Once Every Four Years I Decide to Go Vote and Now What?

During a presidential year, as many as double the usual voters will show up to make their choice. This year many of you will be choosing a candidate for President, but you’ll also be choosing which candidates should be PA Representative, PA Auditor, PA Attorney General, PA Senator, US Congressman and US Senator.
If your hobby isn’t politics then you have quite a puzzle in front of you. There are 6 positions or more to vote for depending on your district. For each job, you have to pick which one that is the best with some reasonable certainty and unfortunately you have at your disposal imperfect information. So how does a reasonable person decide?

I guess the first thing is to have some objective criteria that you can quickly prove or disprove. Avoid the inconsequential stuff like “he’s a good person, she looks good in red, he looks dashing in that hallway” and my personal favorite “I think I saw a picture of him with the Devil”.  Don’t make this more complicated than you have to. Stick to the facts, and preferably base your rules on your life experience, something that rings true to you in a very personal way. For example, when you pick someone for your sports team, you want someone who shows up, plays well, plays to win, has good sportsmanship and plays by the rules, and maybe they have some fire in the belly that keeps them fighting when the game isn’t in their favor. Also, you want someone with reasonably good judgment and if possible with a public record of being thrifty with government money, and avoids tax increases. For positions that are more technical than political, you might also want someone who has some reasonable work experience for the task at hand or the proven successful strategies to handle the challenges that are coming down the road. Finally, you might also want someone who teaches by example. For example in PA there is an ever increasing number of elected officials, like Rick Saccone, that refuse the pension and instead take the 401K because they know they can’t fix the PA pension bomb of 2014 if they are still on the take for pensions themselves.  

At this point we have the makings of a score sheet, but we still have imperfect information to make the score. Then you have to be weary that the people that write about politics are usually writing from a specific point of view, Democrat, Republican, Socialist, Libertarian, etc, and they don’t always tell you up front. In the next section, we’ll discuss how to handle imperfect information.

First let’s deal with one type of candidate campaign information, which I call the me-too and one-up syndrome. An example of this starts with #1 “I like jobs for PA and puppies”, then #2 “I like jobs for PA and puppies and old ladies”, then #1“I like jobs for PA and puppies and old ladies, and I even have an old lady in my house” after which candidate#1 gets smacked in the back of the head by his middle aged wife.  How does anyone sort thru mimicry like that when both candidates claim the same issues as their own? The good news is you don’t have to. With minimal research, like reading the 8 ½  x 5 ½  color fliers you get in the mail and reading a candidate’s website, you can find out if a candidate has ever created any jobs and whether the jobs were in the public or private sector. If they talk jobs but can’t list any, you instantly know who might be taking you for a ride on the bull ship. If a candidate or a candidate’s party can be linked to plant closings with reasonable cause-and-effect information like the documented US Government’s War on Coal, then maybe these people and the people they hang out with are not that interested in jobs. I hope that’s simple enough of a truth detector.

Next you have PAC information that doesn’t come from candidate campaigns, and a relatively new thing called PAC groups, that are essentially groups that have a license to make the other guy look bad. Sometimes these PAC-sponsored ads are really stupid “Don’t vote for that guy, he’s a politician. My gal isn’t a politician”. They actually pay big money to say dumb things like that on TV.  Darn! Maybe you thought we were voting for the next American Pop Star. What you should really be looking for are the panderers that say one thing, any thing, and then do another when the rubber meets the road. Beware the exaggerators as well.  Beware the ones that speak only to one demographic group at a time. Eventually, they will pit that group against another group that’s “not them”, using an emotionally charged issue that is usually based on an imagined right, or an imagined sin, or a sin of the father. As an example, did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s dad was member of Nazi storm troops? Word! It’s true, and that means Arnie is a Nazi too for sure! These are stupid old political ideas from the 19th and 20th centuries that still get traction today despite the taboos around them. Beware those who preach this kind of hatred. Instead of selling their strengths and personal qualities as a candidate and as a leader, they denounce your neighbors’ fictional sins. This is a destructive distraction.

