I've spelled out my strong disapproval of Katie McGinty & her husband's deep ties to Big Energy and fracking. In addition, she was recruited by the DSCC and will be beholden to them if elected. As many are pointing out, the environment should be the prime issue both in the U.S. and internationally. Sadly, McGinty, who has many fine qualifications, has lost her way when it comes to the environment, and has been co-opted by Big Oil and Big Fracking, as has her campaign chairman, Ed Rendell.
3rd Way Democrats had been unhappy with the prospect of former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak seeking a rematch with incumbent Republican Pat Toomey in 2016 and searched for months for an alternative. It was tougher than it looked. Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro was approached, but demurred. Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski got into the race, and then quickly got out amidst a federal investigation of city hall there. She was 3rd choice to be recruited by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, after the first 2 fizzled out.
The Old Guard Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are still pissed at Sestak that he wouldn't be bribed to drop out of the primary, and that he defeated Bill & Rahm's then brand new bestie, Arlen ("magic bullet", attacker of Anita Hill and promoter of Clarence Thomas) Specter.
Washington (CNN) -- White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel used former President Bill Clinton as an intermediary last year as part of a failed administration effort to dissuade Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak from running for the U.S. Senate, according to a publicly released memorandum from the White House legal counsel's office.
Top White House lawyer Robert Bauer conceded that "options for Executive Branch service were raised" for Sestak, but insisted that administration officials did not act improperly. He characterized the attempt to influence Pennsylvania's Democratic Senate primary -- ultimately won by Sestak -- as no different from political maneuvers by past administrations from both political parties.
Key Republicans disagreed with Bauer's assessment. Several House GOP members sent a letter to the FBI Friday asking for an investigation.
The White House was instrumental in last year's switch by Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter from the GOP to the Democratic Party. President Barack Obama backed Specter in his bid for a sixth term in the Senate, and the administration was eager to clear the field of any primary opponents.
Then we have her campaign chairman, Ed Rendell:
Rendell the Lobbyist – Home on the Range?
by Dory Hippauf on February 5, 2013
E&E Reporter, Mike Soraghan, shook the Pennsylvania fractivist community this morning with news of former Governor Ed Rendell (PA-D) lobbying the EPA on behalf of Range Resources regarding a high-profile Texas water contamination case.
Former Pa. Gov. Rendell pressed EPA in Range pollution case, emails show | Mike Soraghan, E&E reporter | EnergyWire: Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell interceded with then-U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on behalf of Range Resources Corp. to settle the oil and gas company’s high-profile Texas water contamination case, emails obtained by EnergyWire show.
An EPA attorney wrote that Rendell, acting as a “spokesman for Range,” met with Jackson in 2011 and “proposed certain terms to the administrator.” But the case didn’t settle for more than a year after that.”
In May 2010, Common Cause issued a report: Deep Drilling, Deep Pockets. The Campaign Contributions & Lobbying Expenditures of the Natural Gas Industry in Pennsylvania, by Alex Kaplan and James Browning.
A Bonanza of Lobbying & Campaign Contributions: Gov. Ed Rendell was number six on the list of top recipients with $84,100. Rendell has been a leading proponent of a severance tax, but has also called himself the industry’s “best ally.”
[b]Rendell wasn’t the only one in his administration spinning through the revolving door from government and into the arms of the natural gas industry.
Per Sourcewatch: (emphasis added) Three of Rendell’s former high-level staffers have abruptly left their jobs for gas industry lobbying positions. The three are Kenneth Scott Roy, Barbara Sexton, and Sarah Battisti. Roy was Rendell’s former executive deputy chief of staff and left to work for Range Resources Corp. He formerly served as chief liaison between the governor’s office and the gas industry and environmental groups, making the transition to Range Resources a perfectly logical one. Sexton, former executive deputy secretary of environmental protection of Pennsylvania left to work in governmental affairs for Chesapeake Energy Corp., an Oklahoma company that is one of the nation’s largest gas exploration firms. Battisti, former Deputy Chief of Staff for Rendell, who, on her LinkedIn page says she focused on “Energy, Conservation and Natural Resources, Community and Economic Development,” now works for the BG Group, an integrated oil and gas company which has its headquarters in Reading, Berkshire, England. “BG Group’s main business is exploration for and the extraction of natural gas, liquefied natural gas and to a lesser extent oil. It sells these products to wholesale customers such as retail gas suppliers and electricity generating companies. It also owns some gas pipelines and is involved in some power generation projects. It is active around the world, with only a minority of its business being in the UK. BG Group is a multinational company with operations in 27 countries.” (See also: Rendell advisers getting jobs with shale gas firms.
http://www.nofrackingway.us/2013/02/05/rendell-the-lobbyist-home-on-the-range/
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