News & Brews August 29, 2025
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Philly collar county Dems want more taxing power
Democrat officials in Philadelphia’s collar counties are hoping the debate over SEPTA funding will open the doors for them to raise taxes. (Raising taxes seems to be a theme with Democrats, no?) The Inquirer reports that state laws “allow counties to tax only property,” and this “prevent[s] them from doing more to support” SEPTA. After all, there are oodles of things that could be taxed, including wages, transit, gas, liquor, hotel stays, cigarettes, and more. Thus far, the GOP-controlled state Senate has not shown an interest in expanding these local taxes.
Rendell: Shapiro’s Lifeline veto still hurting him
As the state budget impasse drags on, former Democrat Governor Ed Rendell—a supporter of Gov. Shapiro—noted “that Shapiro’s decision … to veto school voucher funding after promising it to Senate Republicans may be adding to this year’s budget politics,” per PennLive. Rendell said, “That created a lot of ill will, although I think [Shapiro’s] working hard to make up for that. And he made a mistake. You never promise anything until you know you can deliver it.” Here’s one way you can make up for it, Governor: Be good on your word. Lead your House colleagues to support Senate-backed Lifeline Scholarships and then sign them into law.
Independents lose bid to vote in primaries, for now
The Pennsylvania “Supreme Court has rebuffed an attempt by independent voters to get the state’s closed primary system declared unconstitutional.” Plaintiffs had asked the high court to take up the case directly, without their having to go through the lower courts, but the Supreme Court refused. Now, they will likely refile the case in Commonwealth Court, and it could eventually wind up back in the state Supreme Court.
Paying influencers to promote Democrats
This is a super-interesting read from Wired.com. I’ve mentioned the Left’s behemoth ‘dark money’ group Arabella Advisors in this newsletter before. Well, Wired has a story on how one of Arabella’s funds, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, has been offering to pay Democrat social media influencers up to $8,000 per month to promote Democrats’ messaging. Among the fine-print restrictions? The influencers aren’t allowed to reveal they’re getting paid.
Op-Ed: Shapiro & Dems point fingers rather than fix problem
Former Republican state Senator Bob Mensch writes that in the midst of the late state budget and the debate over SEPTA funding, “There is far too much finger-pointing at Republicans … being done by Democrats and the liberal press, often for political purposes.” In reality, when Gov. Shapiro proposed a state budget that had “a $5 billion deficit as the starting point, there was nowhere to go but down, and now we have a budget and funding battle created by the governor himself!” Mensch reminds us, “Despite the false perception, SEPTA is not a state agency! It has an executive management team, a board of directors and its own sources of revenue. In many ways, the SEPTA funding problems come from within SEPTA itself, rather than the state legislature.”