Democrat gives GOP Pa. House majority

[Junkdrawer]

Stunning switch by representative from Reading is aimed at depriving DeWeese of top job

HARRISBURG -- A Democratic legislator from Reading stunned his colleagues yesterday by announcing he will support Republican John Perzel for House speaker rather than Democrat H. William DeWeese.

State Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone wrote to the other 101 Democrats in the House, criticizing Mr. DeWeese's "petty'' and "vindictive'' way of running the Democratic caucus and calling Mr. Perzel "a man of his word'' who is "open, inclusive and fair.''

If Mr. Perzel holds on to all 101 Republican House members -- which is not a certainty -- he would eke out a 102-101 victory over Mr. DeWeese on Tuesday, the opening day of the 2007-08 session. The Waynesburg Democrat has been hoping to regain the powerful speaker's post, which held in 1993-94.

Republicans have held the speaker's job since January 1995. Mr. Perzel has been speaker since March 2003, but his reign appeared to be at an end when Democrats won control of the House by a 102-101 margin on Nov. 7.

Democrats, naturally, are furious about this latest development.

State Chairman T.J. Rooney called Mr. Caltagirone's action "reprehensible ... selfish ... a slap in the face to his constituents and all Democrats throughout Pennsylvania. Make no mistake, this is an act of political treason. Caltagirone sold out to an ineffective ... Republican Party that was handed enormous losses as a result of unprecedented arrogance and 12 years of unchecked power."

....

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/06365/750290-85.stm

[Lawrence]

1. noooooo!!

NOT PENNSYLV....

eh, whatever.

[blue neen]

2. This is beyond dirty politics.

This is a direct betrayal of the will of Pennsylvania's voters. It makes me furious.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. How did you feel about Jim Jeffords

Did Jim Jeffords "betray the will of (Vermont's) voters?" Or, did he think that it would be better if the Republicans didn't lead the (U.S.) Senate and act responsibly?

In the case of Pennsylvania's voters, clearly they were/are pretty evenly divided.

[Toots]

4. Jeffords switched his Party affiliation because he could no longer agree with GOP

This guy is more like Zell Miller. He did not switch his Party he betrayed it. He still calls himself a Democrat Jeffords does not call himself a Republican. There is a difference..

[Name removed]

7. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cmkramer]

21. completely different situations

Miller chose to endorse Republican candidates even though he was a Democrat. People cross party lines to endorse candidates all the time.

What this guy is doing is more like what Jim Traficant did. Although in his case it didn't make any difference since the GOP had the House majoirty and their candidate was going to win, Traficant voted for Dennis Hastert for House Speaker rather than Richard Gephardt who as House Minority Leader was the Democratic "candidate" for Speaker. For his trouble, he lost all his Committee seats and became pretty much a man without a party.

[Judi Lynn]

6. You should have paid enough attention in the time leading up to his decision

after being abused for his independence over and over again by _Bush and other Republicans before he made his move.

It helps to know what's going on.

[earthside]

8. That Is the Question

I know nothing about Pennsylvannia politics, but that is the question about State Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone.

Is he doing this because he has been treated like a Jim Jeffords?

He says, according to the report, that the Dem state house leader has been "petty'' and "vindictive''.

All I can say is that I hope that 'politics as usual' is being shown the door, whether played by Dems or Repugs. Let's hope that this is a warning shot across the bow for open and honest government.

[happyslug]

12. In Pennsylvania, the President Pro Temp of the Senate, The Governor and the Speaker..

get together at budget time and sets the State Budget between them. The party members then vote along party lines. Thus this is VERY important when it comes to the Budget in June.

[EST]

5. All over the country, there were, and will be,

republicans running as democrats. Their reasons, of course, vary widely, but what it really represents is that the party of theft, scandal, and corruption has again seized the march.
Democrats should have taken this page from the book years ago and run as moderate republicans.

We rejoiced-some of us-when one of the defectors came to the honorable side, welcoming them as having finally seen the light. If the democratic majority continues to grow, we can expect more and more hyenas donning fox attire. I have no doubt there are politicians who have little "sleeper cells" in all branches of the democratic party who will now, or at some other appropriate time, choose to go with republican ideals.

Is this what happened here? I certainly don't know, since I don't know the guy, but I am not a bit surprised. Not a bit.

[Frances]

9. Agree

My husband's nephew came back from a visit to Alabama where he met a local politician who said he ran as a Democrat--even though he's really a Republican--because the people in that community wouldn't vote for a Republican. I thought that was very dishonest.

[tblue37]

19. That is exactly how Nagin became mayor of NOLA.

He ran as a Dem after being a lifelong Republican, because a Republcian could never have been elected in NOLA.

[onehandle]

10. This is what recall elections are for. nt

[happyslug]

13. There are NO RECALL elections in Pennsylvania.

n/t

[onehandle]

17. This is what flaming bags of dog poop on porches are about.

Swell.

[davsand]

11. I'd urge some caution before you jump to judge Caltagirone.

I have NO idea what is going on in PA. It could be that Caltagirone really IS some kind of weasel, it could also be a case of a guy who is the only one with enough fortitude to stand up for what he thinks is right.

I have seen it happen locally that we had a case where a handful of Democrats stood in opposition to the rest of the party over a leadership vote. At the time I was screaming mad and ready for bloodshed because I looked at it as a betrayal of the voters and of the party. It was only later that I found out the back story on it, and I agreed with what they had done.

