J. Kane’s Letter to the Editor opinion letter alleging hypocrisy is textbook deceit.
I will never stop fighting for the people. I was fighting for taxpayers long before the gas industry began pouring money into select lawmakers’ coffers. Every hunter, angler, outdoor enthusiast and taxpayer should recoil at the industry’s free ride at the expense of our resources, tax dollars and state forests.
The truth about hypocrisy and who’s bankrolling whom is available online. As the Philadelphia Inquirer noted, Senate leaders have received more than $200,000 in campaign donations from energy interests this year alone. The newspaper said senators “need to listen to voters, rather than big donors, and end this unconscionable, senseless gridlock.”
I also have fought utilities and the looming electricity rate increase. How does not being in gas drillers’ or utilities’ pockets make me a hypocrite?
Space limits me from refuting every scurrilous contention, but when in Harrisburg I stay at a motel 10 miles from the Capitol. When the motel jacks up the room rates for special events, I move to a cheaper motel.
I will eagerly vote for a fairer way to fix dangerous roads and bridges than tolling I-80. It doesn’t take guts to decry the toll plan’s faults. Refusing to put citizens lives in jeopardy by putting up an unpopular vote to protect their safety does.
I stormed out of the House and short-circuited a late-night bid for an unwanted pay raise. When threatened with the loss of my committee chair, which would hamper efforts to help Clearfield County, I voted for the pay raise under duress. I gladly voted to repeal it, and have repaid every penny of this year’s COLA.
I will put my record of pinching pennies for taxpayers against anyone, if only J. Kane would stop pinching the truth.
Camille “Bud” George
State Representative