Rendell visits KU, touts education as priority

Ed Rendell paid a visit to KU last Monday, and I had a chance to go see him. I came away mostly impressed.

Rendell touched on a variety of issues, including jobs, Pennsylvania competing for industry and property taxes, but stressed education.

"Before I took office, Pennsylvania wasn't devoting one dime to pre-K education," said Rendell. "I'm happy to say that we now have $55 million [this year] going toward that, and 60 percent of kids are now in full-day Kindergarten."

The governor wasted no time getting to the oft-discussed No Child Left Behind Act.

"There is some good in No Child Left Behind," said Rendell. "I think we need to test every year, because if we only test every three or four years, it may be too late by the time we discover there is a problem. However, [the federal government] gives us no money for remediation."

Rendell brought down the house with a swipe at Bush and his NCLB program: "I think President Bush misread the Bible. It says 'teach thy children well,' but I think he thought it said 'test thy children well.'"

The governor, like any smart politician, had plenty of statistics in his pocket about education to talk at a major university, and he wasn't shy in touting them, citing that the state now provides funding for 184,000 students for after-school tutoring.

After talking education, it didn't take him long to tell the audience why he thinks education is so important.

"During yesteryear, [Pennsylvania] used to have to compete with West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey to attract big business and manufacturing firms, but that was it" he said. "Now, we are competing with Singapore, Korea, China and Germany, and we aren't doing a good job at competing."

Rendell had some pretty damning statistics to back up his points. Last year, the U.S. finished 19th in math aptitude, and 21st in science. Yikes.

"And," said Rendell, hammering home the point, "last year was the first year every that the U.S. patent office had more than 50 percent of its applications coming from foreign companies."

The incumbent governor mentioned a few other statistics that may be of interest to Pennsylvania voters. For instance, when he became governor:

-He was handed a $1 billion deficit from outgoing governor Mark Schweiker

-Pennsylvania has lost $1.5 billion in federal funding since he has been governor

-He compared and contrasted our plight in Pennsylvania with the war in Iraq, which is costing the federal government over $2 billion a week

Not surprisingly, Rendell also mentioned property taxes. This is an issue I know little about, but what he had to say was mildly encouraging.

"For 50 years, every [Pennsylvania] governor promised property tax relief, and I'm the first one to do it," said Rendell.

According to the governor, homeowners who earn less than $44k per year will get a refund on their property taxes - a refund check between $250-975 - this year.

"The property tax relief is great for seniors, and a start for everyone else," said Rendell, stating that the state has cut property taxes by $1 billion this year.

No matter the issue, Rendell's implication was always the same: "I can do more if I had a Democratic House," he said, referring to the Republican controlled Pennsylvania Legislature.

Next Tuesday, perhaps Rendell will get his wish.

I like Rendell, and I voted for him vs. Mike Fischer four years ago, but to be honest, he doesn't strike me as someone who has totally kicked butt in Harrisburg. He's done a good but not great job. I'm a Democrat, so of course I'm more inclined to vote for him, but he's getting my vote as much for my belief in traditional Democratic Party values as for who he's running against; Fischer had no ideas of his own in '02, and this year it's Lynn Swann, who has never held elected office, ever. I'm not one to be inclined to vote for career politicians, but experience does count. Pennsylvania has too much at stake over the next four years to elect a Jesse Ventura.

Honestly, considering his credentials, Swann would not have been courted by the Republicans to oppose Rendell if he had the exact same qualifications as a WHITE candidate. Question that if you will, belittle me if you must, but it's the brutal truth. Swann's candidacy is a clumsy attempt by the Republican Party to court the black vote.

On the under card at the event was Lois Murphy, who is running for Jim Gerlach's seat in Pennsylvania's 6th District. She ran hard last time and is poised to take the seat this time, but not without a fight from Gerlach and the GOP slime machine.

She alluded to Gerlach and the GOP's dirty bullshit tricks in her remarks. "People from [Gerlach's] campaign are calling my supporters, over and over, asking them to vote for me, and people are saying I'm not voting for her if she keeps calling me," she said.

Sounds awfully Karl Rovian, doesn't it?

(Quick aside: Think the phone calling mentioned above is unrealistic? Think again. Allen Raymond, a former GOP consultant, pleaded guilty to dirty tricks during the New Hampshire Senate race in 2002.

A quick experpt from a Washington Post article about it:

Raymond was the first to be sentenced of three men charged after the revelation that Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts in Manchester, Nashua, Rochester and Claremont were peppered with more than 800 computer-generated calls over a period of 90 minutes on the morning of Nov. 5, 2002.

Firefighters in Manchester, who were offering rides to the polls independently of the two parties, were also targeted, prosecutors said. Police later determined that an Idaho-based firm called Milo Enterprises had been engaged by GOP Marketplace to make automated hang-up calls.

Read the complete Washington Post article Here.)

Anyway, predictably, Lois Murphy's words were not kind about the current leadership in Congress.

"This Congress is not working on one issue that you care about," said Murphy. I found myself nodding in agreement. "They also aren't addressing health care in any meaningful way."

Of course, the Iraq War came up, too.

"Isn't it funny how my opponent Jim Gerlach and Republican Senators are all saying 'we need a change of direction in Iraq' while Congress is in recess,'" said Murphy. "Where were they when Congress was in session? They just talk about it on the campaign trail."

At the end of their remarks, there was a brief question and answer session, where Rendell answered a host of questions on immigration, education, and a few programs I honestly don't know too much about. But, my ears perked up when he was asked a question by a KU student about rising tuition costs.

Rendell bragged that he's been largely been able to hold the line on tuition increases at Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education public universities over the last three years to 1%, 1% and 2%. Embarrassingly enough, he referred to the "13 SSHE schools." Oops - there's 14, governor. Hey, we all make mistakes, like your agreeing to do a sports show for Comcast Sportsnight.

Puleeze Ed, stay in Harrisburg and govern. Hopefully, for four more years.

Murphy has some sage ideas on higher education. She mentioned how the Republicans this past year cut $12.7 billion from the college student loan program. She wants it restored. Murphy outlined three things she would do for higher education - 1. Increase Pell Grant funding, 2. Implement a tax deduction of $10k per year, and 3. Cut the interest rates in half for student loans.

On immigration, Rendell and Murphy both had strong views as well.

"Look, this country was built on immigration, and I haven't forgotten that," said Rendell. "We need a uniform federal policy; it should not be different from state to state. I would like to see a guest worker statute."

Murphy had more to add on immigration, too.

"We haven't enforced the laws on the books," said Murphy, citing the increase in illegal aliens since Bush took office from seven million to 11 million.

"In 1999, there were over 400 sanctions against employers who were hiring illegals," continued Murphy. "In 2005, there were four."

I don't know how accurate those stats are, but they are pretty damning, even if the actual numbers are close to that.

It was good to see the candidates stop at KU, but what I really loved was how packed the room was. I love how the younger generation (sheesh, I really sound old now) seems to be getting very involved in politics. And just in the nick of time - it seems the press dubs every election "the most important election of our lifetime."

I guess that's because every successive election is more important than the last.

This one is no different.