You also have to be aware that candidate endorsements, although desirable like backing from the Fraternal Order of Police,  it can be a double edged sword if you consider a group or a PAC to be an enemy of everything near and dear to you. The candidate’s resume and relevant accomplishments can matter a lot when considering a more technical elected position. You also want to make sure you’re not giving that big responsibility to the village idiot, or to someone who can be bribed, compromised or blackmailed. After all, these people are applying for a job, and they will be making decisions about our way of life and spending and borrowing billions of dollars, with our names on the payback.

When doing your candidate research, please read your mailers, read an extra newspaper column, read an extra blog, and remember that Google, Bing, and Yahoo are also your allies in this quest. There are also specialized websites like “http://ballotpedia.org” and “http://www.politicspa.com/” that can help you get a back story on the candidates, if you want to be a little more thorough.

As a practical example of what we just learned, let’s review the list of candidates in Peters Township using the evaluation criteria above, with the imperfect information gathered from various sources.

Since my wife’s relative was once the PA Attorney General, and he still comes to my Christmas party every couple years or so, I have always paid close attention to the Attorney General’s race.  I am disappointed that this race isn’t getting much coverage despite a recent debate on 10/22. There is much at stake when voting for an attorney general. There is a range of legal subjects I want in an attorney general to be proficient with. I want him to deal with violent crime as well as white collar and complicated technology-driven scams.  I want him to internalize the oath to follow the constitutions of PA and of the USA with all the amendments without forgetting any parts when it’s convenient. I expect the Attorney General to protect Pennsylvania citizens from intrusive federal mandates. I want swift and timely justice, and I want all cases to be heard.  The first candidate is Kathleen Kane who was an assistant DA until 2007 when she took on a more political role working for campaigns like that of Hillary Clinton. Her most recent job from 2007 to 2012 is that of community organizer when she’s not working on campaigns. This is a political position that doesn’t involve managing court cases, investigations, or prosecuting criminals. Kathleen claims she worked on 3000 cases in her TV ads, but it was revealed that she went to trial 24 times in her 12 years at the DA’s office. This was revealed in the primaries by her fellow Democrat Patrick Murphy. I will let you decide if she padded her résumé or not. Then we have David Freed who is currently the district attorney of Cumberland County since 2006 and he oversees an average of 4000 cases per year. Clearly Freed has current experience and Kane doesn’t. Kane’s TV ads claim she’s “not a politician” but her employment from 2008-2012 indicates otherwise to me.  Next on the evaluation sheet we have endorsements, and these can help you decide as well. David is the Vice President of the District Attorney’s Association and has garnered the endorsement of 40 of his fellow District Attorney’s from both parties. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1, these are the people who investigate and catch the bad guys, they have endorsed David Freed. I’m voting for David Freed, who happens to be a Republican.

Next race is for PA Treasurer. This person will manage investments ensuring that PA has money when it’s required for pensions, roads, inspectors, prisons, etc. We have Rob McCord who has been doing this job for a while. Investment expenses have gone thru the roof, between 4 and 8 times more expensive per quarter to manage money than his predecessor with disappointing investment returns. In addition, it seems to me that Rob never saw loan he didn’t like, and he approved a $600 million request from Governor Rendell despite strong public protests from the Auditor General of that time. Then we have Diana Irey-Vaughn and she has some great ideas, which she learned while on investment boards in Washington County. She proposes low risk investments much like the very successful state of Georgia, which are low risk, low fees, and they pay out nicely and regularly. This is simple, more predictable, and understandable and this proven strategy can have real positive results for PA’s financial health. Diana is also known for her balanced budgets and following procedures, like she has done in the past for Washington County. The pension funds Rob McCord is involved with are currently funded at the 69% and 75% level and use risky schemes paired with high fees. The pensions Diana is involved with are currently funded at the 83% level despite investing in the same unforgiving stock markets. The choice is clear, Diana’s 83% is better than Rob’s 75% and 69%, and lower fees are better than high fees. In addition, Diana is endorsed by the PA State Troopers Association. I’m voting for Diana Irey-Vaughn, who happens to be a Republican.  

