Governor Josh Shapiro

Oh, Biden Didn’t “Get Shit Done?” Let’s Talk About That Bridge on I-95 in Philadelphia for a Minute.

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

Josh Shapiro is running for President. Look, that’s no secret, and it is literally why Kamala Harris came out firing at him in her book. It’s also why he’s now releasing a book, and firing back. This is going to be a very different process for Shapiro though than anything he’s faced before- because people are going to say bad things about him now. Basically after he won his first State House race, he has been the darling of the Democratic left, the “rising star” that ran for Montgomery County Commissioner and Attorney General, and then the unchallenged candidate for Governor in 2022. In 2024, he took his first arrows from opponents when he was mentioned for Vice-President, and well, we now know how he handled it. According to him, he removed himself from consideration. The heat was too much.

Not everyone is Joe Biden. A guy who took the heat, was chosen as VP, and then won twice in the role, before being elected President. Ultimately, Biden finally took a permanent political fall in 2024, but he is definitely one of the most significant political figures of the 21st century, so far (I’d argue third or fourth, but still significant). He will probably be remembered as one of the two or three most impactful governing leaders of this time period. From his work passing the COPS Bill and larger 1994 Crime Bill and the legislation authorizing the use of force in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990’s, to his re-write of bankruptcy law (probably the thing I disliked most on his record), to his decades of playing pivotal roles in the confirmations of nearly every Supreme Court Justice, to his roles in the Obama Administration passing his 2009 recovery act, helping administer TARP, and pushing through the votes on Obamacare and Dodd-Frank, to his own Administration passing the Covid Recovery Act in 2021, passing his landmark infrastructure bill, and passing the Inflation Recovery Act, not to mention his numerous executive orders and appointments to the bench. Joe Biden was probably better at actually governing than anyone in this time period, objectively speaking, with the exception of Bush and Cheney (who screwed up the whole world). One thing he was good at was making the government do the things he wanted. That might have been part of the problem he had politically on several major issues.

Back to Josh Shapiro though and running for President. I mean, he’s doing it unless he somehow loses to his crackpot opponent in 2026, which God willing, he won’t. Josh is carving out his pathway to national contention, which is understandable, and he’s doing it by creating separation between himself of the Biden-Harris Administration. I don’t blame him there. I loved Joe Biden, but he left office deeply unpopular, and Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg are likely to be opponents of his. We have seen other Democrats, namely Gavin Newsom, carve out some separation on actual policy and his political ability to engage the opposition, which you can like or not, but seems like a fair place to carve out your differences when you were a very loyal and supportive Governor for the former President. Josh Shapiro seems to be taking a different route- he’s saying the former President was ineffective, unlike himself. He’s also carving out a retroactive difference with himself and Kamala Harris by saying he told President Biden to drop out earlier, but I’m going to leave that alone because it’s literally impossible to verify how either actually felt on the matter. His argument on effectiveness is fascinating though, he’s citing that absolutely no one in Pennsylvania actually received any of the rural broadband promised in the 2022 Infrastructure Bill. It is, at best, a reach of an argument, and at worst entirely cynical. You see, that bill was passed into law in November of 2021, going into effect in Fiscal Year 2022. It was meant to run from 2022 to 2026. Highway projects were always going to be the fastest (more on this in a minute). Broadband and mass transit projects were going to take several years to happen. They often require studies and approval processes meant to make sure that the most worthy projects got through. For instance, AMTRAK service from New York City into Northeast Pennsylvania was one of the first projects that got pushed through, and it won’t be finished for years. It’s not uncommon for federal government projects that require state partnership to take years, Obamacare was passed in 2010 and didn’t become operational until 2014 for the public. Dodd-Frank was passed early in the Obama Administration and many of the new agencies (such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) weren’t created until 2011 and later. Government moves slow sometimes, so we can avoid waste and fraud. There’s also that other matter of Donald Trump taking office with two years left in the implementation of the Infrastructure Bill, and immediately freezing some projects and seeking clawbacks. Of course Josh Shapiro knows that’s how the Federal Government works, he’s a smart guy. The Broadband component of the bill that he talks about ran out of money at the end of 2024, but was expected to take longer to actually complete from the start. Now we have a President who doesn’t even want to do a lot of it. That’s a bigger reason why Governor Shapiro’s state hasn’t seen broadband yet than some sort of problem with Joe Biden.

