Gene Stilp

Gene Stilp, considered a good-government activist by some in Harrisburg and an attention-seeking gadfly by others, asked the feds yesterday to investigate state Attorney General Tom Corbett's connections to two Philadelphia Republicans he charged last week in a public corruption probe. Corbett on Thursday charged state Rep. John Perzel and his former chief of staff, Brian Pre-ski, along with eight other Republicans from the House GOP caucus, as part of a long-running investigation into the use of state money for political campaigns.

Irked by the 55-month sentence given last week to former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo on corruption charges, a Harrisburg activist has begun a campaign to collect vacuum cleaners. Yes, some explanation is in order. Among the 137 charges leveled at Fumo was that he directed the nonprofit he controlled to buy him 19 Oreck vacuums. So, in the mind of political gadfly Gene Stilp, whom Ralph Nader once described as the nation's "No. 1 political prop artist," it all presented the perfect opportunity.

CITIZENS of the commonwealth, you turned the Harrisburg Hogs into the Harrisburg Puppy Dogs. Originally fat with arrogance and greed, state legislators had to grovel and, with tails firmly tucked between their legs, this week repealed a 16-percent pay raise they voted for themselves with such cowardice in the early-morning hours of July 7. Gov. Rendell, in a neck-snapping about-face, immediately signed the repeal measure. In July, he thought the pay increase was a good idea.

Harrisburg political activist Gene Stilp filed afederal judicial code of conduct complaint yesterday against U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter,alleging that the judge?scomments during the sentencing of former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo ?undermined the public confidence in the independence and integrity of the court.? Last month, Buckwalter sentenced Fumo to 55 months in prison after federal prosecutors urged the judge to impose aterm of more than 15 years. Fumo was convicted of charges that he illegally extracted $4 million in benefits, defrauding the Senate by getting workers to do his personal and political work on state time and defrauding two nonprofits.

HARRISBURG - Five years after its career was launched on the local political stage, an inflatable pink pig used to help protest legislative pay raises is about to get its network television debut. The pig is supposed to appear as a prop on an episode of Blue Bloods , a new CBS police drama set in New York. Gene Stilp, a Harrisburg political activist noted for creating oversize props for various causes, said Thursday that he got a call last month from the show's producers requesting the smaller of two pigs he created to help protest the pay raises.

Gene Stilp has done a lot of wacky things in his day. Using venetian blinds, he built a replica of the Statue of Liberty and secretly stuck it in the middle of the Susquehanna River. At Christmastime, he's been known to Rollerblade through the state Capitol dressed as Santa. Now, the man whom Ralph Nader calls "the number-one political prop artist in America" is embarking on perhaps his craziest crusade yet: running for high office. But like most things Stilp touches, there's a reason to his madness: The grassroots political consultant and longtime activist is campaigning for lieutenant governor to abolish the office as wasteful and rarely used.

First Bibles, then pens. When they took the oath of office in January, most Pennsylvania legislators placed their right hands on new Bibles and Torahs that cost taxpayers about $13,700. Now comes word that members of the state House got something else that day as well - a desktop pen set. It was a gift presented by new House Speaker Keith R. McCall (D., Carbon). But he didn't pay for it. The public did - nearly $4,000. In all, 210 of the trinkets were ordered at a cost of $18.95 each.

Inflation, or a lack thereof, has done what Pennsylvania lawmakers refused to do - freeze their salaries, at least for the next year. For the first time since 1995, the 253 members of the state House and Senate will not see any more in their monthly paychecks starting in December. Base legislative pay, like the economy, will remain stagnant, at $78,315. Salaries also will stay the same for Gov. Rendell, other top state officials, and judges. That's because a key inflationary rate that determines annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAS)

WE'VE SAID this before, but it probably bears repeating. If you're angry about the unconstitutional 16-percent pay raise state lawmakers gave themselves in secret last spring, it's going to take more than just an inflated piggy to get them to return the money. A few protesters greeted state senators during the start of their session yesterday, including Gene Stilp, who not only is challenging the pay raise in court, but brought a giant inflated pig to the state capital to protest Harrisburg's swinish ways.

For state workers, dropping a dime on your boss for using public resources in a political campaign will actually cost 41 cents - the price of a postage stamp. But it's a small price to pay to clean up Harrisburg, said Gene Stilp, a longtime activist who yesterday announced he has created a "Crime Watch" inside the state Capitol. Stilp wants government staffers to write him if they spot instances where House or Senate members are using state resources - whether it be a copy machine or cell phone or the time of a staffer - for campaign purposes.

