News & Brews November 4, 2025
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It’s Election Day!
Voters will head to the polls today to vote on several critical races, including the all-important retention races for three state Supreme Court justices who have a history of ignoring and rewriting the law for partisan purposes. For reasons outlined here, here, and here, we urge voters to vote No on retaining Justice Christine Donohue, No on retaining Justice Kevin Dougherty, and No on retaining Justice David Wecht.
Op-Ed: Democrats should vote no on retention
Oliver Bateman writes in the Post-Gazette that as a Democrat, he is “supposed to vote yes on retaining” Justices Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht. But he argues their “spotty records” offer a compelling case for voting “no.” What’s more, “The same party establishment, trial lawyers and labor bosses who installed these justices in 2015 are spending $8 million to reinstall them without competition. Voting against those special interests represents a vote in favor of the notion that contested elections make judges better, that ten years should trigger genuine evaluation, and that democratic accountability matters more than partisan advantage, even when the incumbents belong to our party.”
Fetterman: Dems to blame for SNAP lapse
Appearing on CNN this past weekend, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman laid the blame for the lapse in SNAP benefits at the feet of his own party. He said Democrats are “moving against our core values” by shutting down the government and said Democrats need to “own” the shutdown. Fetterman has consistently voted for the Republican plan to reopen the government, one of just three Democrat-caucusing senators to do so. “Reopen this thing, and we can find a way forward,” he said. “That’s the way democracy operates for right now.”
State spending ‘spiked 64%’ under Shapiro, Wolf
The Center Square reports, “Pennsylvania’s annual budget has ballooned by nearly 64% under Gov. Josh Shapiro and his predecessor,” Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf. Further, Pennsylvania’s budgets “have increased three-and-a-half times more during the last two Democratic administrations than the previous Republican one. When a Democrat is governor, state funding has swelled 6.3% a year on average. When a Republican has been governor, the comparable figure has been 1.8%.” It’s worth remembering that government can spend only what it takes from taxpayers, so if spending is rising, guess what else is rising….
Shapiro’s budget impasse could force school district to close
We’re more than four months into a state budget impasse, as Gov. Josh Shapiro has proven he’s utterly inept at bringing all sides to the table to “get s*** done.” Now, a Bucks County school district is warning it could be forced to shutdown in January. In a letter to families, Morrisville School District Superintendent Andrew Doster wrote, “Unless the state passes a budget, Morrisville’s public schools may be forced to shut down on January 30, 2026. In that event, we would be forced to temporarily suspend all school district operations…. This closure would include all in-person and virtual instruction, transportation, food service, athletics, arts, and support services.” Maybe instead of spending his days on TikTok, Shapiro should get a state budget done.
Pa. lawmakers debate Trump presidency
Open Discourse Coalition, which hosts events “providing a variety of intellectual viewpoints at Bucknell University and beyond,” recently hosted a debate between Democrat state Rep. Jared Solomon and Republican state Rep. Martina White, both of Philadelphia, focusing on President Trump’s second term in office. The pair tackled topics including the economy, immigration, and more. Watch the video of the event here or listen to the podcast here.