Thursday’s Here. Take it easy if you’re outside for any length of time today PA Weather Erie | Mostly Cloudy, areas of smoke, 62 Carlisle | Haze, 73 Media | Haze, 76 PA Sports Phillies (29-32) | Thu vs. Detroit Pirates (32-29) | Oakland 5-9 | F-Sun vs. NY Mets What We’re Hearing “The culture war is in the classroom, parents are getting involved in protecting our kids, and now they’re fighting back.” – Tiffany Justice Happy Birthday Cake and candles for Rep. Paul Friel. Get The PoliticsPA Playbook In Your Inbox Sign up for your free subscription to the PoliticsPA Playbook and we’ll email you ..read more

It’s been said that politics makes strange bedfellows. Add Lisa Scheller and Dean Browning to the list. Scheller defeated Browning, the former Lehigh County Commissioner, for the 2020 Republican nomination to challenge Rep. Susan Wild (D-Lehigh) for the 7th Congressional District seat in the U.S House. She won by 2,400 votes in that race, but lost to Wild in the general election and then again in the 2022 rematch between the two. And Scheller believes she knows why she fell just 5,000 votes shy last November. Mail-in voting. But perhaps not for the reason you might think. Scheller now ap ..read more

Last week, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff released the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. This is an acknowledgement by the entire federal government that the global rise in hatred against Jews is a fundamental challenge to the principles of American democracy. The national strategy details 100 concrete new actions the federal government will take over the next year and outlines 100 different ways the private sector can partner to combat hate. As our nation prepares for its 250th birthday, this necessary and bold initiative will not only combat antisemitis ..read more

Good Morning, Tuesday. Boy, it’s hazy out there. PA Weather Canonsburg | Haze, 79 Port Matilda | Haze, 78 Dallas | Haze, 75 PA Sports Pirates (32-27) | Oakland 5-4 | Tu-W vs. Oakland Phillies (28-32) | Detroit 8-3 | Tu-W vs. Detroit What’s Happening The House convenes at 11a, while the Senate convenes at 1p. What We’re Hearing Election results are now certified around the Keystone State. Happy Birthday Cake and candles for Congresswoman Madeleine Dean and Rep. Arvind Venkat. Get The PoliticsPA Playbook In Your Inbox Sign up for your free subscription to the PoliticsPA Playbook and we’ll emai ..read more

“When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” – Sophia Loren. It was January, 2021. COVID-19 was entering its second calendar year and the country had yet to re-open. A pair of former Florida school board members, Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich, had reached a boiling point. They were outraged by pandemic restrictions and mask mandates and sought for a way to rally like-minded women and others to oppose them. And Moms For Liberty was born. Its mission has changed in the interim. Its we ..read more

Their elections certified, the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives today welcomed its two newest members to the chamber. Heather Boyd (D-Delaware) and Michael Stender (R-Montour/Northumberland) were sworn in officially to bring the House’s membership back to 203 – 102 Democrats and 101 Republicans. Both Boyd and Stender were elected to serve in the 163rd and 108th State House Districts, respectively, during special elections last month. “Swearing in new members is always a special occasion in the state House of Representatives,” said Speaker Joanna McClinton (D-Philadelphia/Delaw ..read more

Those afraid that the 2024 GOP presidential contest will become a repeat of 2016 need not worry. The race is radically different this year. It will not play out the same. First, former President Donald Trump is greatly diminished compared to 2015, when he first glided down his escalator at Trump Tower in New York City to announce his campaign. Second, the rest of next year’s budding GOP candidates are well-acquainted with the former president’s playbook and will know how to fight him. Third, the “unstoppable” sheen that Trump once had has vanished after losses in every major election from 201 ..read more

Hola, Friday. Let’s make it a great weekend, shall we? PA Weather McKees Rocks | Hot, 92 Jersey Shore | Sunny, 91 Jim Thorpe | Sunny, 93 PA Sports Pirates (28-27) | F-Sun vs. St. Louis Phillies (25-31) | NY Mets, 2-4 | F-Sun vs. Washington Union (8-4-3) | Charlotte 1-0 | Sat vs. Montreal What We’re Hearing “Given that Republicans are more obsessed with hurting poor people than holding banks accountable, you’d think that someone who didn’t have a job could crash our economy.” – John Fetterman Happy Birthday Cake and candles for Reps. Emily Kinkead, Greg Vitali and Kate Klunk (Sun.). Want The ..read more

A day after posting a win on the debt ceiling bill, President Joe Biden was handed a stinging rebuke by the Democratic-controlled Senate as the chamber passed a measure that overturned his student debt relief plan. In a 52-46 vote, the Senate said no on a plan to give 40 million borrowers up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness. A pair of Democrats joined the Republican delegation in voting to nix the proposal – Jon Tester (D-Montana), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) – along with independent Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). Both Pennsylvania senators – Bob Casey Jr. and John Fetterman ..read more

Should the Pennsylvania minimum wage be increased from $7.25 per hour? A pair of Keystone state senators think so. They just don’t agree on the increase. Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-Erie) has introduced legislation seeking to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026. Sen. Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) says let’s move along a little faster, proposing a raise to $15 per hour beginning January 1, 2024. Laughlin’s proposal calls for an increase to $11 per hour at the start of the new year and permanently index it to inflation thereafter. “I have heard from my constituents and have ..read more