The next race is for Auditor General, and this person will work with the Treasurer and the Governor. He is responsible to make sure the accounting is done right, identify government waste and pretty much keep the folks in government honest about money and spending. We have Eugene DePasquale whose claim to fame is working with the Department of Environmental Protection and getting a big windmill deal for PA. Soon after that, he was elected as State Representative. There is no doubt he has made some good deals and political accomplishments, but nowhere does he claim he knows about accounting and we see nothing about managing budgets and cost cutting. Then in the other corner, we have John Maher, a Certified Public Accountant who launched one of the largest CPA auditing firms founded in Pennsylvania during the past half-century. Not only is he an auditor by trade, he hired lots of people resulting in lots of good jobs for PA. John Maher was endorsed by just about every renowned organization in the state of Pennsylvania. A unique accolade for John Maher is his recent endorsement by the Humane USA PA PAC for his legislative efforts to end animal gas chambers.  I like jobs and I like relevant skills, and I will vote for John Maher, who happens to be a Republican.

The next race is for PA State Senate, and if you live in the Northern parts of Allegheny County and Peter’s Township in Washington County, the race is between Raja and Matt Smith. Using the sports analogy, we find that Matt Smith didn’t run in the primaries, and for whatever reason he was drafted into running against Raja some time during the summer. I don’t think Matt really wanted this Senate job and I don’t think he will have the drive to do the job of Senator. On the other hand we have Raja. He’s an educated guy with an international background and he could probably have built his business anywhere he wanted in the world. He started and built his own business in his humble townhouse here in Allegheny County. His customers found out he was really good at whatever he was doing, and Raja eventually hired a few hundred skilled people to help him out. Matt Smith? Hmm. Matt’s own website pretty much says “I grew up here, I got involved in sports, yadda yadda yadda, and then I got elected”. I see zero jobs on Matt Smith’s score sheet, at least none he wants to talk about. So we have Raja with hundreds of jobs versus Matt’s zero. In addition, The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1 also endorsed Raja. I’m voting for Raja, who happens to be a Republican.

We have three races at the federal level. First up is for US Congress, and we have Larry Maggi. He is a co-commissioner of Washington County. He’s an ex-marine and an ex-cop, and like Matt Smith he’s also involved in local sports. Following a scandalous predecessor, Larry says he cleaned up the Sheriff’s department when he became the Sheriff. He claims partial credit for sound financial management of Washington County. Then we have Tim Murphy who is also a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves Medical Service Corps.  As a medical professional, Tim Murphy knows first hand the pain and the needs of the sick, the injured, and the elderly. Tim has a record of ensuring adequate funding of care and medicines, and fighting for Pennsylvania.  For example, in his first year as US congressman he successfully defended Pennsylvania’s unique PACE program against the federal government’s Medicare part D rules and mandates. It seems Tim Murphy is always first in line to help when it comes to working on the behalf of our military, whether it’s a base, a commissary, a benefit, or an award that was duly earned. Tim Murphy has also been a frequent facilitator for companies that wanted to start, expand and grow in his district. I think we need a detail-oriented healthcare expert to help tackle our Nation’s next big problem – Healthcare and Obamacare - while ensuring that we can pay for it and not tax ourselves into oblivion. This is why I’m voting for Tim Murphy, who happens to be a Republican.

