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News flash: It’s hot. Hot enough to make covering press conferences dangerous: Just ask the cameraman who collapsed at a gathering of Democrats in Washington, D.C. — including Pittsburgh’s Rep. Summer Lee –— who opposed the bombing of Iran.
So this week, I’m resting after every news item. And I’ve formatted this newsletter with little breaks, so you can do the same!
One easy way to beat the heat is to monitor a telephone town hall, such as the one U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick conducted Wednesday evening. Critics prefer in-person events, in part because the telephonic gatherings are easier to stage-manage. But I’ll take it over sweating in a crowded high school gym. And McCormick never loses his cool, sometimes acknowledging a pointed question by chuckling, “Based on what you said, you probably don’t agree.”
Indeed, there were disagreements during the hour-long call, some from self-identified Republicans, such as the caller from Littletown who said Republican plans to cut solar-power tax credits would hurt American energy independence.
McCormick predicted the credits would be phased out over a long-enough time that the industry could adapt, and overall he said little at odds with President Donald Trump or his party. He said he could support Medicaid cuts, for example, arguing that they merely pared back future growth, rather than reducing current spending outright. (Critics say it amounts to the same, given that health care costs rise.)
McCormick did, however, criticize efforts to cut research grants through the National Institutes of Health — moves that set off alarms in Pittsburgh’s “eds and meds” economy.
“I don’t agree with what the policy has been on this,” he said. “We should probably increase the funding for NIH, not lessen it.”
Perhaps surprisingly, McCormick fielded only one question about the bombing in Iran, and none about the Trump Administration’s approval of the purchase of U.S. Steel.
Some terms of that deal — including a “golden share” that gives the president veto power over key business decisions — are now coming to light. New financial filings by U.S. Steel make clear that the White House could, for example, prevent U.S. Steel’s headquarters from ever being moved from Pittsburgh. But the executive branch could only preclude a decision to "close, idle or sell" the Mon Valley’s steelmaking facilities for the next 10 years.
That’s arguably a less-rosy scenario than, say, the one described by U.S. Steel executive Kurt Barshick at Trump’s victory lap at the Irvin Plant last month: “Our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, they’re going to have family-sustaining, good-paying jobs, all because of President Trump,” he proclaimed.
Then again, it’s far more protection than local steelworkers had before.
It’s not just the heat that can make political journalists listless: Off-year elections can be dull. But local Democrats and Republicans are at least engaged in some partyline-crossing stratagems.
Take, for example, the local Democrat running as an independent in a special election for a county council seat that traditionally “belongs” to Republicans. Or consider the GOP’s effort to shape the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court bench: notifying its voters that they can increase their influence by skipping some votes.
The approach was urged by Republican Committee of Allegheny County Chair Jason Richey in a weekly blast email to the party faithful (which is often worth reading, another novel strategy!) It’s guided by two notable facts: There are a lot of county judgeships (eight!) up for grabs, and judicial candidates can “crossfile” by running on both party tickets.
Six Democrats did so, and they were the only names on the GOP primary ballot last month. But after what Richey called “a thorough investigation of our potential options,” the party is supporting one of them: Michele Santicola.
In fact, while voters can pick up to eight candidates, Richey wrote, “We are asking that you use only 1 vote and vote only for Michele” — a strategy he calls “Operation One and Done.”
Santicola did not respond to calls, but Richey hailed her as a “law and order candidate,” who is endorsed by police unions and previously worked for former Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett. (She was endorsed by many other labor groups, too, and rated “highly recommended” by the bar association.)
Santicola finished 12th out of 22 in the Democratic primary — not enough to earn a spot on the Democratic ticket this fall. But she finished second on the GOP ballot.
In a county where Democratic voters outnumber Republicans two-to-one, Santicola has a lot of ground to make up. But the GOP’s backing should help, if its voters don’t simultaneously vote for her rivals — even those they saw on their primary ballot last month.
On the other hand, nothing saps one’s energy more than watching outside money insinuate itself into local elections. And in Pittsburgh’s mayoral race, an “independent expenditure” group outraised the two Democrats whose names were on the ballot in the final days of the election.
Candidates who ran in May — and the outside-spending groups who love them — had to file new finance reports days ago, documenting their activity in the two weeks before the May 20 primary and the weeks after it.
Common Sense Change, which supported Corey O’Connor, reported raising $371,000 and spending $380,000 between May 6 and June 9. O’Connor’s own campaign raised just $64,568 in those weeks, though it spent over $374,000. Mayor Ed Gainey raised just over $75,000 and spent nearly $167,000.
Common Sense Change donors included three unions. But $216,000 came from “Democracy Wins,” a mysterious Washington, D.C.-based outfit that previously gave Common Sense Change $150,000. And Democracy Wins has received much of its support from a Delaware “dark money” nonprofit that doesn’t disclose donors at all.
Local progressives have tapped such sources too, though not with Common Sense Change’s success this time. And government-reformers lament that money is getting harder to trace.
Philip Hensley-Robin, executive director of Common Cause PA, calls it “the nesting doll problem,” in which groups pass along money from other groups.
“It’s increasingly common because of loopholes in state and federal law,” he said.
Lauren Cristella, who heads Philadelphia-based reform group Committee of Seventy, said she’s heard of dark money in a race for township supervisor.
“The only solution is also the highest hurdle,” she said: “passing a constitutional amendment to undo Citizens United,” the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates on outside spending.
For now, Cristella said, the best fix was to “shine a light” on such spending.
“It’s job security for both of us,” she said brightly.
Maybe. But for now, I’m focused on staying hydrated. You should do the same!