Governor Shapiro wants to show himself as the symbol of impactful governance. He chose to lead off his re-election campaign with an ad about the I-95 bridge collapse and subsequent repair that all got done in a few short weeks. It was incredibly impressive, and he deserves credit for it. But… yeah, he didn’t do that alone. You see, when that bridge collapsed there was this guy, Pete Buttigieg, who was Secretary of Transportation, and that was an interstate highway, and so… yeah, he kind of showed up with big checks. Who did Pete Buttigieg work for? That would be President Joseph R. Biden, the guy who was apparently ineffective and asleep at the wheel. Or at least that’s the line now. Secretary Pete’s money was *the* reason everything could move so fast, and that bridge repair was done in 12 days. Without that money, it really would have taken months to re-open. The Biden-Harris Administration got that done. Now it’s literally being used as a contrast to them.

I find the early jockeying between both Shapiro and Harris to be off-putting. We all know that political campaigns are full of hypocrisy, and I certainly don’t blame the Governor for trying to carve out his own lane. With all of that said, let’s try and be just a little bit honest when we do this? Like maybe 1%? I would never make the argument that the Biden Administration was 100% responsible for getting that bridge back up, let’s be honest, the state is more impactful at spending money, and they were here. But if we’re going to go with the “Biden sucked” argument to prop up quixotic 2028 ambitions for everyone, let’s at least be somewhat in reality.

Only a Psychopath Should Want to be Vice-President

/ Rich Wilkins / 1 Comment

I’ll go on record again- I think Josh Shapiro would have been a horrible pick to be Kamala Harris running mate. If they had selected him, they would have been swallowed whole with questions about Gaza and foreign policy. As with any VP pick, I find it questionable that he would have actually converted over any voters who didn’t vote for Harris, in Pennsylvania or elsewhere. This isn’t really a knock on Shapiro, I think we can say Tim Walz really didn’t add anything positive in the end either, and he was the selection. I find it questionable that J.D. Vance, Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Joe Biden, or Dick Cheney really moved the needle for their bosses, and they were all winning VP’s. Honestly, the selection is basically an albatross around the nominee’s neck under almost any circumstances, and most of them don’t even carry their home state for the nominee unless they were going to win it anyway. Shapiro would have been the same, which probably makes him no better or worse than anyone else she could have picked. I think Harris was going to eat a shit sandwich no matter what.

I think it’s obvious that the pot-shots both Harris and Shapiro have taken over the selection process for VP is entirely about 2028 primary politics. Now I also think they may genuinely dislike each other, which isn’t shocking to me, but we shouldn’t put a lot of real stock in what either says. She wants people to view him as a self-absorbed, overly ambitious white man and he wants to paint her as anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli. Well, both probably succeeded with some people, though I find both kind of silly. If anything, both are making Gavin Newsom and J.B. Pritzker look like good options.

I’ve said this for a long time, and I think Donald Trump has proven it- it’s easier to get nominated for President than for Vice-President. Voters can decide what they care about from your baggage, but when you are considered for Vice-President, one person gets to judge your baggage. That person’s team gets to comb through your life and probe anything they want- and often all they are trying to do is see how you’ll react to being exposed, attacked, and prodded. They asked Shapiro about his connections to Israel, they asked Walz about his connections to China, God only knows what they asked Mark Kelly about. In 2020, Karen Bass was called a communist sympathizer in the press during the selection process, for a job she didn’t end up getting, and didn’t even end up with a cabinet job as a consolation. Is that worth it? I would say no.

If Vice-Presidents were picked in some other way, it would actually be a pretty good job. Your entire job entails breaking ties in the Senate and going out in public and selling the administration’s initiatives. You live in a great house at the Naval Observatory, you have a motorcade everywhere, and you have the top clearance in the government. It’s a great job. Getting there sucks. Frankly, it’s not worth the trouble. If I were interested in running for office, I wouldn’t bother with the Vice-Presidency. Is it worth all of this noise? No, just run for President at that point. If you’re going to take the beating, you might as well take it with a much more forgiving audience where you can make your own case. But I’m not psychotic enough to run for either right now.

I Can’t Imagine Being This Dumb

/ Rich Wilkins / 1 Comment

Let me start by saying I won’t be voting for Stacy Garrity and I have a fairly nuanced view of AI and data centers (I’m not outright opposed at all). If I were running against Governor Josh Shapiro though, at least some of my campaign would be noting his efforts to put public money into developing data centers and his approval of the public’s water use for their operations- those things are generally not popular with the “normie public,” and particularly with more activist liberals. It would seem to make sense to make him sweat over looking like he’s in bed with some rich donors at the expense of the public, even though I’d be really careful not to make it sound like I’ll end the data center boom (it’s jobs, baby).

