News & Brews April 4, 2025
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Republicans appealing latest mail-in ballot ruling
Yes, I have another mail-in ballot story. I know: They seem to keep coming! You’ll recall that earlier this week, a federal judge said, “To heck with the law!” (Ok, my paraphrase.) The judge ruled that undated or incorrectly dated mail-in ballots must still be counted, which goes against state law. Now, Republicans are appealing the ruling. City & State PA reports, “The Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania filed a notice of appeal indicating they would appeal the court’s decision to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.”
Pa. Dems fine on unconfirmed ‘secretaries’ leading agencies
Democrats of late like to rail against “unelected” folks in government, crying crocodile tears over Elon Musk, for example. But it turns out, the boo hoos are all for show. Because this week, every Pa. Senate Democrat voted against a Republican-led bill that would prevent unconfirmed bureaucrats (appointed only by the governor but lacking Senate confirmation) from leading state agencies for indefinite periods of time. No joke. The legislation, introduced by GOP state Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (York County), would have limited the time that “acting secretaries”—who have not received Senate confirmation—can direct an agency. Phillips-Hill posted that during former Gov. Wolf’s administration, “there were: 21 unconfirmed ‘acting’ secretaries; 11 never even nominated. Some served over 600 days without a single Senate vote.” Cry me a river, Dems.
Anti-Israel Lefties vandalize Fetterman’s wife’s store
From keying Teslas to terrorizing college campuses to now vandalizing a community store that gives away free food and clothing, the Left really has some destructive issues it needs to deal with. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman shared that his wife Gisele’s Braddock community store, where she “and volunteers distribute food, clothing and formula at no cost to our community,” was “defaced” recently with messages critical of Fetterman’s support for Israel. “I’m used to the vandalism at our home or my office,” Fetterman said, adding that Gisele and the volunteers she works with “shouldn’t have to put up with this.” There’s a word for this kind of vandalism, by the way, and it’s not “protesting” or “free speech” or “peaceful demonstration.” It’s crime.
Shapiro’s proposed aid cut to farmers raises GOP concern
As Gov. Shapiro posts on social media about fighting for farmers, he actually has proposed cutting millions in state aid to farmers. Spotlight PA reports that Shapiro wants to cut $25 million from the state’s “bird flu recovery program, arguing that its $61.5 million reserve is enough to aid Pennsylvania farmers affected by the aggressive virus.” Some Republican lawmakers, however, “fear the state won’t be prepared to respond to a surge in cases.”
How the Left tries to ‘circumvent the voice of the people through the courts’
Pa. House Republican Policy Committee Chair Rep. David Rowe (Snyder, Union, Mifflin, and Juniata counties) writes in the Delaware Valley Journal, “Lurking in the shadows of judicial fiat, war is being waged on reliable electricity generation. While shrouded in climate justice, there is a cloak-and-dagger lawfare campaign to impose radical Green New Deal policies that cost us, the consumers, much more than we realize.” Amid rising electricity costs—the average per Pennsylvania family is over $3,000 per year—Rowe points to two examples of efforts by the “radical left to impose their failing Green New Deal policies onto the unsuspecting and overpaying consumers.” First is the Bucks County lawsuit against energy companies. And second is Gov. Shapiro’s push to unconstitutionally implement an energy tax “that will quadruple electricity rates.”