The state Senate and House have voted for different versions of a bill to repeal the entire 16 to 54 percent pay grab that lawmakers approved for themselves in that infamous no-public-input, zero-debate vote in the wee hours of July 7.
But, let's keep that big, pink, 25-foot-tall, inflatable pig!
Along with political activist Eric Epstein, the aforementioned pig played a key role in Harrisburg on Sept. 26 in the protest against the pay raise.
Epstein's reaction upon hearing of the Senate's turnaround, the unanimous vote to cancel the raises for all 253 state lawmakers in the House and Senate, plus the pay hikes for more than 1,000 judges and top members of Gov. Ed Rendell's staff: "The improbable, the impossible, the unimaginable has become reality.''
What doesn't work anymore in Pennsylvania is the old "You can't beat City Hall" maxim. "Amazing" is how Gene Stilp, the Harrisburg lawyer who filed a lawsuit to repeal the raise, described the U-turn in the Senate. "It proves that taxpayers and citizens can have an impact if they try.''
More than that, it proves that the sneaks in Harrisburg are also chickens. Against just the first volley in an assault by a mobilized citizenry, our formerly smug and overpaid politicians raised the white flag and unanimously ran off the field of battle.
In contrast, let's not forget how bold these politicians acted during the post-midnight voting on July 7 when they thought we were sound asleep and they could sneak one through. To collectively pick our pockets, the number of shysters who got in bed together that night couldn't come close to fitting on a truckload of king-size mattresses.
The House went first, voting 119 to 79 to pad their paychecks by means of double-digit salary hikes and the use of unvouchered expenses, a tricky maneuver that circumvents the state Constitution's clear prohibition against lawmakers increasing their salaries during their current terms in office.
Piling on at 2:15 a.m., with no deliberations, 27 of the 50 Senators in Harrisburg voted for the controversial pay grab, setting off a middle-of-the-night outbreak of hugs, kisses and high-fives, followed by Gov. Ed Rendell and Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Cappy jumping under the covers with this whole shifty bunch of huggy and greedy politicos.
Rendell pronounced the pay grab to be "good legislation." Cappy, who lobbied to include judicial pay hikes in the legislation -- including a $22,400 pay jump for himself to $176,800 per year plus benefits and expenses -- declared that the politicians who voted themselves the raises showed "enormous courage and significant fortitude."
Calling the pay deal "an enormous step forward," Cappy dismissed public opposition to the raises as a "knee-jerk reaction." Concluded the chief justice: "I've been noticing that instead of a reasoned response, I have yet to hear an argument made by anybody -- by a commentator, by a citizen who's approached me privately -- that this is wrong based upon its merit."
Merit? Where's the merit in hiking the pay of Pennsylvania's politicians to the top of the national scale when the state remains steadfastly in the cellar in economic performance, ranking 38th in the country in job growth, 41st in personal income growth and 45th in population growth over the three years from 2002 through 2004?
Directly connected to the ineptitude of Pennsylvania's politicians, the Pacific Research Institute ranks Pennsylvania 45th among the 50 states in its 2004 Economic Freedom Index. Similarly, a 2004 Cato Institute study shows Pennsylvania's primary business tax rates to be the second and third highest in the nation and gives the state's politicians an "F" grade in fiscal management and controlling spending.
Over the past year, only New York and Michigan saw a sharper decline in manufacturing employment than Pennsylvania. Overall employment levels in both the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh area economies remain below their September 2000 levels, with both regions running 20,000 jobs behind the five-year-ago levels. Statewide, as of September 2005, the rate of job growth in Pennsylvania over the past two years was more than a third lower than the national rate.
And so, what's the prescription for Election Day in an underperforming state with an oversupply of underskilled politicians? For starters, it's good that they're on the run. The job now is to amplify the assault.
Ralph R. Reiland, the B. Kenneth Simon professor of free enterprise at Robert Morris University, is a local restaurateur. E-mail him at rrreiland@aol.com.