Time to Veto Tom Wolf
February 20, 2021
We're fast approaching marking a full year into the "two weeks to flatten the curve" nonsense of Tom Wolf's data-free edicts, mandates, and lockdowns. Just this past week, Wolf renewed – for the fourth time – the disaster emergency he declared on March 6, 2020 in an attempt to respond to COVID-19.
Never mind that such disaster emergencies were designed to deal with floods, tornadoes, blizzards, and industrial accidents – not a virus. And never mind that his administration has bungled just about every aspect of the official response – from not properly protecting the vulnerable in nursing homes, to secretive decisions on which businesses can remain open and which can't, to not properly planning for an orderly rollout of the experimental vaccines.
Rarely have I ever witnessed a man so obtuse that after spending the last year ruining your business or livelihood, he would then turn around and suggest that you need to pay more in taxes as a result to help pay for all those state workers who are not at work, but at home, until this coming June. Is it any wonder we're still hearing from Pennsylvanians who haven't received a single dime in the unemployment benefits they are entitled to?
Add to all this the horrific manner in which Wolf's Department of State mishandled the 2020 General Election and the unconscionable failure to properly advertise a constitutional amendment many Pennsylvanians were relying on in hopes of obtaining justice, and you just have to wonder whether Wolf has any clue what he's doing at all. (Sidebar: Was Kathy Boockvar's resignation as Secretary of the Commonwealth following the revelation of the advertising blunder just an easy excuse to get rid of the one person responsible for so much criticism of the election debacle?)
All in all, this has been a year of utter hell for most Pennsylvanians. However, I write to bring you some hope. On May 18, you will have the opportunity to veto Tom Wolf's emergency powers. It won't be the end to all our troubles, but it will make for a good start.
Because the General Assembly has successfully passed Senate Bill 2, there will be two constitutional amendments on the May 18 ballot so YOU can decide if Wolf's emergency authority can be reined in more readily.
The first would change the constitution to require that any disaster emergency declared by the governor be agreed to by the General Assembly within 21 days. If the General Assembly doesn't agree within 21 days, the disaster emergency is terminated and the governor cannot declare another addressing the same circumstances. This would be far better than the current situation, where a governor can unilaterally declare a disaster emergency and renew it after 90 days with no legislative input. No more endless dictatorial powers.
The second would allow a concurrent resolution to terminate a disaster emergency – such as my HR836 from last year – to take effect without it needing to be presented to the governor for approval. You may recall the Herculean effort we made to pass HR836 last year, only to have our illustrious state Supreme Court rule that it wasn't good enough. In their minds, terminating a disaster emergency should require more legislative support (2/3 majority in both the House and Senate) than an actual impeachment and removal of a governor (simple majority in the House and 2/3 majority in the Senate).
As stated previously, the voters approving these two constitutional amendments won't be the be-all and end-all to our troubles here in Pennsylvania - that may only occur when we elect a common sense Republican governor in 2022 – but it's a great first step in reining in Tom Wolf and his bumbling crew of political lackeys.
I've heard many people say they will never vote again after what happened in the last election, but I implore you to not give up. We need every Pennsylvanian to get out and vote to approve these constitutional amendments on May 18. If we don't stay engaged, we'll end up forfeiting ALL our rights to the those on the left who think they know what's best for you and your family.
I, for one, am very much looking forward to casting my votes to veto Tom Wolf. I hope you join me, and help spread the word by SHARING this post with your friends, family, groups, email list, and anywhere else you think might be useful in helping to get the word out.
