The governor’s mansion is a lonely place these days and it’s starting to mess with Gov. Rendell’s mind.

At a news conference this morning, Rendell said that as a result of the budget impasse – the fiscal plan is now seven weeks overdue – he has spent almost every day in Harrisburg waiting for the legislature to reach at compromise spending plan.

Typically, he would divide his time between the Georgian manse along the Susquehanna River and his East Falls home.

The fact that First Lady Marjorie Rendell on Friday left on an African safari without him is only compounding the loneliness factor. The governor skipped the trip because of the budget standoff.

So, these days, besides his state police security and mansion staff, it’s just Rendell and his two golden retrievers, Ginger and Maggie.

Quipped Rendell, “It’s pretty lonely over there. It’s getting so lonely that I am beginning to think that my dogs are actually talking back to me.”
 

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Gov. Rendell today tapped Gary Tuma, a longtime mouthpiece of disgraced former state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, to be his new press secretary.

“Gary Tuma is a veteran newsman who brings a variety of perspectives to the job – he has been a reporter covering the Capitol, a press secretary at a cabinet agency, and a press secretary in the legislature,” Rendell said. “Gary is a well respected, hard working and experienced press secretary, and I couldn't be more pleased that he is joining my administration.”

The 56-year-old Tuma has been the special projects director for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party since May.
Before that, he had spent 13 years as the press secretary to the Senate Democratic Appropriations Committee – nearly all of that under Fumo (D., Phila), who is expected to begin a 55-month federal prison term on corruption charges in two weeks.

That followed more than two-years as press secretary at the Pennsylvania Department of Education under former Gov. Robert P. Casey.

Tuma, a Pittsburgh native, came to Harrisburg in 1989 to cover state government as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Tuma succeeds Chuck Ardo, who recently announced his retirement after nearly eight years of working for Rendell, first as a campaign aide and later as the top administration spokesman.

Tuma will join another former Fumo PRman in Rendell’s press shop.

For the past several months, Ken Snyder – a longtime Fumo media consultant -- has worked under contract for the Rendell administration.

 

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Sen. Arlen Specter has a new web site up detailing the 105 votes that Democratic primary rival Rep. Joe Sestak has missed this year. It's called "No Show Joe" and is reachable here.

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U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter met with Harrisburg reporters this afternoon to discuss his less-than-congenial series of high-profile town hall meetings he has had this week.

“Nice to have a friendly group of questioners,” Specter jokingly told reporters at the outset of the afternoon media availability outside the Patriot-News building.

The Republican-turned-Democrat said he has done town meetings consistently “now for 30 years -- almost every county, almost every year.”

“And there is more anger out there now than I have ever seen before, and I think the anger is caused by so many people having lost their jobs and are worried about losing their health insurance. I do believe the groups that I have seen are not necessarily representative of all America.

“But they are sending a message about dissatisfaction with Washington, anger about all the partisanship and bickering in Washington, and I think it is something that the government in Washington has to take notice of.”

Nonetheless, Specter said that he believes the town hall meetings are worthwhile even when they at times turn nasty.

“I think they are productive. In one way, it gives people an opportunity to express themselves. Sometimes it is not too congenial, but that’s my pay grade. It tells me in loud and clear terms that people expect more out of Washington.”

Specter said that the groups at the meetings, such as the one in Lebanon, came in on buses and didn’t reflect the local community.

“I don’t criticize them for being organized. In, America you have a right to organize. … I am not calling anybody a mob. They are all citizens as far as I’m concerned. But if you take America as a whole, you have to be a little skeptical whether they are representative.”

Asked what he will take back to Washington from the town hall meetings, Specter said,

“The temperature was 213 degree Fahrenheit – a degree over boiling.”
 

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Ok, it's ridiculously early, as the man himself admits. But hey, never say never. Politico reports tonight that former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum plans to visit Iowa this fall and appear before the kind of conservative activists who are key in the state's first-in-the-nation GOP caucus in 2012.

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Note to Gov. Rendell: When trying to negotiate a final budget with legislative leaders, it’s perhaps not a good thing to utter publicly that you have daydreamed about killing a roomful of them.

You might think it, governor. Just don’t say it out loud.

But he did just that this morning.

Rendell told reporters that he was frustrated with the way the conference committee of legislative leaders charged with finalizing a budget bill was progressing.

