Ed Rendell's Pennsylvania
By Tom Adkins (02/01/03)
This week, everyone will write about George Bush's State Of The Union address. Let's make this short & sweet. Bush proved France, Germany and the Democrats are either too stupid or too anti-American to understand geo-political issues and defeat worldwide terrorism. We will liberate Iraq with a decisive victory that will feature Hussein unleashing some awful weapons, killing his own people as well as American troops. We will win nonetheless, and capture him scurrying to some other country. Nancy Pelosi, Tom Daschle, Alec Baldwin and Amnesty International will then cry out over his treatment as a political prisoner.
So instead, this week I bring you a slice of Philadelphia. Ed Rendell was just inaugurated as our Governor. Why is this important? Because Rendell will be a Presidential candidate in an election or two. Get to know him now, before it is too late.
Half an hour late, as usual, Philly Democrat Ed Rendell was sworn into office as Pennsylvania's Governor January 21st. The bitter cold might be a harbinger as he seeks to put his mark on the pinnacle of Pennsylvania politics. Then again, Ed Rendell has a way of warming things up.
If you've never heard of Ed Rendell, his story is classic Philadelphia. He has a husky voice, a big infectious smile, slightly balding (OK, balding a lot), and an outstretched hand. But he's a man who truly likes people. Rendell will talk to a complete stranger on his way to a big speech and wind up late because he really wanted to make a point. He'll appear on a sports talk show in the afternoon, be spotted eating a famous Philly cheesesteak at noon, and attend a formal event in the evening. Even though he's a native New Yawker, he's a real Philly kinda guy. Philadelphians adopted him and love him.
Rendell cut his teeth on Philly's often embarrassing rough and tumble political world, a classic Democrat big city that is slowly withering under the weight of corruption, incompetence and sheer stupidity. The wage tax is immense. City services are straining. The schools stink. The unions are squabbling over scraps of what's left (with actual very public fistfights), frightening away investors who won't even waste the paper on a business proposal. Sometimes it seems the only people left are the city workers, labor unions and section eight housing, Philadelpia lost 100,000 people and 10,000 jobs over the last decade, under Rendell's watch. And we think he was a good mayor!
Of course, Pennsylvanians did what they are expected to do with a candidate boasting such a checkered record: we elected him Governor.
To be fair, Rendell took over from the horrendous Wilson Goode. Facing a city almost D.O.A., He was accurately credited with at least ending the tide of red ink. He lassoed the out-of-control city budget, tamed some of the labor unions, and got city services to actually work. And in Philadelphia, that was a major accomplishment. When he was done, he did an obligatory stint at the DNC and became ready for prime time. He beat an accomplished but boring Bob Casey Jr. in the primary, then an even more accomplished but more boring Mike Fisher for the Governor's chair.
But running Pennsylvania will be a different test for Rendell. He spent his entire political career inside a city that essentially had one political party, as District Attorney, then Mayor. The Democrat nomination is almost always the toughest race. The trick is to line up the unions and the black churches by offering goodies, which further bloats the budget. But in Philly, nobody gets elected by promising austerity.
Now, as Governor, Rendell has to do a different dance. He faces a long laundry list of problems in a demographically sharply divided state. Cities like Pittsburgh, Philly, Chester, Coatesville and Erie have become classic liberal welfare states. The suburbs and rural areas are almost all universally conservative, and despise sending their tax dollars to failing cities. And the legislature is controlled by Republicans, in a state that is losing people, federal representatives, and federal dollars. Within this political maw, Rendell must address the following issues:
Medical Malpractice
Pennsylvania has become one of the worse states for doctors to practice. They are leaving. Insurance is up to half a Doctor's salary because Pennsylvania's tort system serves as a retirement fund for lawyers. And the trial lawyers won't give up their cash cow easily. Rendell's solution? Create another bureaucracy, the "Office of Health Care Reform." His proposal? Raid the rainy day fund and force insurers to give back their profits. In other words, he refuses to take on the trial lawyers. His "solution" doesn't even scratch the tort cancer that is causing the problem in the first place. Not a good start.
Insurance reform
Pennsylvania has one of the highest insurance rates in the nation. See above.
School Funding
A somewhat autonomous set-up, Pennsylvania relies heavily upon local property taxes to fund local public education. Since Pennsylvania's Democrat cities don't create any wealth, they don't spend as much on schools, relying upon the state. Couple this with the usual liberal education labyrinth and typical union incompetence, and the school systems are in deep trouble. Rendell proposes pushing the tax burden back on the state, effectively taking money from well-run local governments and giving it to the poorly-run city schools. Tough sell to suburbia.
Homeland Security.