They put themselves out in front alone rather than speak in PUBLIC about ethical lapses they knew about on the part of the selected "leader." They'd had private conversations with several other folks about it and somehow those got swept under a rug along with the original misdeeds when it came time to decide leadership.

They knew this person had some pretty serious dirty laundry and they knew that the local GOP was aware of it. They were not willing to hurt the individual or the party in public with this stuff, and THEY ended up being demonized for it.

Again, I say that I have NO idea what the real story is out in PA. I dunno what is up with Caltagirone. All I do know is that not everything you read and hear is the full story and the demons are not always evident.

Regards,


Laura

[left is right]

14. without recall elections there is only 1 thing to do

have his constituents write letters telling him they are displeased, they have long memories and they vote

[Freddie Stubbs]

23. The problem is this guy deosn't intend to run for reelection

He has been in office for many years, and has a fat pension waiting for him.

[Doctor_J]

15. Recall.

Now. We must put an end to this kind of GOP shit.

[Freddie Stubbs]

29. PA has no provision for recall of legislators

[Demit]

16. "The intrigue is not over..."

Interestingly more in the article:

G. Terry Madonna, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College, agreed. "The intrigue is not over," he said. "I think Democrats will try to find a Republican legislator to switch" and vote for Mr. DeWeese.

"If I were . ... either DeWeese or Perzel, I wouldn't be sleeping tonight -- I'd be on the phone" seeking additional votes, said Jerry Shuster, a political communication professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

He said there were several new reform-minded members from both parties who still could be wooed to cross the aisle. Also, some Democratic members remain upset with Mr. DeWeese after they lost committee assignments or were in other ways punished for not supporting the now-repealed legislative pay raise of July 2005.

"I don't think it's over by any means," Dr. Shuster said. "I think it will come down to the actual vote on Tuesday, and there will be a number of surprises until then. There will be so many promises made by power brokers on both sides of the aisles."


So Perzel's a creep, but DeWeese is no paragon of upstandingness either. I think Caltagirone is enjoying himself, stirring the pot, since the folks at Young Philly Politics say he claims he's not going to run again in 2008. And it's possible some Repubs will do a switch of their own. I guess we'll see.

[jefferson_dem]

18. Caltagirone website here -

...for anyone interested.

http://www.pahouse.com/caltagirone/

[Divernan]

20. A number of other Dems and Repubs are withholding their votes for Speaker

GrassrootsPA is reporting through CapitolWire that a number of other Representatives are also withholding their votes for Speaker. These are both Dems and Repubs so the election Tuesday could be chaotic. Joe Petrarca, Rosita Youngblood and Tom Tangretti, all Dems are reportedly also withholding support for DeWeese. Republicans not voting for Perzel include Rosemarie Swanger and Scott Perry. Meanwhile, Curt Schroder may also run for Speaker as Republican.

Caltagirone is no reformer. This is a naked power play against DeWeese. Why did this mess happen?
Both parties put forth the same Leaders tainted by the corruption of the pay raise scandal and past abuses. The parties ignored the ringing and decisive message of the voters call for reform.
Perzel is also being challenged by the neoconservatives within the GOP delegation.

All pretense of collegiality has vanished from the State House under Perzel's 12 year rule as majority leader. I think Caltagirone is a fool to make a deal with Perzel, but it will certainly screw up DeWeese. These old time pols care more for their personal power than the good of their own party, let alone the voters or the state.

[Junkdrawer]

22. Penndems posted a great link to a blog that investigates the money links:

http://voicepa.blogspot.com/2007/01/representative-caltagirone-and-speaker.html

Basically Caltagirone, Republican Speaker Perzel, and Gov. Rendell are helping a bank's directors from being replaced by the stockholders.

Originally posted here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3013626&mesg_id=3013933

[jwirr]

24. Is this one of the pugs who ran as a Dem in 2006 or just a turn-coat

traitor?

[Divernan]

25. 30 years as Dem Representative/chair of the Judiciary Committee

He was unopposed in last November's election and gave around $50,000 of his campaign funds to various other Dem candidates - I think he was hoping to replace DeWeese in caucus leadership.

There's a strong Italian sub-caucus within the House Dem caucus; and long-time grudges between Bill DeWeese and other Dem reps. When the Dems first lost leadership in the House about 1993, a very popular dem Italian/American rep from Erie, Italo Cappobianco made a strong effort to throw DeWeese out of leadership (because DeWeese's "leadership" was credited with losing the majority). Italo was very well-respected and liked, but failed to unseat DeWeese, and died a few years later. DeWeese has held on to caucus leadership ever since, but until the last elections, the Dems were losing more seats in the House with every election. This time around, DeWeese & the House Dems benefitted from the anti-Bush, anti-Santorum mood in PA.

[jwirr]

27. It is a shame he could not find a way to do this without hurting the

people who have supported him all those years.

[w4rma]

26. Obviously Democrats in Pennsylvania need to unite behind a different Speaker, quickly.

Perhaps Rep. Keith McCall, since he will be the new majority leader, otherwise?

[JPZenger]

28. He Could Have Done it Differently

There are good reasons to not want to support the current Democratic leadership of the PA. State House. However, if Catalagione REALLY was interested in being a reformer, he could have conditioned his vote upon the Dems coming up with an alternative set of leaders. There are many great Dem. legislators in PA - but most have not been in top leadership positions. The current Dem leader DeWeese is an arrogant vindictive windbag who represents the worst of the Democratic party. Think of him as Ted Baxter with a thesaurus.