Joel Mathis

I've been noting all fall and winter the growing Republican rhetoric against millionaires receiving food stamps. Now that rhetoric is translating into action in Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania plans to make the amount of food stamps that people receive contingent on the assets they possess - an unexpected move that bucks national trends and places the commonwealth among a minority of states. Specifically, the Department of Public Welfare said that as of May 1, people under 60 with more than $2,000 in savings and other assets would no longer be eligible for food stamps. For people over 60, the limit would be $3,250. Well, that's one sure way to make sure that millionaires don't get food stamps—make sure the thousandaires can't, either! Conservatives, I know, want to ensure that people who use the safety net actually need the safety net. And hell, I don't want the well-to-do to abuse the system, either. There's not much evidence of abuse, though, which makes Pe

Looks like Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett has decided to double-down on the " unemployed people are lazy " theme in fairly cowardly fashion : Speaking to reporters after a campaign stop in Delaware County, the Republican nominee for governor noted that newspapers across the state are carrying line after line of help-wanted ads. "Are there jobs out there? . . . How would you interpret that?" he asked. Corbett reported seeing one newspaper page that he said promised thousands of jobs listings in print and online. "You guys asked me if there are jobs out there," he said to a pair of reporters. "If I am a common citizen, the average citizen, and I look at a newspaper . . . and I see jobs - what's the answer to that question." Asked if he was implying that the unemployed were not taking advantage of these listings, he said no-adamantly no-he wasn't saying that. But he clearly is saying that. And he's being a pun

Dave Weigel flags these comments from Pennsylvania's senior senator: ''Well, I probably shouldn't say this,'' he said over lunch last month. ''But I have thought from time to time that I might have helped the country more if I'd stayed a Republican.'' Specter mused that perhaps if he'd remained in the caucus he could have persuaded one or two of his GOP colleagues to support health care reform. But joining the Democratic Party was never about "helping the country." It was about preserving Specter's political career . Even if staying with the GOP would've helped the country more, there's little guarantee that Specter would've stayed.