Your help is needed to increase awareness of the property tax elimination solution. You can spread the word about HB 1275, the School Property Tax Elimination Act. Download, print, and distribute copies of the single page "SPTEA Quick Facts" handout to everyone you know. The PDF file is available here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
PTCC Update
13 September 2010
Dear Friends,
There’s been very little news to report since the last PTCC Update in May but with the November general election approaching it’s time to get back to the business of property tax elimination. Today’s update will be a compilation of short news briefs and action items about the property tax issue.
Unfortunately, we lost our best chance of a fast track to the enactment of the School Property Tax Elimination Act (SPTEA) with Representative Sam Rohrer’s defeat in the May gubernatorial primary election. My thanks go out to all of you who worked so hard on Sam’s campaign and to those who voted for him. Despite Sam’s loss we will continue to pursue new and already-established methods of support for the SPTEA and will need your ongoing help if we are to succeed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SPTEA 2011 Reintroduction
Jim Cox, Sam Rohrer’s former Chief of Staff, a contributing writer of the SPTEA, and now a second term State Representative from the 129th Legislative District has pledged to reintroduce the SPTEA shortly after he takes office in January. Jim, like Sam, is a strong supporter of school property tax elimination and will wage the battle with the same vigor as Sam. We are excited to have Jim continue Sam’s work for the benefit of Pennsylvania’s homeowners.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hold Their Feet To The Fire!
By now I’m sure that you’ve all seen your Act 1 property tax relief from gambling money for 2010. In many instances the “relief” was less than in 2009, and you shouldn’t hold out hope to see this improve in the future. Act 1 was a fraud perpetrated on Pennsylvania homeowners to curry favor with the gambling interests and we will continue to see such bogus schemes until we join together to hold lawmakers’ feet to the fire and throw out any incumbents who refuse to support total property tax elimination.
In that regard, the PCTA has had a great deal of success during the past few months in recruiting House and Senate candidates from both parties to the cause. The PCTA will be identifying these candidates in a voter’s guide that will be issued shortly before the November election.
In the meantime, it is imperative that you contact your Representative before the election to let him or her know that you will settle for nothing less than their total support for the School Property Tax Elimination Act and that you will vote against them if they have an opponent in November and do not comply with your demands. For those Representatives who prefer to play politics and respond with valueless excuses, please remember that there are NO excuses – the SPTEA has been vetted and absolutely works as written. Stand firm if they refuse to support the SPTEA!
You can find your legislator's contact information by Zip+4 here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The New Governor’s Support?
Over the summer two PCTA group leaders and I had ninety minute private meetings with each of the two major gubernatorial candidates, Tom Corbett and Dan Onorato, to discuss the SPTEA and to ask for their support. We explained the urgency of the property tax problem, the provisions and mechanism of the SPTEA, the economic benefits of the plan and the political advantages of their support for this legislation. Both candidates for Governor asked pertinent questions and indicated interest in the SPTEA.
Unfortunately, neither candidate has yet publicly committed to championing the SPTEA. The closest either candidate has come to endorsing the plan was a statement by Dan Onorato at a few public meetings where he said that he supports school property tax elimination and that “there is a bill in the Legislature to accomplish this.” Mr. Onorato did not cross the line to specifically mention the SPTEA but we’re hopeful that he or Mr. Corbett may do so during their campaigns.
It would be a huge help if all of you would take the time to contact the gubernatorial candidates’ campaigns to express your wishes regarding their support of the School Property Tax Elimination Act. The PTCC Updates have a very large circulation and if everyone who reads this takes a few minutes to participate we can flood the candidates’ inboxes and really get their attention!
The Tom Corbett for Governor campaign contact page is here.
The Dan Onorato for Governor campaign contact page is here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Critical Issue
On August 30, the day before the due date for school property taxes, I spoke with several tax collectors about this year’s revenue; all told me that collections for the year are running well behind last year. This could be due to many factors but the most likely are downward reassessments, particularly for businesses, increased property taxes in many districts, and the inability of taxpayers to accrue sufficient funds to pay their taxes during the rebate period. The tax collectors also told me about the unusually large number of people who complained to them that they have had to take out reverse mortgages to pay their taxes, a disgraceful situation.
