Harrisburg Zero: Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone
On November 7, the winds of change swept across Pennsylvania. The people rose up. We are tired of business- as in, big business- as usual. We are tired of the working people being under the boot of legislative leaders who are hopelessly out of touch.
So we did something about it. We swept the Democrats into the majority in the PA House, eliminating an 18 seat advantage for the Re-thug-nicans, and we played a major role in sweeping the Ds into power in the U.S. Senate and House.
But now the change the people called for is going to be erased by one push of the button from a Demo-rat, Rep. Thomas Caltagirone. Rep. Caltagirone is going to show the people of Pennsylvania what he thinks of them today when he votes for Rep. John Perzel (R-Phila) for Speaker of the House. The Rep will thumb his nose at the people's call for change.
Michael Morrill, a member of the Berks County Democratic Committee, said constituents were "very, very angry" with Mr. Caltagirone and were hoping the rally would spur him to reconsider.
T.J. Rooney, chairman of the state Democratic Party, released a statement calling the situation a "desperate" move by Republicans.
"By selling out to House Speaker John Perzel, Caltagirone will go down in history with the likes of other traitors who have given Republicans an opportunity to stifle progressive legislation that helps working families in Pennsylvania while advancing the cause of big business and the elite at everyone else's expense," Mr. Rooney said.
The new mandate for Mr. Morrill and the Berks Dem Committee is now clear: Send Rep. Caltagirone into retirement in 2008. In so many ways, the Rep is now On Notice.
Labels: politics
posted by Kinder Gentler Little Man @ 9:30 AM
2 Comments:
I usually agree with you except on this. I applaud Rep. Caltagirone's courage in crossing party lines. He did not support Mr. DeWeese because DeWeese took committee posts away from Democrats who did not vote for the July 2005 pay raise! Mr. Caltagirone represents true reform because he represents ALL the people.
I hear you. I wondered why the Ds chose DeWeese when he was so tainted. The post-pay raise committee reassignments was a debacle.
But, at the time of the post, it looked like Caltagirone's vote would lead Perzel back to the speaker's office. (As it turned out, there were at least two other Ds who were going to vote for Perzel.) Perzel as speaker would have meant business as usual. Plus, with the swing in seats, the message from voters was clearly for change, and Caltagirone's vote was a call for more of the same.
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