WASHINGTON POST Column:   …The consequences would be widespread. The Pentagon would have to cut spending 8.8 percent, estimates Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a think tank specializing in defense issues. Among civilian workers, there would almost certainly be furloughs. Procurement contracts would have to be rewritten to reduce purchases; interestingly, the unit costs of weapons and other supplies would probably rise, as fixed costs were spread over shorter production runs. Training would be cut, leaving the services less prepared for combat.

Dozens of non-defense programs would suffer cuts averaging about 5 percent, according to Richard Kogan of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank. These would include: the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Park Service, the Department of Homeland Security — and many more. Here, too, there would probably be furloughs; some projects would be delayed or canceled; grants to states and localities would be trimmed.

With hindsight, the sequester’s failure to compel consensus seems understandable. For Republicans, the sequester guarantees spending reductions — even if many abhor the defense cuts — and avoids tax increases. Democrats may dislike the domestic cuts, but they also know that the biggest social programs are off the table — Social Security, Medicaid and most of Medicare (Medicare is subject to a 2 percent cut, but all of that would come from lower payment rates to doctors, hospitals and other providers)…  (more)

PHILLY.COM:   The Philadelphia Police department confirmed that a narcotics officer was taken off the street and placed on administrative leave Thursday, following the results of an FBI and Internal Affairs investigation. The department said it would not identify the officer because he had not been arrested or formally charged…

[Gerold] Gibson was targeted specifically by the U.S. Attorney’s Anti-Corruption Unit, and his supervisors were aware of the sting, law enforcement sources said…

Gibson is married to Corbett’s daughter, Katherine, who works as a deputy attorney general in the Philadelphia office making $69,700. She started in March of 2012, and as of late last year she was assigned to the office’s Drug Strike Force section…  (more)

HUFFINGTON POST:  …“Will you please answer the question?” McCain said. “Were you correct or incorrect when you said that the surge would be the ‘most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam.’ Were you correct or incorrect, yes or no?”

Hagel added that his comment about the “most dangerous foreign policy blunder” was not just about the surge, but about the overall decision to invade Iraq — a belief he stood by because it took the U.S. focus off Afghanistan.

“In the surge case in Iraq, we lost almost 1,200 dead Americans during that surge, and thousands of wounded,” he continued. “Now, was it required? Was it necessary? Sen. McCain has his own opinion on that, shared by others. I’m not sure. I’m not that certain it was required. It doesn’t mean I’m right, it doesn’t mean I didn’t make wrong votes, but that is what guides me when you ask me the question about my time in Vietnam…   (more)

CONTRIBUTOR:  Tell me again when the economy will recover.  Why should businesses
invest when the Fed, pumping 85 billion a month, can do all the work for the foreseeable future?

 EDITOR: Monetary and fiscal policies are two different things.   Through its monetary policy, the  Federal Reserve simply makes funds available to banks at low costs.   The Feds do not invest in projects.

Companies do not borrow nor do banks lend if they don’t think investments will be profitable.  It takes a combination of fiscal policy (e. g. governmental deficit spending) and monetary policy (ample low cost money) to fight inflation.

Government funding of job creating public projects has an immediate impact on the economy, expanded by the ‘multiplier effect.’

READING EAGLE Editorial:  The Issue: Sen. Pat Toomey and others sponsor a constitutional amendment to limit the terms of members of Congress…

But as we have said many times, term limits, regardless of length or composition, are a poor substitute for a well-informed electorate, which has the opportunity to limit the term of any elected official any time he or she is up for re-election… 

Besides, the legislative system in Congress is based on seniority. It takes a new lawmaker a few years at least to learn how to get things done in Washington. Once that senator or representative has gained that experience, not to mention the seniority that leads to better committee assignments and more power, it doesn’t make sense to throw it away… (more)

PITTSBURGH POST-TRIBUNE: … [Gov. Tom] Corbett has been their top cheerleader. He’s offered more than $1 billion in tax breaks to the chemical arm of Royal Dutch Shell plc to encourage it to build an ethane processing plant — called a cracker — in Beaver County. He was willing to invest so much because it’s those types of plants and the manufacturers they feed that will help ensure the state’s gas boom gives a sustained benefit to Pennsylvania instead of a quick flame out, he said.

“If you don’t do something with (the gas), it wasn’t worth having it in the first place,” Corbett said during his 20-minute speech. “We have a bounty of resources, but we have to build on them. We can’t count on gas and oil to take care of us forever. We need to constantly be drilling not just for the minerals but for new ideas.”

