Election

==Details==
===Editorial - David and Goliath - Access to tax dollars gives public officials an unfair advantage ===
: Source: http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?brd=2305 06/26/2006
State officials spent more than $1 million defending themselves from
lawsuits that grew out of last summer's unconstitutional pay grab.
But they didn't dig deep into their own pockets to pay their attorneys.
You did.
The Associated Press reports the $1 million-plus was paid to outside lawyers
who worked on five lawsuits that stemmed from the pay raise fiasco, even
though six staff lawyers on the state payroll were working on the lawsuits.
At least 16 private lawyers from five law firms, including one that charges
$625 an hour, were hired to work on the behalf of lawmakers and others.
"Do I like hiring lawyers to defend these kinds of suits? No, I hate to do
this," House Majority Leader Sam Smith, R-Jefferson, said. "I understand why
people think it is a waste of money, but if we think we are right about the
process, we have to defend it."
As the editors of The Harrisburg Patriot-News wrote, let's look at the
process: "The 15 percent to 54 percent pay increase for legislators, judges
and high administration officials was approved late at night at the last
minute, without public hearings or open committee meetings, in violation of
the clear language of the Constitution intended to avoid the very tactics
lawmakers employed to fill their pockets. And they further violated the
constitution - not to mention a decent respect for the opinions of their
constituents - by collecting the increase before the finish of the term."
While state officials had unlimited access to public funds and did not have
to pay for their defense out of their own pockets, the citizens and
public-interest organizations that brought the lawsuits had a limited amount
of money at their disposal.
It was like David and Goliath, with Goliath having the slingshot and rocks.
This funding unfairness extends beyond the pay raise. It works the same way
with citizens' challenges to open records and open meeting violations, too.
Elected and appointed officials have unrestricted access to unlimited tax
dollars to defend themselves, while those who believe open records and open
meeting laws have been violated must fund their legal challenges on their
own.
Let's see. Who has more time and money to participate in a lengthy,
complicated open records court case? A poor schmuck who wants access to a
public document that some official has decided to deny him, or the official
who can use tax dollars to defend himself against the challenge?
This funding unfairness the pay-grab challenges revealed is another reason
to stay angry about what happened last summer. The pay hike and its
aftermath show why fundamental changes are needed to return power to the
people of Pennsylvania.
This year's primary elections were a good start, but more needs to be done.
Remember in November.
category:democracy