PSoTD

The mortgage industry is on the march to Washington to ask for more federal control of their industry...

A booming industry that makes home loans to people with fragile credit is lobbying Congress for nationwide rules that regulators and consumer advocates warn would roll back tougher state protections.

The debate comes as millions of Americans have taken out mortgages with higher fees and interest rates than the mortgages granted to people with solid credit. As these “subprime” loans have proliferated, so have complaints from borrowers who say they’ve been slammed by surprise fees and high-pressure sales tactics.

More than two dozen states, led by North Carolina and in- cluding Arkansas, have moved into a vacuum created by weak federal regulation, imposing their own laws targeting abusive practices.

The industry’s five biggest players are based in California and one, Ameriquest Mortgage Co., is nearing a $ 325 million settlement with 33 states over alleged baitand-switch tactics, inflated appraisals and other issues.

Amid scrutiny of their operations, lenders have rallied behind a bill sponsored by Reps. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., that would impose uniform national rules on the industry that last year issued $ 530 billion in higher-cost mortgages. Supporters say the measure is needed to replace a hodgepodge of state and local lending laws.

Bob Ney's "truth" ain't worth the saliva it takes to pronounce his name, but Paul Kanjorski ought to be answering the tough questions as to why he is sponsoring this bill.

Check it out.

This story...

State inspectors were investigating what caused a 125-ton concrete overpass to fall onto Interstate 70 Tuesday evening, and said a three-mile stretch of the interstate would remain closed through Wednesday at least.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials said the bridge was last inspected in March 2004, and it was visually inspected again in August. Bridges must be inspected bridges every two years, said Jeff Breen, PennDOT's maintenance chief in Washington County.

serves as a reminder of a greater story...

Time, weather and the demands of increased traffic have converged to create precarious, aging and outdated state-owned bridges.

Four out of every 10 of those bridges are classified as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, according to a report Tuesday in The Patriot-News of Harrisburg.

Watch your heads.

If this story had happened two years ago, no big deal. But Pennsylvania's state legislators appear to be tone deaf...

The 25 uniformed officers who patrol the offices of the state House of Representatives will be armed with handguns beginning next month.

House officials say the move has to do with terrorism prevention, not public outrage over the now-repealed pay raise.

Acting on a request by the security officers, House legislative leaders decided to allow them to carry 357-caliber handguns.

The security officers primarily monitor access to the House chamber and offices and provide security if requested by House members.

However, the union that represents Capitol police officers has questioned whether the House security officers are trained sufficiently to carry guns in a crowded setting, such as a rally or protest in the Capitol.

A few thoughts:

It has been about 10 years since I regularly covered the Pennsylvania State Legislature, and I'm sure things have changed, but there's no way I would have wanted to see some of the "guards" back in 1995 carrying a loaded weapon in public. There were some VERY sleepy folks on the crew back then.

I heard Bob Durgin, the local conservative radio ranter, talking about this issue on Wednesday. He wasn't happy. He compared it to Stalin and the USSR, and somebody compared it to Nazi Germany. He sees it as an effort to stifle dissent, particularly in light of all the blasting of legislators over the pay raise, and the fact that the legislator pay raise issue is now in the courts and might actually return from the dead.

It sure does seem like something has scared the Representatives, and the pay raise did receive very angry and constant attention from the public. Did somebody get death threats?

The House downplays it.

But Brian Preski, chief of staff to House Speaker John Perzel, and others said that pay-raise outrage had less to do with this decision than the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and subsequent acts of violence in public or government buildings.

"We all wish we lived in a time before these terror nuts, but we don't," Preski said in an interview this month.

Wow, that really doesn't sell well. The argument that four years after 9/11, well after they put the barriers out front and other security measures in place for the House, that they decided out they need lethal weapons for House security to protect against terrorists just seems... bogus on its face, given the timing.

Perhaps Durgin's on to something here.

Just some recent blogger blurbs about the lack of lobbyist registration requirements in Pennsylvania...

Grassroots PA

House Members Pushing State House Speaker Perzel On Lobbying Law

Froth Slosh B'Gosh

Looks like some in Harrisburg are actually trying to force a vote on requiring lobbyists to register.

Pennsylvania is the only state without a lobbyist registration and expenditure reporting law.

And Perzel thinks that's just fine.

DaveRalis.com

Perzel not only stumbling block to reform

An interesting editorial moved today on the AP wire, one week after it was first published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The newspaper called on state House Speaker John Perzel to get the heck out of the way and allow a vote on a lobbyist reform bill.

