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News...

John McCain was the only Senator who two weeks ago chose to skip a crucial vote on the future of clean energy in America -- dooming the measure to fail by just a single vote. This is a pattern with Senator McCain. On the League of Conservation Voters scorecard he received a 0 for missing the 15 most important environmental votes in 2007. McCain's score of 0 is lower than members of Congress who died last year.

PA Senator Casey, on the other hand, has a 100 score for environmental legislation in 2007.  Senator Clinton voted positively on all environmental legislation but missed 4 votes, which lowered her score to 73.  Senator Obama voted positively on all but one of the environmental bills and missed 4 votes for a score of 67.

Representative Joe Pitts (PA-16) hit a 4-term high of 10 on his LCV ratings. Pitts’ and McCain’s LCV scores expose the real record behind the rhetoric: a lifetime pattern of voting with polluters and special interests or ducking the important votes.

View Joe Pitts' record on the environment...

Pork-barrel Pitts
by Bruce Slater

Recently the New Era (Lancaster)  carried another accusation by Joe Pitts.  Like prior commentaries in this newspaper and others in Chester County, Mr. Pitts once again accuses the Democrats for all that goes wrong in Congress.  He repeats the same bottom line:  The Democrats are guilty again; the Democrats did it again; it is the fault of the Democrats that nothing gets done; it is the fault of the Democrats that spending is too high!

Does Mr. Pitts ever proof read or try remembering what his staff puts in front of him to sign?  Allocating fault along party lines is an old song.  The tune is getting tiresome. Read more...

Bruce Slater, Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania’s 16th Congressional District, hand-carried 135 nomination petitions to Pennsylvania’s filing office in Harrisburg on Monday, February 11th.  Slater overwhelmed the Department of State officials responsible for counting signatures by producing over 2700 signatures on his petitions which were collected in Lancaster, Chester, and Berks Counties.  Read more...

Sunday, Feb 10, 2008

Bruce Slater stepped forward last year to begin a long campaign to win the 16th Congressional seat for the U. S. House of Representatives.

In the last two congressional races, the Democrats' nominee was Lois Herr, now the party's executive director, who has a long Lancaster County pedigree through the pioneer Herr family.

Bruce is running for the 16th Congressional District against five-term Republican incumbent Joe Pitts, a daunting task for any Democrat.

Money is one of the daunting parts. Pitts had $175,900 on hand at the end of 2007, according to the Federal Election Commission. Slater had $8,390.

Slater said the election won't be won by money or experience: "It's going to be won by heart." Bruce made the comments at a meeting of the Lancaster County Democratic Women Association on Thursday, Feb. 7th.
Read more for Helen Adams' column in the Intelligencer Journal...

Thursday, Jan 31, 2008

Is the Surge Working?
by Bruce Slater

The surge is working according to Rep. Joe Pitts. Halleluiah!  Finally, after five years of the bumbling and incompetence of the Bush administration, an administration that Mr. Pitts so closely supports, they get one thing right.  

Morale is high because our troops are finally getting the support they should have had in the beginning. Meanwhile, morale here at home is sinking to all time lows. Skyrocketing fuel prices, stock market sinking, mortgage meltdowns, and health-care costs through the roof, assuming you can afford to have health insurance. Read more...

January 12, 2008

On Saturday, January 12, Bruce Slater and Greg Paulson spent time with the OxGrove Dems at their January Retreat held in West Grove, PA.  Bruce introduced himself and his platform in his run against Joe Pitts.  The OxGrove Dems are committed to a year of hard work despite the loss this year of their dear friend and mentor,  Marianne H. Russo. 

Click here to view more pictures from the retreat held at West Grove Meeting House on January 12th.

Monday, Oct 22, 2007

Postpartum Depression Bill Passes House
original source: Our Bodies, Ourselves

Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act, which encourages research on postpartum depression and a public awareness campaign, and authorizes $3 million to be appropriated for these purposes in 2008.

After passing the House on a 382-3 vote, it has been referred to the Senate's Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Three votes against the bill were supplied by Republican Representatives Broun (GA) and Flake (AZ), and Presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-TX).

