Piccola Votes for Pork (unlike Folmer & Eichelberger)

Thanks to GrassrootsPA for exposing this:

The state Senate voted 47-2 to approve $12.9 billion in capital projects, mostly to be financed by debt.

The vote can be found here. Piccola voted Yes.

As we commented on that GrassrootsPA thread, Piccola's the Mitt Romney of the Midstate. Except at some point, to kiss up to conservatives, Piccola might want to vote like one now and then. To those who have been reading this blog, Piccola's latest vote is no surprise -- it fits with Piccola's 2003 vote for Rendell's tax hikes, Piccola's 2001 vote for the pension hike, and more.

And Piccola wants to be Senate president? No thanks!

OK, Mr. Small Government Piccola. Are You Going Along With $47 Million in State Funding Package for Soccer Stadium in Philly Area?

From the Associated Press, today:

CHESTER, Pa. - Gov. Ed Rendell unveiled a $47 million state funding package Thursday to aid in the construction of a soccer stadium on the Chester waterfront, the latest step in an effort to attract a Major League Soccer franchise to the Philadelphia area.

Rendell and state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, surrounded by other state, county and city officials, announced the aid package ...

OK, time to look to Mr. Small Government, the would-be president of the Senate, who lost out for that job by one vote to Scarnati. Will Senator Jeff Piccola speak up on this taxpayer ripoff at this critical time?

Or will Piccola be silent as he was when the 2005 pay raise passed -- and just let this new taxpayer ripoff go, too?

A first-term state Rep., RoseMarie Swanger (R-Lebanon), has already been out front on this.
Of course, she hasn't been in the legislature since the 1976 (!)election.



Here's Swanger, more than a month ago (Dec. 19): "With our roads and bridges in dire need of repair, the governor wants to lure into the Philadelphia area a sport that has failed there twice. We need to be in the business of spending taxpayer money more responsibly than this."

A check of Piccola's website yields... silence. Run a search for "soccer" -- see what you get. Oh, he does have a 1-25-08 column titled "PA Needs Budget that Restrains Government Spending & Responsibly Tackles Important Issues."

But it doesn't say a word about this boondoggle. Is Piccola's district getting a soccer stadium of its own?