PTCC Update - Your help is needed NOW!

03 February 2010


Dear Friends,

It’s been a while since the last PTCC Update because there hasn’t been much to report. The Pennsylvania legislature has met for only a few days since November; their only significant accomplishments have been the legalization of table games in the state’s casinos (which will give us NO property tax relief) and a bill passed by the House but not yet ratified in the Senate to ban handheld cell phone use while driving. There has been no action on property taxes and the School Property Tax Elimination Act is still languishing in the Finance Committee.

The House is in disarray right now because of Bonusgate and internal squabbles, so don’t expect much to happen soon. Hopefully that will change later this year as the election approaches and the politicians up for re-election will drag out their usual stale promises for property tax “relief” in an attempt to again deceive the voters in November. If we’re fortunate they will actually bring bills to the floor for consideration and the School Property Tax Elimination Act will be among them.

It is almost certain that there will be more pre-election shenanigans this year, so view with a wary eye any politician who is up for re-election and who brags about their property tax relief plan.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Getting Sam Rohrer elected governor of Pennsylvania is probably the most important election I've ever been involved in, in my lifetime.” – Vic Lawson of the Bradford County Concerned Citizens

The last PTCC Update in November announced the PTCC’s endorsement of State Representative Sam Rohrer for Governor. Shortly after that announcement our thirty-six group statewide umbrella organization, the Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations (PCTA), also gave their endorsement to Representative Rohrer.

As you may remember from the update, the endorsement was given because of Representative Rohrer’s ongoing long-term effort to eliminate school property taxes through his School Property Tax Elimination Act, the legislation supported by the PTCC and PCTA. Continuing his commitment to this issue, school property tax elimination is one of the five main planks of Representative Rohrer’s platform in his candidacy for Governor. His election may be our single best opportunity to achieve our goal of eliminating this onerous tax.

Representative Rohrer will need the support of all PTCC subscribers if he is to prevail. Today I’m going to offer a few suggestions on how you can help his candidacy and finally achieve school property tax elimination with his election.

- The simplest thing you can do is to spread the word about our efforts by forwarding this email to everyone in your Pennsylvania email address book and by asking your friends, neighbors and family to support Sam.

- If you’re a Facebook member, please join Sam’s Facebook page. It will help!

- Visit Sam’s campaign site, read about his goals as Governor, sign up for email newsletters, and volunteer to help with the campaign. There are many volunteer opportunities available from the very simple, such as displaying a bumper sticker, to the more ambitious, like circulating a nominating petition or working a phone bank. If you are able, please strongly consider donating whatever amount you can afford, large or small, to Sam’s candidacy. Sam is fighting for the nomination against the candidate anointed by the party machine and grassroots donations are a very important part of the campaign. Details on all of the items above are available at www.samrohrer.org.

- Attend the “Mobilize for Liberty 2010” event in Harrisburg on Saturday, February 13. In addition to showing support for Sam, this grassroots action conference will give great advice on how to make your voice heard in the race for Governor. A large number of grassroots activists from across the state have already registered, including more than twenty leaders and members of PCTA affiliated groups. It promises to be a very exciting day, so please attend if you can and join me and many others who are working for the cause. Speakers include: Representative Sam Rohrer, Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher - "Joe the Plumber", R.J. Harris - WHP 580, Gary Sutton - WSBA 910, and more. Registration is $25 but scholarships are available if you can’t afford the fee. Details and a link to the on-line registration page are here: http://www.samrohrer.org/mobilize

- Finally, one huge request. As you read it, please keep in mind that this has nothing to do with favoring any political party but, instead, is to help the only gubernatorial candidate who has sworn to help us reach our goal. In the six years since the PTCC was founded I have always attempted to remain objective and strictly non-partisan and this is the only time I have ever made a request like the one below.

Shortly after the PTCC’s endorsement announcement I received this e-mail from a subscriber: “Sam's biggest challenge will be the Republican primary. I urge you to call on all of our members to change their registration to Republican if they are not already. That is the only way they will be able to help Sam compete in the Republican primary and if he doesn't get past the primary it's game over. If we can help him win the primary he will be in a much more recognized spot to get his message out for the general election. Regardless of our own personal politics, we must all register or change to Republican simply to be able to vote for Sam in the primary. This is too important not to push.”

This suggestion is not without precedent. In early 2008 many non-Democrats switched their registration to Democrat to have a voice in the Barack Obama – Hillary Clinton primary election and then reverted to their original registration after the election.

If you are not a registered Republican, the PTCC respectfully requests that you consider changing your registration to Republican for the May 18, 2010, primary election so you may vote for Representative Rohrer and then change back to your original registration after the primary election if you so choose.

If you are not a registered Republican, a write-in vote on your party’s ballot WILL NOT be counted towards Representative Rohrer’s nomination for the November general election. You MUST vote as a registered Republican to support Representative Rohrer’s candidacy.

There is a graphic link in the right column of the PTCC home page (www.ptcc.us) titled “VOTE. Register to vote or change your party affiliation”. Click that link to go to the page that has a downloadable voter registration application. Simply download, print, enter the required information and send it to your county’s voter registration office – the addresses are on the form. The application must be received by your county's voter registration office before April 16, 2010, to be effective for the May, 2010, primary election.

The May primary election is crucial to our efforts, so please seriously consider this request to help achieve our goal of school property tax elimination. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Please feel free to write at any time with questions or concerns.

My gratitude goes out to all of you for your loyalty and ongoing support. I simply don’t have the words to tell you how much you are valued. Thank you.


David Baldinger
PTCC Administrator