Next in line we have a race for US Senate. We have Democrat incumbent Bob P Casey Jr. His recent accomplishments as Senator are zero budgets approved since January 2009, which was a month before Obama’s swearing in as president. For fiscal years 2010 and 2011, Democrats controlled the Congress and Senate and no “reaching across the aisle” was required to get a budget. Despite that advantage, we had no budget and no complaints from Mr. Casey. Almost 3.5 years later without a budget and I hear no complaints about this irresponsibility from Mr. Bob Casey Jr.  Mr. Bob Casey Jr voted for Obamacare and all the tax increases that go with it, and he also voted against the Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2012. When you see that your first paycheck is noticeably smaller in January 2013, by the same amount as your next tank of gas (or more!), you can thank Bob P Casey Jr. This is because of the double whammy of taxes and Obamacare pre-funding kicking in at the same time. It seems Bob Casey is truly thinking about the working middle class family, and how much more taxes he can take out of your paycheck after an election. Maybe he thinks you’re one of the evil rich that his party likes to disparage because you’re not on food stamps yet. There is no claim of Bob Casey creating a job, not even on his website. Then we have Tom Smith, a working man who went from farmer to coal miner to coal mine owner. He hired lots of people as a coal mine owner. Tom understands the working man because he is one himself, and has been all his life. He knows what it’s like to work with your hands and the pride that comes from both the work and the paycheck. He jumped into federal politics a bit unexpectedly because he saw a clear and present danger to the American dream. As a business owner, he had to make budgets and tough decisions every day. For his experience, his business sense, his common sense, and a pledge to get a budget, I am voting for Tom Smith, who happens to be a Republican.

Finally we have the big race, the big show, and let’s start it with the big O, Barack Hussein Obama. If you’re a political junkie, the anecdotes, myths and lore are as elaborate and intricate as any politico has ever seen. Let’s review his résumé. Sorry, the records are sealed, so we don’t know for certain if he actually went to school or if he was a good student for that matter. We do know that before he was President, he was a US Senator that was most famous for voting “present” on a great number of significant matters of law. He then became president by some odd chance, beating Hilary Clinton in the primaries no less. One of the unique characteristics of Obama’s presidency is that he has more Czars than the Lord of the Rings Trilogy has named Dwarves. Some say he has 45 Czars, but some count 38 because 7 of them are apparently hard to find in the large group pictures that this Elite club of the administration likes to take. All these Czars are unelected.  They are not peer reviewed so neither “we the people” nor Congress knows anything about the Czars or their ethics or inclinations before they are appointed. The Czars are also unaccountable to Congress by some magical legal feat, and yet they are driving and guiding major policy decisions within their realms of the Federal Government. Keep in mind that one of the hallmarks of dictatorship is unaccountable government. Obama's international endorsements are from our longtime US diplomatic friends Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Iran 7/31/12), Hugo Chavez (Venezuela 10/1/12), Vladimir Putin and Fidel Castro's family (Russia and Cuba 10/23/12). If you recall the evaluation rules I listed above about the endorsements and the good sportsmanship? I don’t think Obama or anyone on his team plays by the rules or the US constitution, and he has friends in unexpected places.

Last but not least, we have Mitt Romney, ex-Governor of Massachusetts running for President. Let’s quickly review his résumé. He did his MBA and his law degree at the same time, and graduated with honors for both. Mitt is smart and hard working by any measure and at any time during his life. He got much from life and also found time and resources to give back thru charitable work and donations. In terms of jobs and success stories, he is the stuff of legend in the business world, starting and growing dozens of businesses and creating thousands of good paying jobs. Many of his businesses were purchased when they were distressed and he was smart enough to turn many of them around into successful enterprises that rewarded his restructuring efforts.  Building upon his work experience as a turnaround artist, Mitt was able to lead and save the 2002 Olympics from certain financial disaster. Our country is right now is in a bad place, with a declining economy and over a trillion dollars of new debt every single year with no budget and no signs of improving. I think what our country needs the most is a proven turnaround artist with a long track record of success. I want Mitt Romney for president, who happens to be a Republican.

I hope this helps you on Election Day.

Eric Rouillard, Republican Committeeman, Peters Township A-3