Rendell

IN THE CLOSING days of September, with the state budget stalled because legislative leaders were at war over proposed taxes on the arts and charity fundraising games, Donna Cooper, Gov. Rendell's secretary for policy and planning, noticed something. Officials working on the state welfare budget had agreed on a change to an obscure tax on managed-care companies providing Medicaid services. The change, Cooper realized, would save the state just enough money to drop the controversial taxes on arts and games of chance.

SINCE DECIDING to forego appointing an outside agency to investigate the state police sex scandal, Gov. Rendell has been on the receiving end of some vitriol from women's rights and crime victims groups. "Unconscionable," said the founder of the National Center for Women and Policing in Los Angeles. "Disappointed," said the president of the state chapter for the National Organization for Women. The executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape essentially questioned whether people could trust the system.

HARRISBURG - Gov. Rendell says he will sign the $28 billion budget that just passed the Pennsylvania legislature, but only if lawmakers also approve a pair of related bills he says are necessary to support the state's spending. Those bills have been held up for more than a day by a dispute between Republicans, who control the state Senate, and Democrats, who rule the House. Rendell said Thursday that if those differences persisted and legislators took no action on the bills in the next 10 days, he would be required under the state constitution to veto the hard-fought budget.

Tuesday Night Football? "Terrible idea," Gov. Rendell said moments before the kickoff of Tuesday night's game between the Eagles and Minnesota Vikings. "Too many people have to get out of work to try to get to this game. " Of course, that's also the case for Monday Night Football . But Rendell has been in a bit of a combative mood with regard to the NFL and its decision to postpone the Eagles' game from Sunday night to Tuesday night. Rendell kept up his criticism before the game was played.

Ending months of speculation, former District Attorney Edward G. Rendell today declared himself a Democratic candidate for mayor. Rendell's announcement, made at the Hershey Philadelphia Hotel, focused on how he would lead the city, and his motivations for entering the May 19 primary opposite Mayor Goode. Rendell accused the Goode administration of "ineptitude and mismanagement" and "unfulfilled programs and promises. " Under Goode, Rendell maintained, the city has become one of "unfilled potholes, unstaffed libraries and recreation centers, unclean streets, unemployed people, unmet promises and, worst of all, unfulfilled dreams and opportunities.

GOV. RENDELL'S tax scheme is nothing more than a wealth redistribution shell game that Marx and Engels would be proud of. He hopes to send more of the state's money down the Philadelphia money pit. This is a blatant political payoff under the guise of being "for the children. " Let's hope our state legislature opposes any new tax increases or shifts in the burden. We should be lowering all taxes in the state, not raising them. Gov. Rendell needs to show the people of Pennsylvania one example of a state taxing itself to greatness.

They came, they saw, they concurred that former District Attorney Edward G. Rendell should run for mayor. They gathered last night at the Locust Club - politicians, former politicians, investment bankers, attorneys and business heavies, men described by Rendell as "my oldest supporters and best friends in politics. " They numbered about 30, and were hosted by Globe Security Systems owner S. Harrison "Sonny" Dogole. They dined on veal away from the prying press, urged Rendell to take the plunge, and offered to back him financially if he does.

President Obama has nominated one of Gov. Rendell's top policy advisers to a leading post in the U.S. Department of Transportation. Roy Kienitz, a deputy chief of staff for Rendell, has been nominated as the department's undersecretary for policy. The White House, in a news release issued late Friday, credited Kienitz with directing a number of major capital projects during his tenure with the commonwealth, including the expansion of the Convention Center and the Port of Philadelphia.

Members of the clergy are free to toss their collars into the political ring, but they must pass muster along with other candidates, says former Philadelphia District Attorney Ed Rendell. And, in Rendell's view, Democrat Jesse Jackson and Republican Pat Robertson don't pass muster, despite their charisma and the excitement they generate as presidential candidates. While both men inspire the people, "neither of them has demonstrated the ability to translate ideas into sound action," Rendell said Sunday to about 200 members of Adath Jeshurun Men's Association in Elkins Park.

What a friend Gov. Rendell is. What a pal. What a pol. What a shame. A Democratic power broker exploits the public's business to extract money for his pet causes, and Rendell jumps right up to defend him. Powerful Democratic State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo of Philadelphia got Peco Energy Co. to donate $17 million to a charity controlled by Fumo staff, located in Fumo's district, and mainly serving Fumo's constituents. The money was part of a side deal arising from negotiations over utility deregulation during the Ridge administration.