The property tax crisis is quickly worsening and will soon be beyond the ability to correct the problem with the SPTEA or any other true elimination plan.
Broadening the base of the sales tax, the main funding mechanism in the School Property Tax Elimination Act, is currently sufficient to replace all homestead/farmstead school property taxes in Pennsylvania. But without cost controls to limit annual property tax increases it will take only two to three more years of rising taxes to outstrip the ability of the SPTEA to fully replace those taxes.
The situation is critical and must be corrected NOW! This is why I requested above that you get tough with the November candidates for State House, Senate, and Governor, and demand that they support the SPTEA or vote them out of office. We have no more time to waste on special interests, petty politics and lame excuses. Please help!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Final Notes
The momentum is building! The PCTA will likely gain four more taxpayer advocacy groups for the statewide coalition over the next few weeks as the property tax situation worsens. Adams, Cumberland, and Perry Counties are all suffering through botched reassessments this year and folks from many other areas are extremely disturbed by school property tax increases. These good people are becoming activists and are working do what is necessary to end the property tax crisis. I’ll pass along information on these groups when they’ve officially become PCTA members. If you’d like to start a group in your area, please write to me. The PCTA member groups will be pleased to help you get things rolling.
***
I’ll be presenting the SPTEA at three town meetings in September and all of you are invited to attend to learn more about the plan and to show your support. Hope to see you there!
- Thursday Sep. 16, 7:00 PM, Bernville Fire Company, Bernville (Berks County), sponsored by the Community School Watch of Tulpehocken
- Wednesday Sep. 22, 7:00 PM, Christiana Firehouse, Christiana (Lancaster County), Sponsored by CLASTA
- Wednesday Sep. 29, 6:30 PM, Quakertown Community Library, Quakertown (Bucks County), sponsored by the Upper Bucks Taxpayers Action Group
***
That’s all for today. As usual, thank you very much for your perseverance and ongoing support. Your help is sincerely and gratefully appreciated.
David Baldinger
PTCC Administrator
www.ptcc.us
pataxpayers@gmail.com
Dear Friends,
There’s been very little news to report since the last PTCC Update in May but with the November general election approaching it’s time to get back to the business of property tax elimination. Today’s update will be a compilation of short news briefs and action items about the property tax issue.
Unfortunately, we lost our best chance of a fast track to the enactment of the School Property Tax Elimination Act (SPTEA) with Representative Sam Rohrer’s defeat in the May gubernatorial primary election. My thanks go out to all of you who worked so hard on Sam’s campaign and to those who voted for him. Despite Sam’s loss we will continue to pursue new and already-established methods of support for the SPTEA and will need your ongoing help if we are to succeed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SPTEA 2011 Reintroduction
Jim Cox, Sam Rohrer’s former Chief of Staff, a contributing writer of the SPTEA, and now a second term State Representative from the 129th Legislative District has pledged to reintroduce the SPTEA shortly after he takes office in January. Jim, like Sam, is a strong supporter of school property tax elimination and will wage the battle with the same vigor as Sam. We are excited to have Jim continue Sam’s work for the benefit of Pennsylvania’s homeowners.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hold Their Feet To The Fire!
By now I’m sure that you’ve all seen your Act 1 property tax relief from gambling money for 2010. In many instances the “relief” was less than in 2009, and you shouldn’t hold out hope to see this improve in the future. Act 1 was a fraud perpetrated on Pennsylvania homeowners to curry favor with the gambling interests and we will continue to see such bogus schemes until we join together to hold lawmakers’ feet to the fire and throw out any incumbents who refuse to support total property tax elimination.
In that regard, the PCTA has had a great deal of success during the past few months in recruiting House and Senate candidates from both parties to the cause. The PCTA will be identifying these candidates in a voter’s guide that will be issued shortly before the November election.
In the meantime, it is imperative that you contact your Representative before the election to let him or her know that you will settle for nothing less than their total support for the School Property Tax Elimination Act and that you will vote against them if they have an opponent in November and do not comply with your demands. For those Representatives who prefer to play politics and respond with valueless excuses, please remember that there are NO excuses – the SPTEA has been vetted and absolutely works as written. Stand firm if they refuse to support the SPTEA!