Wait- isn't this a federal job? Not exactly. Every time a new security edict is handed down, the states bear much of the responsibility, including funding. Where will this money come from? The rainy day fund has already been raided to fund the doctors' insurance. Now what? This is the most critical new budget cost facing most states, in the middle of lower revenues in a slower economy. Look for Rendell to raise taxes for this one.
Pittsburgh Police Department
In a sick spectacle of race-baiting, the Clinton Justice Department made scapegoats of the Pittsburgh Police to placate the "civil rights" groups with the all-to-familiar accusations of racist brutality. Janet Reno forced the federal government into the operation of the Pittsburgh Police Department. The result? Pittsburgh cops left the force in droves. Those who remain rarely venture into black neighborhoods, afraid of being accused and dragged before a jury and spending a few years behind bars. It's an effect that has already happened in Los Angeles, where the gangs have taken a decided advantage over the police.
Waste
Boasting some of America's largest landfills, Pennsylvania takes in more trash from other states than any other state in America.
Scranton Wilkes-Barre corruption
Spreading out of New York City, Scranton Wilkes-Barre has become a mini-mafia fiefdom. The corruption is so rampant, residents are often sent blatant political payoff requests, in letters that offer barely-veiled threats if the money doesn't get sent in. Close to New York City, with a direct highway, it should be an attractive alternative to Connecticut and South Jersey. Instead, it is dying. Criminal corruption is why.
Penn State
Penn State used to be known for Joe Paterno. Now, it is known as the school that sponsored a Sex Tent, where students were encouraged to conduct sexual experimentation at a sex seminar. The laundry list of clubs and organizations that have conducted bizarre sex spectacles on the Penn State campus is made up of the usual subjects. Maybe that's why Coach Joe wears those big glasses?
And Philadelphia has problems that will compete with the state for money, raising immediate suspicions during budget negotiations…
Philly Convention Center
After decades of political battles and immense cost overruns, this giant hole-in-the-ground finally became the Philadelphia Convention Center nine years ago. Unfortunately, it was too small, too unspectacular, and famously too union. Actually, that's not true. Unions in other towns get along fine with sensible rules and guidelines. But Philly's union workers have famous fistfights over who has the right to change a lightbulb and charge some hapless conventioneer $250 for the service, and threaten violence if anyone objects. How bad is it? Just type "Philadephia Convention Center" in your search engine, scroll through the first 10 or so, then read the articles that pop up. The list of such stories is long and embarrassing. Philly's unions are apparently more interested in leeching rather than working together for a successful City entity, and Pennsylvania legislators have given up funding the center's expansion, which will otherwise die, unable to compete.
Philadelphia Schools
One of the absolute worse school systems in the nation, Philadelphia's schools are infamous for their hideous performance. Thirty percent drop out, and half of the rest don't graduate. The typical teacher union / administration bureaucracy can't describe it. This is the city that has the "dance of the lemons," where bad teachers are merely shuffled from school to school instead of getting fired. A teacher who raped a student was actually not fired, due to union resistance. Other schools are bad. But it simply cannot get any worse.
Developing the Philly Waterfront
The Philadelphia waterfront has made modest development over the last decade, but needs more than the typical "gold chains and Trans-Am" nightclub scene to become truly vibrant. But the usual parochial political bickering has stalled almost every significant expansion project.
Developing the Port
Actually, this hasn't been too bad, but Baltimore has stolen much of Philly's shipping by offering lower labor costs and a deeper port and channel.
Young people leaving PA
Pennsylvania has the second oldest population in America. Florida is older because old people move there. Pennsylvania is older because young people move out. Why should they stay? We have a 6% sales tax, 2.2% state income tax, a 1% or higher local wage tax, and Philadelphia has a whopping 5% wage tax. Add that up. It's a lot.
Because they usually have to serve a diverse population with diverse problems, Governors make pretty good Presidential candidates. But they usually come in two types: Leaders and schmoozers. Reagan was a leader. Clinton, a schmoozer. Carter led in the wrong direction. Nixon, for his stiffness, was a schmoozer, unwilling to take on the domestic left. Kennedy was a leader. George W. Bush started as a schmoozer but became a leader out of necessity. Ed Rendell is more of a get-along-to-go-along guy. As a Governor, he won't be a Tommy Thompson, whose Welfare reform became the model for federal reform. Instead, Rendell will try to assemble consensus and patch things up around the edges. That's his nature and his style.
Ed Rendell faces the classic challenge of almost every modern-day Governor: find a way to revitalize the failing cities and withering rural towns without mooching off the thriving suburbs to prop up old Democrat oligarchies. Especially his native Philadelphia. Otherwise, Rendell will bestow the same mixed-bag of results he carved in Philadelphia. He must avoid temptation to raise taxes and expand government if he wants to be President. And he does. So watch him carefully. Pennsylvania is grooming Ed Rendell.
(Printer friendly version) Email: Tom Adkins
