Penn. Outrage finally doomed pay raise

The Philadephia Inquirer reports:

n the end, it came down to a simple but brutal matter of street politics.

Public opposition to the pay raise the legislature gave itself this summer had developed into such an intense and unexpectedly lasting force that it had eclipsed everything emanating from Harrisburg.

And lawmakers could no longer allow the black hole that the pay raise had become to engulf their actions. Not if they wanted to pass any meaningful legislation. And not if they hoped to be reelected.

"Everything was being seen through the prism of the pay raise. And we had to end that," said Erik Arneson, chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader David J. Brightbill (R., Lebanon). "Nothing else mattered."

So on Monday, some Republican leaders began to privately discuss a way out. By Wednesday, both houses had passed competing versions of legislation to roll back the raises.

If only Porkbusters could get this sort of reaction.