Clearly though, I’m not Stacy Garrity.

“Forty-eight of our 67 counties in Pennsylvania are rural, so there are a lot of areas where you can put data centers that I think communities would welcome,” Garrity, 61, told a room full of reporters, think tank organizers and lobbyists in Harrisburg.

“But you have to engage with them,” she continued, referencing voters. “You have to talk to them. You can’t just jam it down their throats.”

Her answer came in response to a question, submitted during the Pennsylvania Press Club’s January luncheon, about how policymakers should address the widespread mistrust among voters toward data centers and AI.

An Emerson College poll last month found roughly 79% of Pennsylvanians think AI poses at least a “moderate threat” to humanity. Nearly half predicted that the technology would negatively impact the economy and the environment.

On data centers, Emerson researchers found voters were nearly evenly split: 38% of respondents said they support data centers being built in the commonwealth, while 35% opposed it and 27% were either neutral or had no opinion.

A majority of respondents (71%) said they were concerned about the amount of electricity that data centers draw from the grid.

Ok, so two points here. First, this isn’t popular. Just read the polls. Second, she’s not only suggesting we go on with it, she’s literally suggesting we put the data centers in all the places where Garrity is expected to win, and will need a lot of votes. This literally is like a soccer player kicking the ball into his own net.

Garrity has raised $1.5 million in five months and Governor Shapiro has $30 million in his account. This is nothing much more than a speed bump on his way to a 2028 run, and an audition for her to run statewide a second time in either 2028 or 2030. Even so, the one way to fail that audition is to make yourself not only a non-starter to the general public and people on the other side (like Mastriano), but to also make yourself a tough sell to the voters that you have to hand on your side (like Oz was). She has no chance of winning, but she’s actively Lynn Swann’ing herself here.

There is a lane to run against Shapiro in (and probably still lose, but still) where you criticize him for his cozy relationship with donors from two of his major initiatives as Governor (Data centers and school vouchers), but you have to avoid walking yourself into a hornet’s nest by saying you won’t allow data centers or some school reforms. Clearly Garrity knows she can’t thread that needle and so she’s just conceding the game. This race won’t be super competitive.

Temper, Temper…

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

Look, we all know that both Josh Shapiro and Kamala Harris have their eyes on the 2028 Presidential race. I don’t expect them to be friends, and far from me to sit here and tell people to be nice in a political race. So I’m kinda good with them going at it a bit. A bit is the key here. Sounds like she really pissed off the Governor.

During an interview with The Atlantic author, Shapiro’s demeanor clearly shifted when Alberta said that Harris had “taken some shots at him” in her book.

The writer shared with Shapiro that Harris had “accused him, in essence, of measuring the drapes, even inquiring about featuring Pennsylvania artists in the vice-presidential residence; of insisting ‘that he would want to be in the room for every decision’ Harris might make; and, more generally, of hijacking the conversation when she interviewed him for the job, to the point where she reminded him that he would not be co-president.”

His guard down, Shapiro blurted out about the art, “She wrote that in her book? That’s complete and utter bullshit.”

“I can tell you that her accounts are just blatant lies.”

He defended his actions during the interview with the former California attorney general who he had known for more than 20 years.

“I did ask a bunch of questions,” he told Alberta. “Wouldn’t you ask questions if someone was talking to you about forming a partnership and working together?”

Shapiro has a well-known reputation as ambitious. But Harris seemed to portray him in other ways – “selfish, petty, and monomaniacally ambitious.”

Asked if he felt betrayed by Harris, Shapiro dropped the gloves.

“I mean, she’s trying to sell books and cover her ass,” said to Alberta.

According to the author, there was a long pause.

“I shouldn’t say ‘cover her ass.’ I think that’s not appropriate,” Shapiro said. His tone was suddenly collected. “She’s trying to sell books. Period.”

Gosh damn, bro. I kind of appreciate the honesty, Shapiro was being honest when he said “cover her ass”- he thinks she didn’t run a great campaign, and I’m sure one of her bad decisions was picking Walz over him, in his eyes. Hey, he’s entitled to feel that, and maybe, just maybe, there’s some truth to that. He’s probably better off though having not been on the ticket, since they probably would have lost anyway. On the other hand, I mean he is hyper ambitious. I’m not saying that as though it makes him somehow worse than her, Walz, or anyone else at that level of politics. He’s always been ambitious and eyeing the next step though, since he reached the State House. Maybe nobody is lying here. “Utter bullshit” and “blatant lies” is pretty strong language from a guy who usually acts like he’s totally unbothered.

