Only Built 4 Friday Linx
Brought to you by Raekwon the Chef, here's what you should be reading on this gorgeous Friday morning.
We start in our own pages, where Jim O'Toole was on the ground in Iowa for last night's GOP debate -- more on this in the Daily Santorum -- where all the focus was on the Minnesotans:
One of the evening's sharpest exchanges came early on as two rival Minnesotans traded withering accusations about their records and accomplishments -- or lack thereof.
Prodded by one of the moderators, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty charged that Rep. Michele Bachmann, a favorite of potentially pivotal tea party voters, had a weak record.
"Look, she's done wonderful things," he said. "Her record of accomplishments is nonexistent."
Shooting back, Ms. Bachmann charged that Mr. Pawlenty's administration had embraced a series of Democratic policies, including cap and trade on carbon emissions and a personal mandate to purchase health insurance.
"That sounds a lot more like [President] Barack Obama, if you ask me," she said.
"During my time in Congress, I have fought all these unconstitutional measures. I'm very proud of that record. That is what qualifies me as a fighter and representative of the people."
Mr. Pawlenty responded that the congresswoman had "a record of misstating and making false statements."
In D.C. the final three Superfriends members of the Supercommittee were tapped by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: Chris Van Hollen, Xavier Becerra and James Clyburn.
In Scranton "Cash for Kids" judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. was sentenced to 28 years in the slammer for his scheme.
In Harrisburg a Department of Public Welfare deputy secretary adds to the list of Corbett administration personnel headaches.
And the somnolent Bob Casey Senate race heats up (well, relative to its former temperature) with tea partier Laureen Cummings goes all Thomas Paine on us to slam potential foe Casey in an op-ed, and Marc Scaringi (the only declared challenger thus far) hired the old press secretary for Joe Miller, that dude who almost beat Lisa Murkowski that time. Scaringi also complains to the Inky's Tom Fitzgerald about the GOP actively wooing other candidates. Just remember Marc: You're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it, people like you.