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We need to re-evaluate the size of state government. Harrisburg is too large and ineffective. Why would we hire someone to be in charge of government that has been ineffective in decreasing governement in his 10 year tenure! It is time for a reasonable re-evaluation !!!
Budget impasse & Mike Tuzai's response to his constituents - "NO!"
Last year's budget debacle exposed just how broken the system in Harrisburg is. 101 days without a budget - that's inexcusable! We can't allow state workers to go weeks without pay. We can't leave our non-profits, schools and local governments in limbo.
Mike Turzai is a major part of the problem. During last year's budget impasse, he and the Republican Caucus he leads, walked away from the bargaining table instead of negotiating a deal that might have better reflected the desires of the people he represents. He wouldn't even participate in the process. How are you going to find a solution if the only thing you're going to offer is to take your ball and go home? That is exactly the type of political posturing that does nothing to help the people of Allegheny County.
Mike Turzai wouldn't support tobacco tax! Pennsylvania is the ONLY state without a tobacco tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco. Even North Carolina, the largest tobacco production and manufacturing state in the US, has a tax on the products that cause an incredibly massive drain on our state budget!
Mike Turzai wouldn't support Marcellus-drilling severance tax. Even Republican gubernatorial candidate Corbett "Wants to be like Texasa" with respect to drilling company allowances, but extraction taxes lessen property tax & sales tax in Texas!
A Franklin and Marshall College Poll [9/09] shows that public opinion for Pennsylvania State Government is at an all time low.[Source: tba]
According to the poll:
Currently only one in three (33%) state residents believes the state is headed in the right direction, and only a quarter (27%) of registered adults believes the quality of state government in Pennsylvania is excellent or good.
While the overall opinion of State Government is very poor, people are seemingly at a loss on who to blame. Again, according to poll results,
Governor Rendell's favorability ratings are the lowest they have been since taking office in 2003, as are his job performance ratings. At this point, fewer than three in ten (29%) registered adults in the state say the governor is doing an excellent or good job. As poorly as the governor fares, ratings for the state legislature are even lower - not a single respondent rated the legislature's performance as excellent. More than three in four (78%) registered adults believe the state legislature is doing a fair or poor job.
The results of the poll show the overall frustration of people throughout the state. They don't really know (or care) about how we got here, they just want the problem fixed!
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