Talk about a cheesy bet.

The U.S. senators from Pennsylvania and New York have agreed on a World Series wager with cheesesteaks and cheesecakes up for grabs.

If the Phillies win the Fall Classic, Empire State Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand will pony up a supply of cheesecakes. If the Yankees win, Pa.’s Arlen Specter and Robert P. Casey will ship off a package of cheesesteaks, according to a joint news release issued today by the four Democrats.

Then they started talking trash.

“I give Sens. Specter and Casey credit for sticking with their team, but I can already taste those delicious Philly cheesesteaks,” Schumer said.

Countered Specter, “Unfortunately for the Yankees, tradition alone will do them little good against Charlie Manuel’s fearsome lineup. I look forward to enjoying the New York cheesecakes, although nothing will be as sweet as the Phillies’ back-to-back titles.”
 

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Gov. Rendell this morning said he would veto any bill to legalize table games at the state’s slot parlors that doesn’t produce at least $200 million in new revenue this year.

And, according to his figures, that means that each casino would have to pay an upfront fee of $15 million and a tax rate of at least 16 percent on blackjack, poker, roulette and other table games.

His proposal is the floor and it will be up to lawmakers to erect the ceiling.

Rendell said that striking a proper tax rate was a “pretty delicate balance” between raising the most revenue and still making it profitable for casinos to add table games.

“We don’t want to kill the Golden Goose here,” Rendell said, noting that other states, notably New Jersey, have a lower tax rate.

Rendell’s figures are between what the state House and Senate have sought to impose. The House has prepared a bill seeking a 34-percent tax rate; the senate favors 14 percent, 12 going to the state, 2 going to local municipalities.

The governor made the comments at an unrelated press briefing outside his Capitol office just before he was to meet with legislative leaders on the table games issue.

He said he would tell the legislators about his minimum revenue threshold for table games and that he wanted a bill on his desk by the end of the week.

Table games are the final piece of Pennsylvania’s budget puzzle.

The governor, 101 days late, signed a spending and revenue plan Oct. 9 for the fiscal year that started July 1. But he has withheld his backing of separate bills containing $730 million in funding to museums, hospitals and state-related universities such as Penn State, Temple and Pitt until the table games legislation is enacted.
 

Also this morning, Rendell announced that since the budget was signed, the state has rushed out $3 billion in checks to vendors and non profits -- from child care agencies to drug and alcohol treatment centers --  that have waited months for the funding.

Rendell praised the efforts of his administration as well as that of State Treasurer Rob McCord for working so quickly to get the checks in the mail. 

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Is Republican Supreme Court candidate Joan Orie Melvin: tough on big government and Commies?

That's what the banner ad running on the conservative politics Web site Grassroots Pa in recent days says.

Against a not-so-subtle Soviet red, the ad reads, "Tired of Barack Obama, Ed Rendell, Arlen Specter and big government Democrats running our nation?" Then, it flashes to blue: "Hit them where it hurts. The voting booth!"

Inside the "O" of Obama is a hammer and sickle - the symbol of the Communist Party.

A disclaimer states the Orie ad was paid for by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. The ad appears to have been removed since Morning Call Capitol Ideas blogger John Micek highlighted it on Saturday, but thanks to Capitol Ideas we have a copy.

Orie takes on Democrat Jack Panella to fill the Supreme Court vacancy in the Nov. 3 general election.

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Will it be a three-way race for the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania governor next year? 

The Associated Press reports that state Rep. Samuel Rohrer, of Berks County, says he may take on Attorney Tom Corbett and U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach in the 2010 primary contest.

Rohrer, 54, has supported government reform and fiscal responsibility during his 16 years in the state House. He also has mounted an unsuccessful effort to eliminate local property taxes and replacing them with income or sales taxes.

Rohrer, who is currently the ranking Republican on the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs committee, says he would make fiscal and tax reform key planks in his campaign platform.

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Sen. Arlen Specter (D.,Pa.) reported raising $1.82 million for his reelection effort in the three months ending Sept. 30, and his campaign committee had $8.7 million cash on hand.

He might need every penny. A Susquehanna Polling & Research Survey of 700 RVs, released today, found that 31 percent said he deserved reelection, compared to 59 percent who thought it was time for someone else. A 40 percent "re-elect" number is considered deadly territory for an incumbent politician.

The poll reported a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. It should be noted that the ratio of Republican to Democratic respondents seemed higher than in the state at large. (A separate question asked only of Democratic respondents found 44 percent believe Specter deserves reelection).

