Letter to the Editor of the Morning Call

The repeal of the unlawful legislative pay raise reveals almost as much about the character of our elected officials as the unlawful raise itself did. The legislators recognized that their positions were in jeopardy when they saw Russell Nigro be denied his second term on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. It is certainly no coincidence that the pay raise repeal was held up until after Election Day, and then suddenly it was repealed (for the time being, anyway).

Now we have a variety of legislators in our region who are refusing to return money that they took unlawfully. This is absurd, and it shows again that we Pennsylvanians cannot afford to re-elect these incumbents. Your legislator thinks you're incapable of seeing this for what it is: they got caught in the cookie jar, but they don't want to put the cookies back, they just want to put the lid back on and "call it even." I doubt that even your children would be so presumptuous.

We deserve public servants, not self-serving politicians, and this is not the behavior we voted for when we picked our legislators last election.

Unfortunately, these are also symptoms of a deeper problem, the foul stench of corruption emanates from Harrisburg. This is not merely about the pay raise. It is a much larger and graver than an issue of just dollars and cents. This whole fight is about the circumstances that allowed the pay raise to come into being, the spirit of corruption and vice that permeates our government, endangering our very rights and our Commonwealth at every turn.

The unlawful pay raise was a clear violation of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislators took an oath of office to uphold and defend that Constitution, and instead they actively sought to circumvent it, thus treading on our rights as citizens to a responsible and accountable government. Anyone who is willing to trample that core document once will do it repeatedly, as indeed they have.

And the saddest part is that they apparently think the citizens would not care enough to come to the defense of our Constitution. They seem to assume that since they have turned our government into the laughing stock of the taxpayers, we will nott rise up to restore a sense of duty and purpose to our government. Unfortunately for those who conspired against the taxpayers, that is where they miscalculated. We are not forgetting. We are coming to the defense of the Constitution.

All the legislators across the region (particularly those who voted for the pay raise, took the unvouchered expenses, and refused to pay them back) are on notice: We're taking our government back!

If you are an elected official who values your position, and you are willing to join forces with us to reform the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, you will need to give us your word in written form in addition to returning the unconstitutional "unvouchered expense" money. We will review your voting record and welcome you to the fight, if appropriate.

We are going to work hard to put all corrupt legislators (those who stole the money from their constituents) behind Mr. Nigro in the unemployment line. This is the time for Pennsylvanians to come together and restore dignity and honor to the government of our Commonwealth.

A note to politicians who continue to tread on the Constitution: Your (self) services are no longer needed, and your time at the public trough is limited. Your employers are giving your jobs to people of character, and you'll be getting your pink slips in May.

Robert Lusch
Coordinator for Carbon, Bucks, and Montgomery Counties

Josh Koch
Coordinator for Lehigh and Carbon Counties
PACleanSweep
www.pacleansweep.com