The initial two committee meetings were held in public with Democrats and Republicans spending most of the time bickering about procedure and making little if any progress toward a handshake.

Rendell said it all reminded him of a scene from Goldfinger, the 1960s James Bond classic in which the villain kills a room filled with gangsters in one fell swoop.

“He just filled the room with poison gas and knocked them all off,” Rendell said with a snap of his fingers. “You might have thought after watching those two (conference committee) days that that would have been a good idea.”

Sure, Rendell was joking, but not everyone found it funny.

“No one has every said that the governor’s sense of humor is one of his strong suits,” said Erik Arneson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware).
 

“There’s no comment to make,” added Steve Miskin, spokesman for House Minority Leader Sam Smith (R., Jefferson). “He’s obviously losing it.”

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Gov. Rendell this morning said a proposed 50-percent cut in funding for public libraries would strike a devastating blow to what he called “the sanctuaries” of our communities.

Libraries are “where kids can go to get away from the rough, tough crush or realities and pick up a book and … transport themselves to a different place,” the governor said during a news conference at the East Shore Area Library in suburban Harrisburg. “Libraries might not be life or death … but they can be life-changing experiences.”

Rendell last week signed a stopgap budget proposed by Senate Republicans that provides money to pay state employees and for certain emergency spending. But he vetoed all other funding lines, extending the budget impasse into its second month.

In that budget, funding for libraries would have been cut from $75 million to $37 million.

At that level, Rendell predicted libraries across the state would have to reduce operating hours, close their doors on some days or shutter branches.

Rendell’s budget proposal would cut library funding by 10 percent to $68 million.

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 Democratic state senators today accused Republicans who control the chamber of holding Philadelphia hostage by delaying a vote on a bill that supporters say is needed this week to prevent massive city layoffs.

“It is what it is – hostage takers,” Sen. Anthony Williams (D., Phila.) said at a Capitol news conference.

Mayor Nutter and city council have asked the state for legislation to allow Philadelphia to raise its sales tax for five years by another penny on the dollar in order to pay for its budget shortfall. The legislation would also allow the city to make needed changes to its pension system.

Nutter has said that if the legislation is not passed by Saturday he would have to give pink slips to 3,000 city workers. The total includes 1,000 police department layoffs.

“This time, I do not think it is a situation of crying wolf,’’ said Sen. Shirley Kitchen (D., Phila.).

The legislation was passed overwhelmingly by the House last week and is supported by Gov. Rendell.

Soon after the news conference, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware) denied using the issue as leverage in the ongoing state budget talks.

“It’s simply not true. If we wanted to not address this bill in an attempt to get some kind of leverage, we simply wouldn’t address it,” he said, noting that it has been referred to the Finance Committee.

Pileggi said that he envisions the measure ultimately passing the Senate, but the process likely will take two weeks if not longer.
 

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Former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan is dropping his exploratory bid for the Republican nomination for governor and "seriously considering" running for the 7th District congressional seat now held by Rep. Joe Sestak (D.,Pa.) who is running for Senate.

Meehan's spokesman, Virginia Davis, said in a statement moments ago: "Pat received a warm welcome from people of all walks of life as he explored his run for governor. And during the past year he has become uniquely attuned to the concerns of Pennsylvania citizens in these tough economic times. Pat is more commited than ever to helping Pennsylvania return to a path of prosperity, and he is now seriously considering a run for congress in the Seventh Congressional District to fulfill that commitment."

Through Davis, he went on to endorse Attorney General Tom Corbett for governor in 2010.

Translation: Meehan's campaign never really took off. Corbett was too far ahead in money and endorsements. It did not help that GOP National Committeman Bob Asher, the power in Meehan's SE Pennsylvania base, was behind Corbett.

Meehan also would have faced competition for regional support from U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R.,Pa.), of the 6th Congressional District in Chester and Berks counties. Gerlach, after laying the groundwork for the past six months, announced two weeks ago that he would not run for reelection but instead would run for governor next year. Corbett is from Allegheny County and he won-reelection as attorney general last year against a Democratic tide, a bright spot for the GOP. Corbett is the only potential Republican candidate from western Pennsylvania.

A former political operative for both Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, Meehan served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania during the administration of President George W. Bush. In that position, Meehan spearheaded two notable prosecutions of political corruption - in former Mayor John Street's inner circle and of former state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, recently sentenced to four years, seven months in federal prison.

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