You can find your legislator's contact information by Zip+4 here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The New Governor’s Support?
Over the summer two PCTA group leaders and I had ninety minute private meetings with each of the two major gubernatorial candidates, Tom Corbett and Dan Onorato, to discuss the SPTEA and to ask for their support. We explained the urgency of the property tax problem, the provisions and mechanism of the SPTEA, the economic benefits of the plan and the political advantages of their support for this legislation. Both candidates for Governor asked pertinent questions and indicated interest in the SPTEA.
Unfortunately, neither candidate has yet publicly committed to championing the SPTEA. The closest either candidate has come to endorsing the plan was a statement by Dan Onorato at a few public meetings where he said that he supports school property tax elimination and that “there is a bill in the Legislature to accomplish this.” Mr. Onorato did not cross the line to specifically mention the SPTEA but we’re hopeful that he or Mr. Corbett may do so during their campaigns.
It would be a huge help if all of you would take the time to contact the gubernatorial candidates’ campaigns to express your wishes regarding their support of the School Property Tax Elimination Act. The PTCC Updates have a very large circulation and if everyone who reads this takes a few minutes to participate we can flood the candidates’ inboxes and really get their attention!
The Tom Corbett for Governor campaign contact page is here.
The Dan Onorato for Governor campaign contact page is here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Critical Issue
On August 30, the day before the due date for school property taxes, I spoke with several tax collectors about this year’s revenue; all told me that collections for the year are running well behind last year. This could be due to many factors but the most likely are downward reassessments, particularly for businesses, increased property taxes in many districts, and the inability of taxpayers to accrue sufficient funds to pay their taxes during the rebate period. The tax collectors also told me about the unusually large number of people who complained to them that they have had to take out reverse mortgages to pay their taxes, a disgraceful situation.
The property tax crisis is quickly worsening and will soon be beyond the ability to correct the problem with the SPTEA or any other true elimination plan.
Broadening the base of the sales tax, the main funding mechanism in the School Property Tax Elimination Act, is currently sufficient to replace all homestead/farmstead school property taxes in Pennsylvania. But without cost controls to limit annual property tax increases it will take only two to three more years of rising taxes to outstrip the ability of the SPTEA to fully replace those taxes.
The situation is critical and must be corrected NOW! This is why I requested above that you get tough with the November candidates for State House, Senate, and Governor, and demand that they support the SPTEA or vote them out of office. We have no more time to waste on special interests, petty politics and lame excuses. Please help!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Final Notes
The momentum is building! The PCTA will likely gain four more taxpayer advocacy groups for the statewide coalition over the next few weeks as the property tax situation worsens. Adams, Cumberland, and Perry Counties are all suffering through botched reassessments this year and folks from many other areas are extremely disturbed by school property tax increases. These good people are becoming activists and are working do what is necessary to end the property tax crisis. I’ll pass along information on these groups when they’ve officially become PCTA members. If you’d like to start a group in your area, please write to me. The PCTA member groups will be pleased to help you get things rolling.
***
I’ll be presenting the SPTEA at three town meetings in September and all of you are invited to attend to learn more about the plan and to show your support. Hope to see you there!
- Thursday Sep. 16, 7:00 PM, Bernville Fire Company, Bernville (Berks County), sponsored by the Community School Watch of Tulpehocken
- Wednesday Sep. 22, 7:00 PM, Christiana Firehouse, Christiana (Lancaster County), Sponsored by CLASTA
- Wednesday Sep. 29, 6:30 PM, Quakertown Community Library, Quakertown (Bucks County), sponsored by the Upper Bucks Taxpayers Action Group
***
That’s all for today. As usual, thank you very much for your perseverance and ongoing support. Your help is sincerely and gratefully appreciated.
David Baldinger
PTCC Administrator
www.ptcc.us
pataxpayers@gmail.com
Help enact the SPTEA!
13 April 2010
Dear Friends,
Today’s update will be short and to the point.
As in the last PTCC Update, there is nothing new to report on the School Property Tax Elimination Act. The bill is still in the House Finance Committee and I doubt that we’ll see any action on property taxes prior to the election. After all, if the property tax problem was solved now the incumbents wouldn’t be able to make another hollow promise to “fix” the problem as part of their re-election campaign, would they?
