Preview of Coming Attractions
Two members of the emerging field of would-be challengers to Sen. Bob Casey auditioned for a group of conservative activists in Green Tree Thursday night.
Marc Scaringi, the former Santorum aide who's been traveling the state for months joined fledgling candidate John Vernon in a question and answer session before the Pennsylvania Republican Leadership Council.
They joined in depicting the Obama administration and it's ally, Mr. Casey as threats to the nation prosperity and freedom. They also said they would abolish the Department of Education, support an audit of the Federal Reserve and lean toward
The adoption of the Fair Tax, a kind of national sales, as an alternative to the income tax.
Mr. Scaringi contended that Fed's policies under Chairman Ben Bernanke were one of the chief causes if the lagging recovery. He promised to "do everything possible to stop the Fed from manipulating interest rates."
Mr. Vernon, a retired U.S. Army colonel, said he had decided to seek the office because of his distaste for Mr. Casey' support of the administration.
"It is simply unconscionable to me that a nation as great as ours can have 14 million citizens out of work," he said. He bemoaned "This massive spending ... this out of control government believes they can grow our economy, can create jobs is an absolute fallacy.’’
Other state Republicans with Senate challenges in varying stages of gestation include Laureen Cummings. A Tea Party activist from Mr. Casey’s Scranton base; Chester County businessman and former congressional candidate Steve Welch; former congressional candidate Tim Burns, Tom Smith, a Western Pennsylvania Tea Partyer, Bucks County businessman David Christian, and former state Rep. and Senae candidate Sam Rohrer.
The conservative cadres were greeted by state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, who said that the early legislative record of the Corbett administration presaged further conservative gains in the months and years to come. Mr. Metcalfe cited the so-called "castle doctrine" law, designed to shield gun owners from legal liability for using their weapons to protect themselves, as a prime example of that agenda.
Other issues at the top of his priority list, he said, included measures to frustrate illegal immigration and voter identification requirements to ward off what he characterized as rampant voter fraud.