Former Gov. Ed Rendell and former Mayor W. Wilson Goode have launched a fund-raising effort to pay the legal bills of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah's son, who has been under federal investigation for months. Rendell said he agreed to pitch in after Rep. Fattah contacted him for help. Rendell, in an interview, estimated that the Philadelphia congressman and his wife had spent $250,000 to help Chaka "Chip" Fattah Jr., 30, and said the costs had become a "little bit of a struggle" for the family.

HARRISBURG - Never leave anything unsaid is a lesson former Gov. Ed Rendell may have relearned the hard way this week. Two days ago, the usually loquacious Democrat had an op-ed piece published in the New York Daily News urging New York state to get over its fears and permit hydraulic fracturing - commonly known as fracking - to seek natural gas within its borders. In the piece, headlined "Why [Gov. Andrew] Cuomo Must Seize the Moment on Hydrofracking," Rendell listed the benefits of natural gas for the region's economic development as well as the nation's energy future.

More jobs! More money! So say the people backing Gov. Corbett's plans to turn the Pennsylvania Lottery and the State Store system over to private operators. As I noted in this space in January, the lottery-sale plan - currently on hiatus - is designed so the promised jobs and revenue are added only if private managers persuade Pennsylvanians to bet more, through new games like keno (bingo, sort of) in new locations like bars and restaurants. As the pro-privatization Commonwealth Foundation said in a report last week, State Store opponents promise that: "ending the state-run monopoly will create thousands of additional jobs across the state and unleash millions of dollars in new business investment.

HARRISBURG - The Corbett administration's fiscal chief, amid a withering, two-hour pummeling by state House Democrats on the final day of budget hearings, accused former Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday of running "Ponzi schemes" on the citizenry. What is traditionally an opportunity for lawmakers to publicly make a case for funding programs turned into a partisan debate, as Budget Secretary Charles Zogby defended Gov. Corbett's policies and trashed his Democratic predecessor's. Zogby touted Corbett's belt-tightening initiatives, saying the Republican governor "inherited" a $4 billion deficit along with unresolved issues such as pension funding.

IN WHAT WAS clearly the emotional high point of his State of the Union speech last week, President Obama, citing many victims of horrific gun violence, told Congress that "they deserve a vote!" He was referring to legislation that would offer the American people various protective measures that would reduce the frequency of gun violence. His message was that Congress shouldn't filibuster or bottle up this legislation - that it should at least have the decency to bring it to the floor for a vote.

IN WHAT WAS clearly the emotional high point of his State of the Union speech last week, President Obama, citing many victims of horrific gun violence, told Congress that "they deserve a vote!" He was referring to legislation that would offer the American people various protective measures that would reduce the frequency of gun violence. His message was that Congress shouldn't filibuster or bottle up this legislation - that it should at least have the decency to bring it to the floor for a vote.

This morning on 94 WIP, cohost Al Morganti introduced "the man responsible for Wing Bowl being in the Big House" - Ed Rendell. "How prominent in my obituary is it going to be that I moved Wing Bowl to the big stadium?" Rendell asked, referring to what is now called the Wells Fargo Center. The popularity of the annual event - scheduled for Friday - has exploded since its debut in 1993 featured just competitors in a hotel ballroom. By Wing Bowl IV, people were being turned away from an overflowing Electric Factory, while the area was beset by parking nightmares, Morganti recalled.

If oddsmakers were infallible psychics, the next presidential election will pit Hillary Clinton against former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, or New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie - and Clinton will win. The Democrat's chances vary from 5-2 to 9-2 with 11 online bookmakers, while the nearest Republicans, in various rankings, rate no better than 6-1, according to www.oddschecker.com . Her closest competitors...

Two years after he left office, there seems to be an enduring yearning for Ed Rendell. The former Democratic governor is all over the media, and a poll this week found Rendell leading his successor, Republican Gov. Corbett, in a hypothetical match. "He's endearing, he's blunt, and he's addicted to public policy and politics - in it for the long haul," said Larry Ceisler, a Democratic consultant. "He makes good copy. " And Rendell was recently approached by a key adviser to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who tried to recruit him to reenter politics and run for mayor of the Big Apple.