Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, a Democrat, announced Tuesday that he's exploring another run for the Senate; Sestak narrowly lost to Pat Toomey in 2010.
A rematch between former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey is in the works as Sestak announced Tuesday that he's exploring a run for the Senate in 2016. Democrat Sestak, a former Navy vice admiral, lost narrowly to Republican Toomey in 2010. Sestak, of Delaware County, has formed an exploratory committee—the equivalent of launching a campaign in terms of Federal Elections Commission paperwork, according to a Washington Post report. Can Sestak beat Toomey? Who would you vote for if the Senate election was held today? Tell us in the comments section below. Tuesday's announcement ends speculation that Sestak, 61, is raising money to challenge Gov. Tom Corbett. Sestak raised $460,000 in the first quarter of this year. A Sestak-…
Saturday, May 11, 2013
A new TV commercial thanks U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey for trying to expand gun background checks.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns on Thursday announced a new television commercial thanking Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) for co-sponsoring an amendment to expand background checks, according to Huffington Post. The ad urges Toomey, of Zionsville, Lehigh County, to keep fighting for background checks although Toomey has said he's turning his attention back to economic issues since his amendment failed in the senate. Toomey achieved his highest approval rating ever since brokering the unsuccessful compromise on background checks. The issue put Toomey in the national spotlight and he was even spoofed on "Saturday Night Live." Mayors Against Illegal Guns is backed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Pat Toomey seems to understand that he has to reach moderates and independents as Pennsylvania becomes increasingly blue.
- OPINION
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Thursday, April 25
By G. Terry Madonna and Michael Young No one yet has called him “Benedict Toomey” but make no mistake: many conservatives view his recent effort to broker a gun compromise as a stunning act of perfidy. These critics see compelling evidence that Toomey’s flirtation with compromise has damaged seriously his reelection chances while disappointing his conservative supporters that expect him to hew to ideological rigidity on guns as well as other issues. Already invidious comparisons are being made between Toomey and the late Senator Arlen Specter—long the reigning bogyman of conservatives. We hear that Toomey’s gun compromise reveals him as just “another” Specter, lacking core principles or consistent policies. In fact, already a Facebook page…
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
The Senate rejected Pat Toomey's attempt to expand background checks via a controversial gun control amendment voted on Wednesday afternoon.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey sounded unconcerned in a conference call Wednesday when a reporter asked about the possibility that his NRA rating would be downgraded because of his recent compromise move on gun control. "This is not about the NRA or politics for me," Toomey said. The Toomey-Manchin amendment to expand background checks was narrowly defeated in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon. The vote was 54 yes to 46 no. Sixty votes rather than a simple majority were needed to pass the amendment. Toomey issued this statement just after the vote: “I did what I thought was the right thing for our country. I sought out a compromise position that I thought could move the ball forward on an important matter of public safety. My only regret is that our…
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Lehigh Valley's U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey is in the national spotlight as debate over gun control continues.
An article in the National Journal calls U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Zionsville, Lehigh County an "unlikely savior" for gun control advocates and says that his agreement to expand background checks is the "last best hope for meaningful action" on gun control. Read the complete article here. Toomey was a key player in a deal reached last week deal to require that all criminal records and mental health records are added to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and it would expand existing background checks to sales at gun shows or made online. The Toomey-Manchin bill was spoofed on "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend in a skit which Toomey acknowledged on Facebook and Twitter, according to a PoliticsPa report. His comment …
Monday, April 1, 2013
An apparent April Fool's joke puts Sen. Pat Toomey in the running. What do you think about a GOP primary gubernatorial challenge?
Editor's note: This story has been edited to clarify an apparent April Fool's Day posting. In an apparent April Fool's joke, PoliticsPa reported that U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Zionsville, Lehigh County, told a group of conservative activists Saturday that he is considering a primary challenge to fellow Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. Toomey's office said the PoliticsPa post is an April Fool's joke and that the video posted there is actually several years old. Toomey tweeted: "To paraphrase LBJ, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for governor…" and linked to the post. Nonetheless, some see Corbett as vulnerable as he prepares to run for his second term. Corbett's approval rating was at the lowest point of his two…
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Lehigh Valley Senator Pat Toomey helped fellow Republican Rand Paul during the Kentucky senator's recent 13-hour filibuster protesting U.S. drone policy.
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, March 12
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, who lives in Zionsville, Lehigh County, stepped in to help fellow Republican Rand Paul as the Kentucky senator filibustered for 13 hours (without a bathroom break) last week to delay the nomination of proposed CIA director John Brennan. A YouTube video shows Toomey asking about Paul's request of the Obama administration for clarification on its drone police—"Can (they) kill an American in America with a drone strike?" Paul speculated on what circumstances might prompt the White House to use drones on its own citizens.
Friday, March 1, 2013
In-depth profile by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offers a look at what it's like to be Pennsylvania's junior U.S. Senator
Pennsylvania's junior Senator and Lehigh Valley native Pat Toomey has high-profile appointments in Washington, D.C. and is the topic of a recent in-depth profile by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Toomey chairs his caucus steering committee and a key budget subcommittee, and, the Post-Gazette says, is "a reliable conservative picked for the exclusive -- if doomed -- task force on deficit reduction." The profile quotes Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as saying Toomey has risen quickly in the Senate by any objective measure. Read the complete article here. Another Post Gazette-Report -- A Day in the Life of Pat Toomey -- describes how the senator juggles a busy work schedule with visits home to spend time with his family. Toomey lives in…
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Lehigh Valley Sen. Pat Toomey proposes letting the White House make targeted spending cuts to avoid across-the-board reductions if sequester kicks in Friday.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey wants to let the White House make federal budget cuts required by the impending sequester to "cut in the least disruptive way possible." How Sequester Cuts Would Affect Palmer, Forks Townships Toomey, a Republican from Zionsville, Lehigh County, said the move would help keep air traffic controllers on the job while cutting spending in redundant areas such as the federal government's 15 different financial literacy programs. "I'm not sure the federal government has demonstarted it's qualified to teach financial literacy," Toomey joked in a conference call with reporters Wednesday afternoon. He noted that the sequester will require only about 2 percent of spending to be cut from a government budget that has doubled in …
Monday, October 29, 2012
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey says it is time to rebuild the outdated federal tax code
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, October 29, 2012
By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — It’s been more than 25 years since the federal government took a long hard look at the tax code, and Pennsylvania’s Sen. Pat Toomey says it’s time to rebuild it from scratch. He said 1986 was “the last time we looked at really, really making improvements to our tax code, and in the meantime it’s been littered with all kinds of debris that Congress has thrown in it.” Toomey spoke to members of the Pennsylvania Press Club in Harrisburg recently, taking questions on multiple topics, from the election to the economy. He didn’t shy away from lending his support to GOP counterparts Gov. Mitt Romney and Senate hopeful Tom Smith. But Toomey, a former president of tax-reform interest group Club For …
Independent Geoff
10:15 pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Toomey is the right person at the right time. He has done a fine job to date & demonstrated an excellent understanding of the facts. We don't need another far left liberal in the Senate pushing for the Federal government to take over everything from gun ownership to education. The Constitution spells out the first issue and the second is a State & Local issue. more ›