HARRISBURG - Five years after its career was launched on the local political stage, an inflatable pink pig used to help protest legislative pay raises is about to get its network television debut. The pig is supposed to appear as a prop on an episode of Blue Bloods , a new CBS police drama set in New York. Gene Stilp, a Harrisburg political activist noted for creating oversize props for various causes, said Thursday that he got a call last month from the show's producers requesting the smaller of two pigs he created to help protest the pay raises.

Inflation, or a lack thereof, has done what Pennsylvania lawmakers refused to do - freeze their salaries, at least for the next year. For the first time since 1995, the 253 members of the state House and Senate will not see any more in their monthly paychecks starting in December. Base legislative pay, like the economy, will remain stagnant, at $78,315. Salaries also will stay the same for Gov. Rendell, other top state officials, and judges. That's because a key inflationary rate that determines annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAS)

Gene Stilp, considered a good-government activist by some in Harrisburg and an attention-seeking gadfly by others, asked the feds yesterday to investigate state Attorney General Tom Corbett's connections to two Philadelphia Republicans he charged last week in a public corruption probe. Corbett on Thursday charged state Rep. John Perzel and his former chief of staff, Brian Pre-ski, along with eight other Republicans from the House GOP caucus, as part of a long-running investigation into the use of state money for political campaigns.

Harrisburg political activist Gene Stilp filed afederal judicial code of conduct complaint yesterday against U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter,alleging that the judge?scomments during the sentencing of former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo ?undermined the public confidence in the independence and integrity of the court.? Last month, Buckwalter sentenced Fumo to 55 months in prison after federal prosecutors urged the judge to impose aterm of more than 15 years. Fumo was convicted of charges that he illegally extracted $4 million in benefits, defrauding the Senate by getting workers to do his personal and political work on state time and defrauding two nonprofits.

Irked by the 55-month sentence given last week to former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo on corruption charges, a Harrisburg activist has begun a campaign to collect vacuum cleaners. Yes, some explanation is in order. Among the 137 charges leveled at Fumo was that he directed the nonprofit he controlled to buy him 19 Oreck vacuums. So, in the mind of political gadfly Gene Stilp, whom Ralph Nader once described as the nation's "No. 1 political prop artist," it all presented the perfect opportunity.

First Bibles, then pens. When they took the oath of office in January, most Pennsylvania legislators placed their right hands on new Bibles and Torahs that cost taxpayers about $13,700. Now comes word that members of the state House got something else that day as well - a desktop pen set. It was a gift presented by new House Speaker Keith R. McCall (D., Carbon). But he didn't pay for it. The public did - nearly $4,000. In all, 210 of the trinkets were ordered at a cost of $18.95 each.

Despite a growing budget deficit, the very real prospect of tax increases, and unemployment rates not seen in years, Pennsylvania lawmakers are about to get a raise. Come Dec. 1, base salaries of state House and Senate members will increase 2.8 percent, or $2,152, to $78,315. Legislative leaders will see even more of a pay bump. The extra cash comes courtesy of a law that legislators passed in 1995, setting in motion annual cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, for themselves and other elected state officials, including the governor and judges.

For state workers, dropping a dime on your boss for using public resources in a political campaign will actually cost 41 cents - the price of a postage stamp. But it's a small price to pay to clean up Harrisburg, said Gene Stilp, a longtime activist who yesterday announced he has created a "Crime Watch" inside the state Capitol. Stilp wants government staffers to write him if they spot instances where House or Senate members are using state resources - whether it be a copy machine or cell phone or the time of a staffer - for campaign purposes.

It took some tortured logic to preserve pay raises for more than 1,000 judges in Pennsylvania, but with that kind of motivation, the state Supreme Court was equal to the task. The court's ruling Thursday on cases stemming from the notorious pay raise was awful on several counts. It failed to reject the process that led to the legislature's original pay-raise law, passed without warning in the dead of night on July 7, 2005 (and since repealed). It gave lawmakers the court's blessing to keep on trying to fool the public.

In a decision that is renewing public anger, the state Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the legislature violated the state constitution by allowing lawmakers to take midterm pay raises last year. But the court stopped short of requiring House and Senate members who accepted the extra money to reimburse the state, ruling that they "acted in good faith" that the law was constitutional. Separately, the court reinstated the raises for 1,000 members of the state judiciary - including its own - that ended when the legislature repealed the pay hikes amid an outpouring of public outrage in November.