It started as a tax on drinks going down the gullet. Now some are trying to pour it down the drain.

Allegheny County Councilman Charles P. McCullough on Tuesday will propose halving the county’s 10 percent tax by July 1 and eliminating it by Jan. 1.

McCullough, R-Upper St. Clair, said the county could net extra money to help fund Port Authority operations by downsizing government, reviewing user fees and stopping investment at Pittsburgh International Airport.

Without the $27 million local match Port Authority receives from the county, the transit agency would lose out on $183 million in state funds.
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The answer ranges from “some” to “not much.” There is not necessarily any carryover between this race and next year’s mayoral contest, but the fact that Obama won Pittsburgh but lost Allegheny County should tell us something, no?

On the other hand, this presidential primary is in many ways unique, with no likely carryover. College students helped make Tuesday’s turnout about 20,000 voters more than the November 2007 mayoral election’s. Even if many of these newly galvanized voters gave a rip who Pittsburgh’s mayor is, many dorms will be cleared out by the time next May’s primary rolls around.

That said, Mr. Peduto thinks this kind of coalition could swing the mayor’s race.  read more »

In other Pittsburgh legal news…..

Former Pittsburgh Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle could be out of state prison by September.

Carlisle, who was sentenced in February to one to two years behind bars, is being considered for a halfway house program, the state Department of Corrections indicated in letters to Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. and Common Pleas Judge John A. Zottola.

The letters were dated March 12 — two days after Carlisle, 49, of Homewood started her state prison sentence.

After more than a year of talking about it, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato yesterday announced a plan to merge the city and county under one government, calling it a “significant and bold” step for the region.

The plan was formally set in motion in October 2006 when both leaders asked University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and a 13-member committee to study the two governments and the results of such mergers elsewhere.  read more »

First, my own comments. Whatever one thinks of HRC, it’s to her credit that she, as her husband did last year, is able to walk into the lion’s den and begin to turn the opinion of a man who has done more to harrass the Clintons and all stripe of Democrat, liberal and progressive and who is the founder of rw think tanks and yappers which have blocked progressive policies for years.
Before bashing HRC, think about it. If we want more civility in politics, it’s imperative to co-opt people like Scaife. We will see if Barack Obama takes Scaife’s invitation to meet with the Trib editorial board and builds on what HRC started.  read more »

I know we spend our share of time criticizing the state legislature, but this bill makes a lot of sense.

The (Ravenstahl) endorsement came just before a morning hearing of the state House Local Government Committee in Council Chamber at which Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Northampton, outlined legislation to shift revenue from the Johnstown Flood Tax, an 18 percent levy on state liquor store sales enacted after the 1936 deluge.

“We think it’s an innovative approach to a well-known, long-standing problem,” said city Finance Director Scott Kunka.

Mr. Freeman said he wants to move the bill out of committee within months, after tweaking the formula for awarding the aid.  read more »

Karl Rove suspects some members of the sold-out crowd coming to see him tonight at the University of Pittsburgh might only be interested in seeing if he has horns and a tail.

“I always get the occasional lunatic ranting and raving, but most people want to hear what I have to say and want to ask questions,” the former deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to President George W. Bush said Sunday. “That is when we get engaged in a dialogue about things they want to know about, like the war, terrorist surveillance, tax cuts and the future of our economy.”

For now, Joseph Rudolph can display a sign supporting Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential run on his front lawn in South Park. Whether it will be allowed to stay there will be decided in U.S. District Court.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit on Dr. Rudolph’s behalf yesterday in the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, challenging a section of South Park’s code that restricts the display of political signs in the township to 30 days before an election. That would mean Dr. Rudolph couldn’t put up his sign until March 23, in advance of Pennsylvania’s April 22 primaries.  read more »