Congrats Citizens of Pennsylvania

Do you think picking up a phone or writing a letter to your Senator or Congressman is a waste of time and effort? Do you stay home on election day because you think your vote won't make a difference? Well, stop it. This country belongs to all of us and we really do have a voice, sometimes it just means yelling louder and longer to get some attention.

Last July in Pennsylvania, legislators voted themselves very hefty raises (16 to 24 percent) at 2:00 in the morning without any public discussion or hearings and then convened for the summer. The raise wasn't scheduled to take effect until December 1, 2006, but the cunning legislators decided to use a provision called unvouchered expenses to take the higher compensation starting August 1, 2005. The citizens were outraged and indignant. They quickly mobilized petitions to overturn the raises and scheduled protests on the Capital steps in Harrisburg.

The public outcry worked. Last night the legislators voted to repeal the raises. The Senate voted first, 50-0, to strike down the increase, and the House, near midnight, voted 196-2 to do the same thing. Democrats cast the two dissenting votes: House Minority Leader Bill Deweese, Waynesburg, and Minority Whip Rep. Mike Veon, Beaver Falls. They may live to regret their "no" votes next election day since their districts are in western Pennsylvania, which has struggled for years to stay abreast economically compared to the eastern side of the state. Speaking their minds paid off though.

Gene Stilp, a Harrisburg lawyer who had filed his own lawsuit against the raise in July, expressed surprise, but pleasure, that the Senate went along with the wishes of pay-raise protesters around the state.

"This proves that voters, taxpayers and the people of Pennsylvania can have an impact if they try," he said. "But don't let anyone tell you these politicians did this for good government reasons. They did this because they are fearing for their political lives."

Whatever their reasons for voting to repeal, the citizens came out the winners. That's a lesson for all of us. We can make a difference, but we need to speak out.