Specter, a Republican until late April, faces a stiff challenge for the Democratic nomination from Rep. Joe Sestak (D.,Pa.).

Pennsylvania already has Powerball. Will it jump into a new multistate lottery? Inquirer reporter Peter Mucha has the latest:

Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware - as well as 40 other states - now have the right to choose to sell tickets for both major multistate lotteries, Powerball and Mega Millions.
The cross-selling could begin in early 2010, according to yesterday's announcement of a deal between the Mega Millions consortium and Multi-State Lottery Association, which oversees Powerball.

At first, both could in effect become national lotteries, if all or nearly all of the existing jurisdictions - including the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands - elect to participate. More than 285 million people live in areas with these lotteries.

But an even bigger game is in the works as well.

"If we develop a national game, it will probably be at a different price point," said Tom Shaheen, president of the Powerball group. "It might be $2. It might be $5. It will be a single game, but we haven't worked out all the details of that yet. The other two games, I believe, would remain intact."

Such a super lottery could happen by next fall, said Chuck Strutt, the Powerball group's executive director.

The hope is to raise more money for state treasuries.

In March, Gov. Corzine's proposed budget suggested adding Powerball as a way to raise $10 million more a year for coffers of New Jersey, one of the 12 Mega Millions states.

Pennsylvania and Delaware are among the 31 states that offer Powerball.

One reason revenues should rise is that as jackpots soar, so do ticket sales.

When Mega Millions rolled over last night, its jackpot grew by $30 million, because it was already huge. As a result Friday's jackpot will be $200 million.

(Last night's numbers: 17, 31, 34, 45 and 51, with a Mega Ball of 24. Two New Jersey tickets won $250,000.)

Powerball, on the other hand, grew by "only" $5 million on Saturday night, because its jackpot was relatively low. Tonight's annuity jackpot is $30 million.

Increased sales should also mean giant jackpots would rise much faster - and get hit much sooner - perhaps heightening the frenzy.

Small jackpots, on the other hand, might grow more slowly as they wait for the higher payout to reboot.

Such consequences might spur modifications to either or both games, as well as lead to new games.

Although states do not have to opt in, they'll probably be under great pressure to do so, for fearing of losing revenue.

One impetus for the merger came from observations that many people crossed state lines to chase giant jackpots.

If New Jersey, New York and Maryland offered both games and Pennsylvania didn't, Pennsylvania's lottery revenues might fall, as people from neighboring states buy Powerball tickets at home.

Pennsylvania hasn't decided yet, and New Jersey expects to release an official statement later today.

"There are a lot of details that still need to be worked out," said Stephanie Weyant, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, which oversees the state's lotteries.

For more lottery information, go to www.philly.com/philly/news/lottery, www.powerball.com or www.megamillions.com.
 

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With swipes of the pen that took only seconds, Gov. Rendell tonight signed into law a $27.8 billion state budget that was 101 days in the making.

With his “Edward G. Rendell” on the bills — one setting taxes, the other spending — the governor all but ends the nation’s longest state budget impasse. More importantly, it will speed checks to counties, schools and social service agencies that have been financially strained while waiting 3 1/2 months for their normal state subsidies.

The General Assembly still has work to do.

It must send Rendell several other pieces of legislation that make up the overall budget, including ones that establishes state funding for universities such as Penn State and Temple, as well as a bill to authorizes table game at slots parlors.

Officials said those bills may be delayed until early next week, but would not impede the overall budget.

Speaking for perhaps everyone at the Capitol and across the state, House Majority Leader Todd Eachus (D., Luzerne) said last night, "I’m just glad it’s over.”
 

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This perhaps is the best indication that a final budget is getting tantalizingly close to being sealed at the Capitol.

This morning, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson) – who had been one of the most pessimistic of the top negotiators in the budget process – said this about the status of the overall package:

“I think the airplane is ready to come in for a landing. Alert the runway.”

And that’s from a man who earlier in the process dubbed Gov. Rendell a “snake oil salesman” for how he was peddling a fiscal plan.

The positive comments came after a meeting of the senate appropriations committee.

Later today, the full senate is expected to send the spending portion of the state budget – now 101 days past due – to Rendell.

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Moments after Republican congressional candidate Pat Meehan issued a news release bragging he had raised $200,000 in a little over two weeks that have passed since his announcement, Democrat state Rep. Bryan Lentz, a likely candidate for the seat, said he had raised more than $250,000 - without even announcing yet.

Looks like it's going to be a hard fought race.