But now Cain is under criminal investigation and has begun cooperating with the U.S. Justice Department in its 139-count corruption indictment against Fumo, according to sources quoted in an Inquirer story yesterday.

Cain, 59, began cooperating with the investigators after he came under scrutiny for possible tax violations, the sources said. If he testifies against Fumo, Cain would be the first of the inner circle to give evidence against their mentor.  read more »

Yeah, good luck with that. Changing attitudes is not an easy thing to do…

Philadelphia City Hall. Outstanding customer service.

Those two phrases aren’t typically paired in a sentence – unless it’s said with a sarcastic laugh.

The Nutter administration would like to see that odd linkage become commonplace, instead of an oxymoron.

It will be an uphill climb. The ruling image of city workers tends to be the sign saying, at 3 p.m., “Be back after lunch.” It revolves around phrases such as, “That’s not my job; call this number,” or “Fill out this form and wait over there.”

Nonpartisan poll watchers will be posted throughout the First District today as Democratic voters choose among three candidates in the highly contentious race to replace State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo.

Justice Department officials also are on standby for possible trouble in the district, where passions have historically run high and could be exacerbated this year because of the longtime feud between Fumo and would-be successor John J. Dougherty.

And even though Fumo dropped out of the race because of his impending trial on federal corruption charges, he has remained a presence on the campaign trail.

Clinton has done a great job at picking up the John Edwards populist banner – talking about rebuilding infrastructure, keeping jobs in the US, etc. Problem is, many people don’t believe she’s telling the truth. Is she a populist, or merely playing one on TV?

Using the last of her spent voice at a rally, Clinton hailed the power of unions, pledged solidarity with the truck drivers, autoworkers, veterans and teachers, and promised that as president, she would not allow tax breaks “for any company that sends a single job out of Pennsylvania and overseas.”  read more »

Farnese’s prospects soared after that, not only because the incumbent was no longer a factor but also because so-called Fumocrats, to whom Dougherty is anathema, rallied around the 39-year-old Center City lawyer.

Since then, most of the brass-knuckle attacks in the campaign have involved Dougherty and Farnese, whose late grandfather was a school board president tied to Fumo.

Dougherty went all the way to the state Supreme Court to get Farnese’s name off the ballot because of irregularities in his nominating petitions, and he often draws attention to the Fumo camp’s support for Farnese, including behind-the-scenes lobbying by the senator himself.

Ok, this idea to have a debate and let the winner be the sole opponent to Johnny Doc is pretty darn silly.

THE TOP TWO aides to state Senate candidate Anne Dicker left her campaign over the weekend, following several days of intrigue over the possibility that she or attorney Larry Farnese would get out of the race.

Dicker said yesterday that she’d fired her campaign manager, Karim Olaechea, after a series of disagreements on the direction of her campaign – and a conversation with political consultant Larry Ceisler, an adviser to the third candidate in the Senate race, union leader John Dougherty.  read more »

Gov. Ed Rendell, in a request to be unveiled today, wants the Navy to turn over the entire Willow Grove Naval Air Station to the state.

The governor ‘‘will ask for the entirety,’‘ Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said Thursday. ‘‘But how we use it and how its use affects the community is part of what we’re willing to discuss.’‘

Rendell supports building a state-run homeland security hub at the Willow Grove base, which the Navy is leaving in 2011 as part of federal efforts to consolidate military installations.

In Center City, the $3 million home of the late novelist Pearl S. Buck was hit with a 28 percent tax hike.

Henry S. McNeil Jr., heir to the Tylenol fortune, was told his taxes were going up 108 percent on his $11 million Rittenhouse Square mansion.

On a somewhat humbler block, former City Councilman Angel Ortiz will see taxes go up 25 percent on his four-bedroom home in the Northern Liberties section.

Ortiz, who says he’ll appeal, wonders why he’s on the list, focused mainly on million-dollar houses in some of the city’s swankiest neighborhoods.

“Are they saying, ‘This guy is political, and we got to make an example of him’?” he asked.