voter registration edge in decades
Spotlight PA reports that “Democrats in Pennsylvania are entering the home stretch of the 2024 election with their weakest voter registration advantage compared to Republicans in recent decades.” Although Dems’ “raw registration numbers began to rise after Biden dropped out in late July and that trend is continuing … simultaneously, the number of Republicans has increased even more quickly.” Currently, Dems make up 44% of registered voters in Pa. to Republicans’ 40.2%. In 2009, this gap was 51.2% to 36.9%.
Interview with GOP AG nominee Dave Sunday
In an interview with the PennLive editorial board, Republican attorney general nominee Dave Sunday, whom we are endorsing, “outlined some of the critical issues that he said informs his criminal justice work and motivated him to run for the highest law enforcement office in the Commonwealth.” Central to his approach is the combination of accountability and redemption. “You have to have both,” Sunday said. “You have to hold people accountable. We went after traffickers but at the same time, we embraced redemption.”
Medical malpractice lawsuits ‘spike’ in Philly
Gee, who could have predicted this? (Aside from everyone with an ounce of logical thinking capabilities). The Inquirer reports, “Medical malpractice filings are spiking as lawyers target Philly juries as a ‘slot machine.’” Remember the rule change that allowed trial lawyers to file cases in plaintiff-friendly Philly even if the alleged crime didn’t happen there? Well, after that change (which went into effect in January of 2023), “43% of 657 medical malpractice complaints initiated in Philadelphia between Jan. 1, 2023, and April were based on care provided outside the city.” The reason is that Philly has a history of handing out higher settlements. Of course, there’s a cost. The story notes, “Higher verdicts and settlements have spurred the University of Pennsylvania Health System to boost its professional liability reserves by $90 million.” If you think this isn’t going to lead to higher costs for patients, think again.
Pa. Senate votes to repeal RGGI carbon tax
Yesterday, the state Senate voted 27-22 in favor of legislation, sponsored by Sen. Gene Yaw, that would repeal the carbon tax included in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), into which former Gov. Wolf unilaterally forced Pa. in 2019. Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman said, “The RGGI Electricity Tax must be stopped. Even though the Commonwealth Court has ruled RGGI is unconstitutional, Gov. Shapiro has continued his push with the Supreme Court. If the RGGI Electricity Tax would go into effect, it would mean hundreds of millions of dollars of increases on electric bills, impacting every electricity consumer in this commonwealth.”
We (finally) have a winner (maybe)
Nearly five months after the primary election, the Luzerne County Board of Elections voted to certify Republican Jamie Walsh as the winner (by four votes) of the 117th House District GOP primary. Walsh defeated incumbent state Rep. Mike Cabell. WVIA reports, “Cabell has until next Monday to decide whether to ask for a recount of votes, the last possible way of changing the outcome.”