The Triadvocate

Of Earmarks and WAMs

 

One of the rallying cries in some political circles preceding the November elections was “No more earmarks!”  They must be done away with, according to some candidates and elected members of Congress, lest our democracy crumble into anarchy.  Pork barrel spending, it seemed, would go the way of the Edsel as soon as Congress returned for the Lame Duck Session.

Thanksgiving Happy Hour

 

The Mama Grizzly (Sarah Palin to those of you who live in a place even more remote than Alaska) has written another book, America by Heart, and it was released this week.  We’re sure it isn’t controversial at all. 

Friday Happy Hour

 

The Pennsylvania House and Senate wrapped up their internal caucus leadership elections this week and save for the Senate Democrats, the state’s largest city will have an almost-unprecedented dearth of leadership voices at the big table next year.  Check out our Triadvocate post from yesterday for a more detailed analysis.  If you followed our Twitter feed this week, you wouldn’t have had to wait long to find out who the new leaders are.  So before you hibernate for the winter, jump on and follow us.   

Go West

 

Wanna know what a shock to the political world this week’s House leadership elections were?  The sun actually set in the east.  Or more aptly, the political sun rose on the west.

Friday Happy Hour: Sine Die Edition

The Triad family sends our condolences to the family of State Rep. Bob Donatucci, who died suddenly this week at the age of 58.  Donatucci was the very definition of a “quiet force” in the General Assembly, and he will be sorely missed.

Partisan Majority vs. Governing Majority

 

“No more excuses,” was how one lawmaker described the challenges facing the GOP in Pennsylvania over the next two years.  He was referring, of course, to the beating his party administered to the Democrats at the polls a week ago, and how the time has come for the Republicans to deliver on their promises.

Election Hangover Happy Hour

 

The 2010 General Elections are now officially over, and instead of regaling you with a blow-by-blow, we’ll just leave you with a link to our postmortem from Wednesday, in case you happened to be living on Venus for the past week.

The Post-Election Postmortem

 

Pennsylvania, like the rest of the nation, lurched to the right and emerged bright red this morning, as the face of state government underwent an overhaul of historic proportions.