Common Sense Weekly
Welcome to Common Sense Weekly! This is the Commonwealth Foundation's weekly news roundup of policy issues being debated in Harrisburg and across Pennsylvania.
Why Kamala Harris May Ignore Josh Shapiro
Should Kamala Harris
[link removed]
choose Gov. Josh Shapiro
[link removed]
as her vice-presidential running mate?
That’s what many in the media — both in Pennsylvania and nationally — are calling for. Shapiro’s youth and reputation for moderation and electability seem to make him an interesting contender. So does his status as the governor of a crucial swing state. If Kamala Harris is going to win in November, she needs to win Pennsylvania first.
But despite the buzz, Harris may conclude that she has better options than the governor. She almost certainly wants a running mate with a record of achievement. But Shapiro has only been in office for 18 months and has struggled to govern, despite promising to, in his own words
[link removed]
, “get sh*t done.”
[link removed]
Don’t Fall for Josh Shapiro’s Act as a Competent Moderate
If slick PR, empty slogans, and a cringeworthy cadence that mimics Barack Obama’s is what you think would round out a Harris presidential ticket, then Josh Shapiro is your man. If, on the other hand, you prefer proven leadership and tangible results, you’d have to look elsewhere. As a member of Pennsylvania’s state legislature, I’ve had an eagle-eyed view of the man who, in the chaotic weeks leading up to the Democratic National Convention, appears to be a contender for the VP slot. I haven’t been impressed.
Shapiro is a classic politician — from his political-science undergraduate degree to his postcollegiate career, which has been completely political and with no “real world” experience to speak of. In this sense, he is a Joe Biden replica of the non-bumbling and -shuffling type. In an era when the Democratic Party has been ruled and thus patronized by an elitist political class, a vote cast for Josh Shapiro would be a vote cast for the status quo.
[link removed]
TV Ad Exposes Shapiro as “All Talk, No Results”
The Commonwealth Foundation
[link removed]
has released a new television ad
[link removed]
that exposes Gov. Josh Shapiro’s leadership failures and his inability to obtain significant legislative successes. The ad will run this weekend and next week in Washington, DC and Pennsylvania media markets, airing on CNN and MSNBC, bolstered by a companion digital buy. The ad campaign is aimed at reminding Shapiro about his unfulfilled commitments to Pennsylvanians, while educating reporters, delegates, and concerned citizens about his record as governor.
[link removed]
[link removed]
Taxpayers and Students Lose With Pennsylvania’s New Budget
Pundits and reporters have rushed to identify the “winners and losers
[link removed]
” of Pennsylvania’s newly signed budget.
Obvious winners include Gov. Josh Shapiro, who gets to brag about passing a budget only 11 days late (rather than six months for last year’s) and dole out big checks to special interest groups.
Sitting on the losing end of this budget are working families and students.
Pennsylvania’s 2024–25 budget takes spending to a dangerous precipice—and taxpayers must foot the bill.
[link removed]
Pennsylvania’s Energy Future Is Alarming — And the Governor Isn’t Helping
Things are heating up in Pennsylvania, especially for our electrical grid.
The Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection (PJM), the grid manager for the commonwealth plus twelve other states and the District of Columbia, is worried about our future energy needs. As existing power plants come offline and lawmakers seek to replace them with woefully inadequate alternatives, PJM estimates
[link removed]
electricity shortages as early as 2027.
The debate on Pennsylvania’s troubling energy future has two policy choices: continue with Gov. Josh Shapiro’s preference for picking winners and losers, or seek legislation to give producers and consumers the freedom to replace political agendas with a regulatory framework prioritizing reliable, affordable energy.
The governor’s energy proposals
[link removed]
would decrease the amount of dependable power, risking reliability for Pennsylvanians and neighboring states that depend on Pennsylvania generators. The Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction Act (PACER
[link removed]
) would take an estimated $499 million annually from the economy through a carbon tax on energy producers. The Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard (PRESS) would subsidize expanding expensive, unreliable (intermittent) wind and solar energy, while cutting reliability in half.
[link removed]
​​​​​​
[link removed]
P.S. Do you have someone who may be interested in the Commonwealth Foundation’s work to write the next chapter in America’s future? Forward to a friend!
Unsubscribe
[link removed]
from Commonwealth Foundation emails.