An amendment was added to the bill prior to passage by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) adding abortion to the list of research topics which could receive some of the alloted funding, as follows:

It is the sense of Congress that the Director of the Institute may conduct a nationally representative longitudinal study (during the period of fiscal years 2008 through 2018) of the relative mental health consequences for women of resolving a pregnancy (intended and unintended) in various ways, including carrying the pregnancy to term and parenting the child, carrying the pregnancy to term and placing the child for adoption, miscarriage, and having an abortion. This study may assess the incidence, timing, magnitude, and duration of the immediate and long-term mental health consequences (positive or negative) of these pregnancy outcomes.

Pitts has previously introduced legislation, including a bill submitted earlier this year, focusing on mental health after abortion. "Post-abortion syndrome" is a common focus of anti-choice groups in their arguments that access to abortion harms women, despite evidence that women choosing abortion do not suffer disproportionately high rates of mental health issues. The New York Times published a lengthy examination of this topic earlier this year.

Monday, Oct 8, 2007
Questioning Pitts’ Vote
by Bruce Slater

Last week, 16 members of our state delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives voted YES to expand health care benefits for our nation’s children with the S-CHIP program.

Three members of our state delegation voted NO, and one of them was our own Rep. Joe Pitts. I understand Joe Pitts’ loyalty to our president, but I must question his motives after looking at his campaign financing.

According to the politically neutral Web site www.opensecrets.org, Pitts has received campaign contributions of more than $412,130 from health professionals, the pharmaceutical and health products industries, insurance companies and the hospital/nursing home industries.

We the people of the 16th Congressional District can no longer afford this kind of leadership offered by Mr. Pitts. But it is obvious the drug companies and the health care industries can.

Wednesday, Oct 3, 2007
One Father to Another
by Bill Adams, father of Brent Adams

Mr. President:

I do not write this letter to you as an American Citizen to the President of our country.  I write this letter to you simply as one father to another.  A father who is looking for the truth of what happened on 12/1/05 when my son, Brent A Adams a National Guardsman for 17 years with the 2/28th Combat Brigade based in Washington, PA, was killed in action.

On December 1, 2005 at approximately  6:30 PM that dreaded knock on the door came from two National Guardsmen who informed us of our son’s death in Ramadi,  Iraq.  We were told he was killed as he drove his Bradley vehicle over an IED in Ramadi.  We were struck by grief so deep and wide that it can only be understood by someone who has experienced it for themselves.  So when my wife and I watched the news the following day,  we drawn to the report of action in Ramadi  showing  a video shot by the insurgents on the streets of the city on 12/1/05. It showed them having free reign, firing an RPG, as well other hand held weapons.  We sat in shock as we watched and thought that possibly this was some of the action that Brent was killed in.  But, we were totally confused when immediately after viewing the video, Major General Rich Lynch appeared and strongly disputed reports of widespread insurgent attacks in Ramadi on Thursday.  He said there were no Americans killed in Ramadi, Iraq on Thursday, December 1st and the video we had just seen was a propaganda video made by the insurgents.  He said one attack, involving a rocket-propelled grenade occurred Thursday and that it caused no damage or casualities.  For an instant we had a fleeting hope that possibly he was right and our son wasn’t killed, some sort of mistake had happened.  But deep in our hearts we knew that this wasn’t the case. Read more...

Monday, Sept 10, 2007
Pitts Votes Against Student Loans Again

On Friday, Sept. 7th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 2669 making it easier for poor students to obtain Pell Grants.  The bill also phases in cuts in the interest rates charged undergraduate student borrowers.  The bill passed overwhelmingly with 215 Democrats and 77 Republicans voting for it; no Democrats and 97 Republicans voting against it. Congressman Joe Pitts voted “Nay,” the only member of the Pennsylvania delegation to vote against the bill.

HR 2669 was strongly opposed by the lending industry which may lose government lending subsidies if President Bush signs the bill (and apparently he will).  Mr. Pitt's vote is consistent with his opposition to all entitlement programs except corporate entitlements.

