Crisis in the State of Pennsylvania
The overall waste, mismanagement, and misuse of funds within our Statehouse and Agencies needs to be exposed and brought to an end.
As your State Senator, I will lead the way by demanding an audit of the expenditures made by the Senate and House leadership.
In November the voters of Pennsylvania will have new choices on the ballot. The Libertarian Party is stepping up to the plate and giving you candidates that are truly fiscally conservative, candidates that will listen to you, and speak out. The first to announce is Tim Mullen. He is running for State Representative in the 120th District. Watch closely, others will be announcing soon.
Where to begin ... Tim and I will work together to reduce the size and cost of our state government. Here are some sobering facts.
Tracie Mauriello of the Harrisburg bureau for the Post-Gazette reported that 656 state workers have salaries in excess of $150,000. At least 3,836 are paid more than $100,000 a year.
Brad Bumsted at the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported that Pennsylvania is the sixth-largest state, has four percent of the nation's population, but features the largest legislative staff in the nation with 2,919 employees working for the House and Senate.
According to National Conference of State Legislators, it costs Pennsylvania taxpayers about $310 million annually to run our 253-member General Assembly.
We need to limit the number of staffers that each Senator and Representative can hire. As Bonusgate proved, these state employees are being used for the reelection of their benefactors. This will also help to reduce the pension crisis that is looming in our future. Another way to save money and hold our elected official accountable is to make the members of our General Assembly claim only actual expenses not per diem.
In 2008, in my run for State Auditor General, I asked our current Auditor General Jack Wagner to audit the General Assembly. He did nothing. I asked Governor Rendell to put a hold on all new programs proposed in the 2008 budget and he did nothing. As a consequence our state has fallen deeper into debt. Tax increases are on the horizon. Businesses continue to close or leave the state. Corruption, such as Bonusgate, PHEAA, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Community and Economic Development’s Grant Program continues to flourish in Harrisburg. Legislators that have used our money to further their careers and pad their pockets need to be held accountable.
Enough is enough. Let’s work together to change our bloated state government.
Vote Libertarian!
Yours in Liberty,
Betsy Summers
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2010 State Senate Race
I will be using the insights that I gained in my other races to get to Harrisburg.
With your help, we can work to get our state back in order. Keep visiting this site to stay updated on how my campaign is going.
2008 State Auditor General Race Results
The voters of Pennsylvania are waking up! I received over184,000 votes!
My Job with Midwest Veterinary Supply limited my ability to campaign but I did participate in the one debate in Philadelphia. In this race I spent under $250.
It's too bad I didn't win... maybe I could have audited a bunch of the General Assembly right out of their jobs.
2004 US Senate Race Results
We did it! The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania retained its minor party status! To have 79,263 people vote for me is the most amazing feeling. I am truly honored and humbled to be considered as your choice for US Senate. During my 11 week whirlwind campaign my website had over 25,000 hits, the campaign car logged over 11,000 miles, and I was in 2 televised debates and personally spoke to thousands of wonderful people. All for under $5,000! My goal of building a consensus of unity through liberty was achieved. My supporters were from both the major and minor parties, independent and nonpartisan, young and old. I couldn’t have accomplished any of these things without your help along the way.
Yours in gratitude, Betsy Summers
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