I don’t see how the Governor can get nominated, in no small part because I don’t see where he wins an early primary, whether we stay with South Carolina first or come to our senses and keep it in the opening four, but not first. He’s not winning South Carolina or Iowa, seriously. The question is though, is she? There’s a lot of goodwill towards her in the party, but do we really think things will be different in 2028? Is dumping on the people you didn’t pick for VP helping that?

Y’all know I like a good fight though.

Will Pennsylvania Finally Legalize Cannabis?

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

Back in the Spring, the PA House of Representatives passed House Bill 1200. It passed on a 102-101, party line vote. The PA Senate Law and Justice Committee then voted the bill down 3-7, with one member absent. Reportedly there is a new bill though that might just pass. Senate Chairman Daniel Laughlin is reportedly on board and has the support of all four Democrats on his committee. Reportedly there is a mirror bill sitting in the House that has bi-partisan sponsorship. If Senator Laughlin’s bill moves out of the committee and makes it to the State Senate floor, there is at least a decent chance that it will pass there. Then the House could consider the mirror bill and possibly advance this to either the Governor’s desk or a conference committee to iron out any differences.

I don’t have the Laughlin bill’s text, but HB 1200 stated that it would do the following:

An Act providing for the regulation and treatment of cannabis, for exemption from criminal or civil penalties, for effect on cannabis convictions and expungements and for membership and duties of the Liquor Control Board; establishing Pennsylvania Cannabis Stores; providing for social and economic equity, for license, permit or other authorization, for packaging, labeling, advertising and testing, for recordkeeping and inspection, for prohibitions and penalties and for tax and tax administration; establishing the Cannabis Revenue Fund, the Communities Reimagined and Reinvestment Restricted Account and the Substance Use Disorder Prevention, Treatment and Education Restricted Account; providing for the issuance of bonds; imposing duties on the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Revenue; and making repeals.

We are long, long past time to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana. Everyone from high school kids to retirees uses marijuana. New Jersey and New York legalized it and have stores literally sitting on our borders. Our citizens are going into their states and buying marijuana, and the tax dollars on the sale are going to their public education systems, to help their senior citizens, and to replace their roads and bridges. We should be getting a piece of that pie for ourselves.

Reportedly, Mike Tyson is out in Harrisburg lobbying the State Senate for the bill. It could pass the State Senate as soon as this week. Governor Shapiro has been supportive of legalization and the things we could do with that money. It’s time for Harrisburg to act.

It’s Time for Governor Shapiro to Figuratively Punch the Pennsylvania Senate in the Face

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

In theory, the law is that the General Assembly shall pass a budget, and the Governor shall sign it by June 30th. That almost never happens cleanly. Usually though, the legislature stays in session and at least pretends they’re working/negotiating. Like you at least have some level of shame when you don’t do your job, right? That’s natural. In 2025, that’s no longer a thing. The State Senate left town in June and just decided to not come back to work ever again, basically.

Now, I’m going to be fair for a second. I actually agreed with them back in May and June- how the hell do you pass a budget when you have no idea how much the Federal Government is going to give you? Between DOGE and the “Big Beautiful Bill” it was fair to say there was too much uncertainty. Based on the lack of actual partisan noise at the time, I think even the House Democratic Majority realized this. It was close to impossible to plan a year’s worth of spending when there was so much chaos. Granted, most of the State Senate Republican Majority were vocal supporters of Trump, so their complaints here are ironic. Just because they were hypocrites didn’t make them wrong though.

That time has passed. Governor Shapiro gave everyone time to figure out what was going on. Republicans passed their “Big Beautiful” pile of shit in Washington. Sure, some things can change at the margins going forward, but not so badly that you don’t move forward. Given that we’re now a quarter of the way into the budget year, the legislature could fund the last nine months with basic certainty. They just won’t.

