Pay raise stoking 'civil war' in GOP

Pols say seeds were sown years ago. Conservatives have gotten bolder about seeking change in the state party. By Carrie Budoff Inquirer Staff Writer HARRISBURG - It's a given that families feud, but the discord roiling the Pennsylvania Republican Party could make the once-disciplined organization a candidate for therapy. Consider the evidence. Angered by the legislative pay raise, young conservatives put up billboards and radio spots admonishing House and Senate leaders. A right-leaning think tank this month bestowed a "Snoutie" award on public officials it deemed "piggish," including House Speaker John Perzel (R., Philadelphia). And at a meeting yesterday of the Republican State Committee, members passed a resolution knocking the GOP-controlled legislature and Democrat Gov. Rendell for the pay hike - a move that pollster Michael Young, a longtime observer of state politics, called "extraordinary." The raise has aroused fury across the aisle. But it appears to be stirring the most trouble among Republicans, magnifying tensions between the establishment and the grassroots conservatives over the party's course. "You are going to see the civil war break out in the open," said Matthew Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation, a free-market policy organization that is working with liberal groups on a repeal. The effects could be broad. Legislators could face intraparty reelection battles, and rank-and-file attention could shift from the campaigns next year for governor and the U.S. Senate. Although the outrage over the pay raise has built steadily since its passage July 7, the support network behind the movement germinated for more than a decade. In that time, the Internet and talk radio took root. The number of conservative advocacy groups spiked. And Pat Toomey's near-defeat of Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in last year's primary emboldened conservatives to demand more from their party. The pay hike, Brouillette said, was the tipping point. Perzel, in a forceful defense at yesterday's GOP meeting, said legislators, who now earn at least $81,050, "did what was right." "The people who are milking the cows in Lancaster County are making $50,000 to $55,000 a year," he said. "They are immigrant workers. Don't get me wrong. Every one of us are immigrants... . I am trying to point out, you are paying someone to milk the cows $55,000 and you are saying it is excessive that members of the General Assembly make one-half of what a congressman makes." Perzel, whose own salary jumped from $109,000 to nearly $146,000, received a standing ovation from two-thirds of the ballroom after invoking Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment: "Do not say bad things about other Republicans. Democrats are cheerful and gleeful with what is going on... . We need to stay together." At first, political observers predicted that the furor would evaporate, as it did in 1995, the last time the legislature voted itself a pay raise. But the size of this raise - 16 percent to 54 percent - and the way it was authorized - at 2 a.m. without debate - seems to have awakened an electorate known for its apathy, political observers say. Because of the Internet, it takes minutes, not weeks, for pay-raise critics to communicate and organize. Talk radio, which has surged in popularity over the last decade, is also fanning the issue. Take Lincoln Radio Journal, a weekly show produced by the conservative, Hershey-based Lincoln Institute. In 1995, a half-dozen stations aired the program; today, 83 do. And for the last three weeks, the discussion has focused entirely on the pay increase. It was the Lincoln Institute that gave Perzel a Snoutie, saying the GOP leader "strong-armed his caucus into voting for the pay raise, then skipped the country for a month when the fecal matter hit the fan." Underlying it all is a conservative network that began coalescing in the late 1980s and now supplements the public debate with talking points, research, news columns and Web logs. It started at the end of the Reagan era, when state conservatives, such as Frederick W. Anton of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association, saw a void and initiated the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference - an annual gathering of conservatives, which got its first sellout crowd of 500 in April. The Commonwealth Foundation was formed about the same time as the leadership conference. More conservative policy groups followed in the 1990s: the Lincoln Institute, the Allegheny Institute, the Susquehanna Valley Center for Public Policy. The family foundations of Richard Mellon Scaife, the Pittsburgh billionaire, have pumped more than $4.5 million into the groups, according to Media Transparency, a liberal watchdog group. At the same time, conservatives found politicians to rally around. In 1994 it was Santorum, whose Senate victory upended the theory that only moderate senators can win statewide. Toomey's campaign against Specter focused the movement again and spawned two groups - the Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Club for Growth - that have taken leads in pushing for a raise rollback. The Young Conservatives has made the boldest move, targeting leaders of both parties with four billboards and radio spots. "This isn't a Republican issue. It isn't a Democratic issue," said Chris Lilik, chairman of the Young Conservatives. "It is a matter of trust." Perzel's dismissal of the anti-raise campaign begs this question: Will conservatives see progress with GOP leaders? Some consider the anti-raise resolution essential in acknowledging that not all is well. Initial resolution drafts slapped legislative leaders for violating the principles of the party and "betraying the trust" of grassroots workers. GOP Chairwoman Eileen Melvin sought more moderate language, and the successful resolution was far tamer, saying the pay raise caused "great concern" among "thousands of grassroots workers." The sole mention of a "repeal" was directed at Rendell's income tax increase. Dick Stewart, co-chair of the 28-county Central Caucus, told the full committee that his members favored stronger language: "The caucus indicated its firm opposition to the unvouchered expenses, the pay increase, and the manner in which these items were adopted." A third of the ballroom stood up and applauded. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact staff writer Carrie Budoff at 610-313-8211 or cbudoff@phillynews.com. Source: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/chester_county/12611907.htm