Thursday, Aug 23, 2007

Pitts' Optimism Is Out of Touch with Reality
Thursday, Aug 23, 2007

I left the newsstand the other day scratching my head. A headline in the Inquirer said the death toll in the Iraq bombing could reach 500. Right next to it, the Daily Local News headline said Congressman Joe Pitts expressed "optimism" about efforts in Iraq. Its just another example of how far Congressman Pitts is out of touch with the real costs of this war.

According to icasualties.org's latest  statistics, we can see just how well the the U.S. policy in Iraq is working.”

• U.S. dead in Iraq year-to-date: 718 (up 65% versus same date in 2006)

• Confirmed Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian deaths January thru July 2007: 14,629 (+ 109% versus same period in 2006).

• U.S. wounded Jan – July 2007: 4,430 (+48% versus same period in 2006)

• U.S. wounded first 2 weeks of August 2007: 305 (+ 46% versus same period in 2006).

• Coalition casualties are down by 38% year-to-date in Anbar Province, projecting to 222 dead by year’s end versus 356 killed there in 2006.  142 dead so far this year.  Those numbers may be down, but one could hardly call it a “pacified” zone.  The rest of Iraq is not faring quite so well…

• 324 dead coalition soldiers year-to-date in Baghdad where the “surge” is centered.  That compares to 260 dead in Baghdad in all of 2006.  Coalition casualties are pacing 95% ahead of 2006 in Baghdad.  This will be the first year when we suffer more casualties in Baghdad than in Anbar.

• Coalition dead are pacing ahead of last year in 8 of the remaining 13 Iraqi provinces (Salahad Din, Babil, Diyalah, Basrah, Karbala, Qadisiyah, Maysan, and Arbil) with 554 projected deaths in 2007 in those provinces versus 178 in 2006 (+211%).  We have already suffered 245 dead in those provinces in 2007 versus 178 in all of 2006.  Diyalah Province stands out with 95 coalition dead so far in 2007 versus only 20 in all of 2006.

• Finally, if we pull Anbar fatalities out of the mix we have suffered 522 coalition fatalities in Iraq so far in 2007 versus 515 in all of 2006.  Those numbers project to a 108% increase in coalition dead in Iraq minus Anbar Province in 2007 versus 2006.

To blame Karl Rove for many of the ills of the failing war efforts of the Bush Administration, as Pitts also did, is ludicrous. Mr. Pitts, you voted for every one of the failed policies that the Bush administration put in front of you. If you need someone to blame, a session at the mirror is in order.

Saturday, Aug 18, 2007
Herr Endorses Bruce Slater for the Congress

At the Lancaster County Democrats' Corn Roast, Lois Herr took the opportunity to show her support for Bruce Slater, Narvon Committeeman and announced candidate for Congress. "The next best thing to being the candidate," Lois said, "is finding one you can wholeheartedly support.  She added, "We made great progress in 2006; now let's make 2008 the year we actually send a Democrat - Bruce Slater - to Washington." [Herr ran against Joe Pitts for the 16th Congressional District seat in both 2004 and 2006.]

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Slater Attends PA's Agricultural Progress Days Event at Penn State

Understanding the importance of agriculture to the 16th Congressional District, Democratic candidate for Congress Bruce Slater attended Pennsylvania’s AG Progress Days event held on the campus of the Penn State University’s College of Agriculture and listened to dozens of farmers and others in the agricultural business discuss such issues as organic farming, bio-fuel, and energy independence. Read more...

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
But Mr. Pitts, How Would You Pay for It?
by Howard A. Jones

Rep. Joe Pitts is once again playing a politician’s favorite game of supporting legislation without discussing how he would finance it.

In his column appearing in the DLN of Aug. 7, Rep. Pitts extols land conservation with support for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. Although CREP is not the main thrust of this letter, a perhaps more enlightening discussion should involve the actual applicable experience of the program to date with specific reference to whom has benefited most. Might that not be large agribusiness corporations? Read more...

June 7, 2007
Announcement Remarks...

I grew up in Chester County and have lived and built a business in Lancaster County for the past 16 years.  I’m a general contractor. I have been a Democratic committeeman for the past three years.  I have watched politics as a concerned citizen.  Now I intend to be a citizen legislator, working only for the people of the 16th District. Read more...