So here’s the thing, the Governor and local officials of both parties did a nice job across Pennsylvania preventing the pain from hitting the general public. Schools opened, road projects continued, the hospitals received their Medicaid money, and so on. Counties continued providing services. You can only bleed so much blood from a stone. If you only have $100, all the magic tricks in the world don’t turn that into $110. The Feds are sending less money to counties, schools, and municipalities. The state is running out of legal authority to send any money to them either, because there’s no budget. Why should you give a shit? Safe Harbor in Easton, who cares for a large chunk of our local homeless population, announced the county is out of money to provide them to provide the services. Northampton County announced they would furlough human services employees at the end of the month. They’re out of money. If that doesn’t hit home enough for you, I think Bernie O’Hare explained it fairly plainly:

NorCo’s Human Services Department investigates allegations of abuse and neglect aimed at our children and elderly, the most vulnerable members of society. It provides a wide variety of services to individuals who have mental health issues. It provides services, usually through vendors, aimed at the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug abuse. It also helps veterans and their dependents. 

The state funds between 80-90% of the salaries of these workers. But since the state budget impasse on June 30, the county has been paying these salaries on its own. McClure estimates that the county has spent $8-12 million so far and estimates that figure might be as high as $20 million by the end of October.

So basically, everybody who desperately needs help will stop getting it. Kids, old people, and mentally unhealthy people will be left to fend for themselves. The State Senate’s response? Take a long Summer vacation. This is serious stuff, but they’re treating it like nothing. Meanwhile, their ally running for Lehigh County Executive just thinks he’ll “get his money,” but honestly he’s just too stupid to handle this stuff. We’re heading towards a societal disaster in Pennsylvania. I realize some people like to say they’d rather live in Mississippi or Iowa than California, but are you really ready to put that to practice?

It’s time to punch back. This irresponsibility is going to cost lives. As someone who now lives about a half step from ruin, this hits home to me. People often ask what Democrats do for them- this is a good time to show them. I actually think he went a bit mild here, but McClure did get this right:

“Republicans in the State Senate have failed the people of Pennsylvania by refusing to pass a budget,” said McClure. “For three months, their dysfunction has left counties like Northampton footing the bill, costing us millions of dollars just to keep essential services going. … This is unacceptable. They must do their job, pass a budget, and stop punishing taxpayers and seniors alike.”

While I appreciate McClure and any other Democrat making this case, let’s be honest, County Executives and Congressional candidates are not the loudest voices in the room. All they can do is make their case the best they can. Those voices would be Governor Shapiro and Senator Fetterman, and we already know Senator Fetterman will let us down. Governor Shapiro is doing a great job running the government of Pennsylvania and deserves to be re-elected for that. We now need him to raise his voice though and maybe take an unsafe political stand. Him barnstorming the state and even national media and making the case that the State Senate Republicans are literally going to get people killed to have their extra long vacation would put the pressure needed in the very small number of swing districts left in the Senate. People who want to be national politicians need to know how to fight when it’s time. For Governor Shapiro, it is time. He has certainly made the case against the Senate GOP so far, but he needs to scorch the earth. The time has come.

Ok Kamala, You Have Me Laughing

/ Rich Wilkins / 2 Comments

Ok, I have to admit that when I first heard about Kamala Harris new book, I was annoyed. All of the early descriptions made it sound like she was ripping President Biden for running. She did go further than I liked, but she clearly wasn’t actually criticizing him.

So now we’re getting more and more from it. Don’t over read into what I’m going to post, but I was cracking up when I read it.

Harris described Shapiro, one of three finalists for the post, as “poised, polished and personable.” But she was put off by his ambition — and his request to be in the room for every major decision — and worried he would not settle for the number-two job.

Harris twice describes Shapiro as “peppering” her and staff with questions, not just about details of the job but also life as vice president. He asked the residence manager a number of questions about the home, ranging from the number of bedrooms to “how he might arrange to get Pennsylvania artists’ work on loan from the Smithsonian.”

She also accused Shapiro of exhibiting a “lack of discretion” in the veepstakes, recalling that his official vehicles with Pennsylvania plates were filmed by CNN in front of the vice president’s residence, despite efforts by her staff to arrange for less attention-getting transportation.

Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for Shapiro, pushed back on the governor’s portrayal.

“It’s simply ridiculous to suggest that Governor Shapiro was focused on anything other than defeating Donald Trump and protecting Pennsylvania from the chaos we are living through now,” Bonder said in a statement. “The Governor campaigned tirelessly for the Harris-Walz ticket — and as he has made clear, the conclusion of this process was a deeply personal decision for both him and the Vice President.”

I could’ve called this in like 2008. The Deputy Speaker of the Pennsylvania House in 2007-2008 hasn’t changed a bit. Which doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be President, by the way. It just gave me a good laugh.