Producers and petrochemical companies are trying to figure out whether to build plants here or pipelines out of the region, said Paul Hart, editor of Hart’s magazine Midstream Business. The upfront costs of building in Pennsylvania are in the billions, much more expensive than simply building pipelines out of the region, he said…  (more)

EDITOR:   “If you don’t do something with (the gas), it wasn’t worth having it in the first place.”   Tax it as do other states! 

by Christiaan Hart-Nibbrig

The shooting death of 15 year-old Hadiya Pendleton on the southside of Chicago is not a tragedy. It is a national catastrophe. It is a senseless murder of a promising and, by all accounts, remarkable young girl.

A week after performing for President Obama’s second inaugural celebration, a highlight anyone’s life, Hadiya took cover in a public park during a rainstorm. That’s when the bullets rained down on her and ended her life.

We are so numbed to gun violence in America that Hadiya’s death, like the Newtown kids, a month ago, or the Aurora victims before that, or the Virginia Tech students, or the Nickel Mines girls, will be yesterday’s news and quickly forgotten.

And after each pointless death, we must endure the handwringing from our lawmakers. “We can’t let this happen again.” “We must protect our children.” And they will hold hearings and press conferences. And another Hadiya will be killed. And another.

Several years ago, I was a public school teacher in central Harlem, New York City. I taught fifth and sixth grades. It took no time for my students to burrow their way into my heart and my life. Those kids were no different than the ones I grew up with on the beaches in Southern California. There were smart ones, dim ones, funny ones, mean ones, athletic ones, dorky ones. They were just kids.

There was one difference between these kids and the ones from my suburban childhood. My students, like Hadiya, lived in a the war zone. Most lived in the projects of New York City. Each day they passed a gauntlet of thugs and drug dealers.

But that environment didn’t smash their spirits. Those kids taught me far more than I could have possibly taught them. They taught me that kids can be crapped on by their families, their school, their society, and still look forward to living life out loud. That’s what Hadiya was doing.

My students were lucky. They survived until their early twenties. Some went to college. Some got pregnant and had kids. They still contact their old teacher.

But Hadiya’s teachers – and she must’ve been a pleasure to teach – will not be able to follow the achievements she was sure to have. Her friends won’t be able to hang out with the charming girl. And her family won’t have her to hug anymore.

The bullets that took Hadiya’s life took parts of the lives of others. I know they took a part of mine.

In a Letter to the Intelligencer Journal / New Era editor, Mr. Ron Simmons of Ephrata gave some very wise advice:

“I understand two Franklin & Marshall staffers did a survey (2010) in which 80 percent of Pennsylvanians favor the legalization of pot for medicinal use. There have been so many documented positive effects reported from medicinal use of pot.

“Let’s pursue this type of legalization so as to perhaps get some support from our more conservative friends. This would greatly improve the quality of life for those suffering from some forms of illness and disease.”

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER:  A FEDERAL investigation into ticket-fixing as political favors in Philadelphia Traffic Court is expected to culminate Thursday morning with sweeping indictments of most of the current judges and some retired judges…

One Traffic Court judge expected to be charged is already under indictment for a separate accusation. Robert Mulgrew was indicted by a federal grand jury in September, accused of misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars in state grants meant for nonprofit groups in South Philly.

The state Supreme Court in September suspended Mulgrew, whose wife was also charged along with Lorraine DiSpaldo, chief of staff to state Rep. Bill Keller… (more)

It is estimated that the proposed replacement of Pennsylvania State Stores through the sale of licensing rights will generate approximately a billion dollars of revenue.

Who is pushing for the privatization of the State Store system? Who is pushing for the privatization of the lottery system? Who pushed for the development of the Lancaster County Convention Center project?

There are perhaps a hundred million dollars in studies, legal fees, financing earnings, real estate commissions (State Stores must be sold or sub-leased) involved in privatization of the State Stores. Professionals who would sell their services circle as hungry wolves surround an old moose, salivating over the anticipated kill.

And out of the say hundred million dollars in earnings from ‘transaction costs’, perhaps five to ten million will find its way through political contributions from recipients of largess to Tom Corbetts’ re-election campaign for 2014 which is anticipated to cost $30 million. It is the Marcellus Shale sell out déjà vu.

There will be ample scraps left for Democrats such as Ed Rendell’s Greenhill Partners which reportedly “stands to make millions” from the lottery privatization. It takes two to tango. And the dance has been going on for a very long time here in Pennsylvania.

The public needs to ask: “Are these changes being made for our benefit, or to generate huge fees and profits for those involved?” In the sad case of Lancaster and the Convention Center Project, the question comes a decade too late.