Gettysblog

In a state with no lobbying laws, can you imagine the pressure on the legislators to pass amendments to Act 71? Each investment group for the proposed casinos is lobbying for its own set of amendments. Pressure? The pressure is on them because they haven’t passed the amendments. They stand to lose a good bit of money if they don’t. After all, they are permitted to own a 1% share in a casino, and IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE MADE PUBLIC!

Pressure.

If you watch Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) and want to contribute to stories and discussion about their programming and development, please visit PCNBlog and email me at losyannigans@yahoo.com about being part of the blog. We're looking to start up in early January, and the more the merrier!

That is what The Fly Under the Dome writes is going on in Republican reality for Pennsylvania.

(Hat Tip: One-Man Think Tank)

I think there should be a low threshold amount before bids are required for government contracting, but I like where Joe Hoeffel is going in general in this piece about outlawing no-bid government contracting in Pennsylvania.

Haven't done this in a while...

Some of Pennsylvania's progressive and liberal bloggers appear to be missing an opportunity to be displayed on the Blog list at PoliticsPA. This is a site viewed by a considerable number of the government relations community in Pennsylvania, and probably worth asking for a link. They are taking frontpage blog links.

It's a small amount (up to $21.3 million), but it is a start. Bud George deserves some credit for prying the window open a bit.

Pennsylvania Cable Network's Call-In program airs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., the hour-long interactive call-in program allows PCN viewers to speak directly with government officials, newsmakers, and other knowledgeable parties on current commonwealth issues. Viewers are welcome to call during the program by dialing, toll-free, 1-877-PA6-5001 (1-877-726-5001).

Following is a list of upcoming programs:

PCN has a NEW toll-free number - 1-877-PA6-5001 (1-877-726-5001)

Wednesday, December 14 -7:00 p.m. LIVE
Topic: Property Taxes

Thursday, December 15 -7:00 p.m. LIVE
Guest: Governor Ed Rendell

PCN Call-In will return on January 3

I have talked to one other blogger that is interested in blogging PCN programming. I think I'll start with the PCN Call-In Programs, and we'll see how interest goes. We could use several more. Interested in joining this group blog? Leave a comment here for now. (I know, it's very rudimentary)

I wish these folks the best of luck and skill in getting this part of the agenda moving. Obviously, the opposition to lobbyist regulation is deeply entrenched in Pennsylvania:

From Post-Gazette.com:

Last month, a coalition of citizens groups pressured state legislators into repealing the pay raises they gave themselves, judges and Gov. Ed Rendell's cabinet members.

Now, Common Cause, Democracy Rising, the Commonwealth Foundation, the League of Women Voters and their allies are shifting into the second phase of their "good government" campaign; they're trying to get the Legislature to force special-interest lobbyists to register with the state and disclose how much they spend to influence the enactment of laws.

"Pennsylvania is at the bottom on lobbying regulation," Common Cause leader Barry Kauffman said at a news conference here yesterday.

"Pennsylvania is the only state in our nation that has failed to have a statute on the books requiring oversight of lobbyists' activities. There is no law requiring them to register and no law requiring them to periodically disclose [what they spend] attempting to manipulate public policies."

A suggestion to these groups - if you're serious about making some headway on this issue, why not try to groom the help of Pennsylvania's blogging community? I suspect that there are many bloggers on both the left and the right that would be willing to help in an online campaign to push this forward. But it takes some coordination, and some effort to cultivate activity. On the national scene, bloggers are invited to conference calls and conferences and the like so they can have access to information and plans for efforts on various agendas. Why not at our state level as well?

Jonathan Barnes is covering Pennsylvania's lack of, and need for, lobbyist disclosure/registration laws. Please give him a read - this work should be supported with interest.

So Lynn Swann is going to be a candidate. I hope Jeff Piccola destroys Swann in the primary. This kind of bogus use of celebrity to jump to the top of the pile for elective seat just has to stop. I'm all for non-politicians running for elective office, but there should be some sort of governing seasoning before seeking the top executive job in the state. I don't see being a football player and then a sports personality being applicable experience - not even close. Maybe Swann has some great ideas, but they haven't preceded his name. And that's the whole point of his candidacy - his name.

The Fly Under the Dome?

It seems like there's a lot of churn, at least in Pennsylvania, for localities to consider disbanding their police department and contracting for service with another entity. I wonder if anyone keeps track of the number of police departments disbanded per year? I've sent an inquiry to the National Association of Police Organizations to find out if they track it.