This brings us back to the same Action Item as in the last update – the election of Sam Rohrer as Governor. Sam’s election is the single best chance we will have to accomplish the timely elimination of property taxes since he has been the driving force for this issue in the legislature and has made it a primary plank in his campaign platform. No other candidate for Governor has made this commitment and most have not addressed the issue in any manner whatsoever.
Here’s what you can do to help:
- Sam MUST win the primary election on May 18 to be on the ballot in November. If you are not a registered Republican, the PTCC respectfully requests that you either register to vote if you are not already registered or to consider changing your registration to Republican for the May 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.
There is a graphic link in the right column of any PTCC page 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 this Friday, April 16, to be effective for the May primary election. If you haven’t done this and are willing, please do it NOW!
Within three days of making this request in the last PTCC Update, 92 people downloaded the voter registration application from the PTCC website! Here’s a big “Thank You” to all those who put party politics aside to help the cause.
- If you want to help further, please consider volunteering for Sam’s campaign. People are needed locally in many capacities and I’m sure that there’s a job that will suit you no matter how much or how little time you have available. You can find volunteer opportunities at http://www.samrohrer.org/volunteer.html.
- True to his convictions, Sam is not accepting campaign funding from any special interests or PACs so he will not be obligated to do favors for them and will be beholden only to the people who elect him. Because of this he is running a very lean campaign and can use all the monetary support you are able to give. While $100 donations are nice, Sam can use any amount you’re able to contribute even of it is only ten or twenty dollars. Please consider this – you can donate on-line at the Web address above.
- Finally, if you’re a Facebook subscriber please become a Sam Fan. Besides his main Facebook page there are other specialized Sam Fan pages that you can also join. Just do a Facebook search for “Sam Rohrer”.
That’s all for today. My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you who are working so hard to make property tax elimination a reality. You’re the best!
David Baldinger
PTCC Administrator
Dear Friends,
Today’s update will be short and to the point.
As in the last PTCC Update, there is nothing new to report on the School Property Tax Elimination Act. The bill is still in the House Finance Committee and I doubt that we’ll see any action on property taxes prior to the election. After all, if the property tax problem was solved now the incumbents wouldn’t be able to make another hollow promise to “fix” the problem as part of their re-election campaign, would they?
This brings us back to the same Action Item as in the last update – the election of Sam Rohrer as Governor. Sam’s election is the single best chance we will have to accomplish the timely elimination of property taxes since he has been the driving force for this issue in the legislature and has made it a primary plank in his campaign platform. No other candidate for Governor has made this commitment and most have not addressed the issue in any manner whatsoever.
Here’s what you can do to help:
- Sam MUST win the primary election on May 18 to be on the ballot in November. If you are not a registered Republican, the PTCC respectfully requests that you either register to vote if you are not already registered or to consider changing your registration to Republican for the May 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.
There is a graphic link in the right column of any PTCC page 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 this Friday, April 16, to be effective for the May primary election. If you haven’t done this and are willing, please do it NOW!
Within three days of making this request in the last PTCC Update, 92 people downloaded the voter registration application from the PTCC website! Here’s a big “Thank You” to all those who put party politics aside to help the cause.
- If you want to help further, please consider volunteering for Sam’s campaign. People are needed locally in many capacities and I’m sure that there’s a job that will suit you no matter how much or how little time you have available. You can find volunteer opportunities at http://www.samrohrer.org/volunteer.html.
- True to his convictions, Sam is not accepting campaign funding from any special interests or PACs so he will not be obligated to do favors for them and will be beholden only to the people who elect him. Because of this he is running a very lean campaign and can use all the monetary support you are able to give. While $100 donations are nice, Sam can use any amount you’re able to contribute even of it is only ten or twenty dollars. Please consider this – you can donate on-line at the Web address above.
- Finally, if you’re a Facebook subscriber please become a Sam Fan. Besides his main Facebook page there are other specialized Sam Fan pages that you can also join. Just do a Facebook search for “Sam Rohrer”.
That’s all for today. My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you who are working so hard to make property tax elimination a reality. You’re the best!
David Baldinger
PTCC Administrator
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
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
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