News & Brews December 2, 2024
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Another pay raise for Pa. lawmakers
Effective yesterday, the annual salary for rank-and-file state House and Senate lawmakers rose to $110,015.54, an increase of more than $3,500 (or 3.38%) over last year. PennLive explains, “Under a 1995 amendment to Pennsylvania’s compensation law, pay for judges, legislators, and most state-level officials is tied to regional CPI [Consumer Price Index] inflation. Lawmakers’ automatic raises are based on the October CPI data that is published in November, with the raises kicking in Dec. 1.” Lawmakers aren’t the only ones getting pay boosts. WESA explains that “More than 1,300 officials — including Gov. Josh Shapiro, all 253 lawmakers and all seven state Supreme Court justices — will get a pay raise….” For Shapiro, this means a salary increase “to nearly $246,000. That puts him in line to be the second-highest-paid governor in 2025, behind only New York’s governor.”
After ‘horrible’ election, Pa. Dems consider whether state remains a swing state
The AP reports that the across-the-board statewide losses Democrats suffered in Pa. this year have raised “doubts about whether Pennsylvania might be leaving the ranks of up-for-grabs swing states.” Despite massive spending by the Left, “Democrats in Pennsylvania lost its 19 presidential electoral votes, a U.S. Senate seat, three other statewide races, two congressional seats and what was once a reassuring advantage in voter registration.” Not surprisingly, blame is flying all over the place.
Interstate corruption
Because we’re Pa.-focused, News & Brews hasn’t spent much (if any) time covering the corruption scandal involving New Jersey power broker George Norcross. But it turns out corruption likes company. While under federal investigation, Norcross was working with Philly’s own John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty, who also was under federal investigation and has since been convicted and now sits in prison. The Inquirer reports, “Dougherty and Norcross were working together, raising money to support each other’s favored political candidates and leveraging their fiefdoms to advance each other’s personal and financial goals.”
The Pa. connections of Trump’s cabinet picks
The Inquirer reports that “after winning the battleground state and the presidency, President-elect Donald Trump has kept some pieces of Pennsylvania around in his nominations for his cabinet and other high-level positions.” Here are some Philly-area educational ties of several nominees.
- Dr. Mehmet Oz (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services): University of Pennsylvania
- Howard Lutnick (Department of Commerce): Haverford College
- Elon Musk (Department of Government Efficiency): University of Pennsylvania
- Marty Makary (FDA): Bucknell University & Thomas Jefferson University
Here’s what the top 1% of tax filers pay in taxes
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board explains that per recently-release IRS data, “The top 1% of income-tax filers provided 40.4% of the revenue in 2022.”Explaining further, the Ed Board continues, “This group includes 1.5 million tax returns with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) above $663,000. These people made up 22.4% of the country’s total reported earnings, yet their share of income taxes paid was nearly double that at 40.4%.” What’s more, “The top 10% of filers carried 72% of the tax burden.” For all the Left’s talk of the wealthy paying their “fair share,” they have a very odd interpretation of what this means.