Bucks County’s Republican commissioners hit back at their Democratic opponents Friday, calling their ethics pledge “hypocrisy on stilts,” and characterized their campaign as based on “lies and distortions.”

PoliticsPA is proud to present the 14th installment of our Chief of Staff Spotlight feature. This week, we talked to Patrick Lyden, CoS to Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8).

Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick introduced the SHIELD Act on Tuesday, a bill that would ensure members of the military and federal law enforcement personnel are paid in the event of a government shutdown or if the U.S. debt ceiling is reached.

I read with utter amazement Neil Samuel’s article (Aug. 24) entitled “You can’t fool all of the people,” in which I am incorrectly accused of “lying” in my comments to your reporter in a story published last month. If this is an example of the “new civility” that his party leaders keep touting, I think they have a long way to go before they a...

Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler plans to “dive back into” a voter fraud investigation that has taken a back seat to more pressing cases in recent weeks.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) commended Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for the Department of Transportation's recent decision to eliminate a federal mandate for replacing street signs that did not comply with federal reflectivity standards.

Lt. Gov. James Cawley joined local officials Monday for a firsthand look at the flood damage Hurricane Irene caused along the Neshaminy Creek in Hulmeville.

Coming off a bitter partisan struggle over raising the nation's debt limit, 54 percent of Pennsylvanians disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing overall as president compared to 43 percent who approve. Close to the same number do not believe Obama deserves re-election.

If the Republican Party wanted a more efficient nominating process, it would move the early voting from Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina to Abington, Newtown, and Fairless Hills.

PRINCETON, NJ -- President Obama's job approval rating dropped to 40% during the week spanning Aug. 8-14, the lowest weekly average of his administration. During this period, Obama's three-day rolling average also hit a new low of 39% for Aug. 11-13, the first such average below 40% since he took office, though it recovered to 41% for Aug. 12...

Thumbs up to Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick for raising serious questions about Standard & Poor’s devastating decision to downgrade America’s credit rating.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) issued the following statement on the announcement that he will be selected to serve on the super committee created by the Budget Control Act:

WASHINGTON — Among his conservative Republicans colleagues, Pat Toomey is a visionary.

Tuesday night, the House of Representatives offered President Obama a deal he should not refuse. And yet, the president seems intent on doing just that.

What’s not to like?

All in all, Majority Commissioners Charley Martin and Rob Loughery say things are going well for Bucks. Unemployment is consistently lower than the state average, and Standard and Poors has given the County a premium AAA bond rating two years in a row. Considering the difficult challenges facing communities everywhere, B...

The debt limit is usually interesting only to a particular subspecies of policy wonk, but freshman Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) recognized even before taking office in January that it could offer the best chance in years to restructure federal finances.

The debt limit is usually interesting only to a particular subspecies of policy wonk, but freshman Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) recognized even before taking office in January that it could offer the best chance in years to restructure federal finances.

The latest numbers on the economy are alarming. The unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1 percent. Housing prices have dropped to a new low. Consumer confidence is down. The manufacturing index has taken a hit. GDP projections are being revised downward. Most people are dreading higher gas prices.

HARRISBURG - Gov. Corbett played a game of give and take throughout this year's budget negotiations and appears to be walking away, for now, with most of the big-ticket items on his wish list: no new taxes, sharply reined-in spending, and no drama.

A recently released CNN poll shows that Americans oppose Obamacare by a margin of 17 percentage points (56 to 39 percent). Independents like Obamacare even less, opposing it by a margin of 25 points (60 to 35 percent). CNN also shows that, by a 10-point margin — 52 to 42 percent — independents do not approve of the job that Barack Obama ...

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) plans to throw another budget plan into the ring next week, when he unveils his own fiscal 2012 proposal.

The number 270 will come to dominate almost every waking moment for the Obama re-election high command in Chicago—as well as for their counterparts in the headquarters of the GOP nominee next year.

Joseph J. Szafran Jr. of Bensalem was confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate Monday to become Bucks County's next Recorder of Deeds.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) strongly criticized President Obama’s speech today in which the president called for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal based on Israel’s pre-1967 borders.

Judge James McMaster will get to keep the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas seat that he was appointed to fill earlier this year.

Commissioners Charley Martin and Rob Loughery easily won the Republican primary Tuesday, defeating former Commissioner Andy Warren and Jay Russell, who ran as an outsider.

Commissioners Charley Martin and Rob Loughery hope to focus on bridge repair, job creation, updated communications and finding the right uses for the old courthouse.

HARRISBURG - Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement regarding the announcement of Barack Obama’s re-election campaign:

In just three months, freshman Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania has emerged as the deficit hawk's deficit hawk, and on Thursday all 47 of his GOP colleagues joined him in sponsoring a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution.

Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick has introduced legislation to help military veterans receive the same federal contracting provisions that are available to other groups.

I have had the chance recently to travel across the commonwealth to meet with small business owners and listen to their concerns about running their businesses and creating new jobs in the state.

Republican Pat Toomey was back on the Senate floor Wednesday evening to speak on behalf of a resolution that called on Congress to pass a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Here's a summary of the topics discussed:

The Republican-sponsored bill passed the panel in a 14-9 party line vote.  Two Bucks County state Reps. - Frank Farry and Scott Petri - are committee members and supported the measure.

The budget scoreboard so far: Republicans 1, Democrats 0.  Democrats threw in the towel Friday, just two days after delivering a chest-thumping rejection of the GOP plan to forestall a government shutdown for two weeks.

Pennsylvania’s Best County Chairs

These are the 14 men and women who make Pennsylvania politics happen at the most important level.

There are a wide variety of skill sets represented by the men and women below. They are fundraisers, activist leaders, candidate recruiters, strong managers, local politicos, and statewide powers. The best of th...

U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson agreed with 26 states, including Pennsylvania, that the new law violates people's rights by forcing them to buy health insurance by 2014 or face penalties.

Five Republicans running for the U.S. Senate converged on Doylestown on Wednesday night at the behest of a group of teenagers seeking to inform the public about political issues.

Remember those stifling hot days back in July, when the air conditioning was turned off in some Bucks County-owned buildings for a few hours in the late afternoon?

According to unofficial election results, Republicans retained their 2-to-1 majority, with Charley Martin and Rob Loughery returning to office along with Democrat Diane Marseglia. The top three vote getters made Det Ansinn, president of Doylestown Council, the odd man out.

If there was a year the Democrats could have taken control of the Bucks County Courthouse, many thought this was it.

The Republican register of wills is under investigation by the district attorney for corruption. The Republican sheriff is being investigated by the attorney general. And the tea party and Occupy Wall Street movements have sti...

No one has to guess what the PA GOP is thankful for this holiday. Another poll, released Tuesday, shows President Barack Obama with upside down job approval ratings in Pennsylvania.

Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick wants the drawdown of U.S. military troops in Afghanistan to begin now, and not in 2014 as planned by the Obama administration.

Bucks County Republicans fought off a stiff challenge from Democrats to extend their 24-year hold on the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

On Page A3 of Friday’s newspaper, there was a story about a radio debate among the four candidates for Montgomery County commissioner. One of the topics was the county’s financial situation. Though the Republicans and the Democrats offered different solutions, all four agreed there is a problem, ranging from “critical” (the Democrats) to “dis...

PITTSBURGH, PA- Minutes stretched on awkwardly after Labor Secretary Hilda Solis spoke to local Democrats. Yet that was less uncomfortable than one man’s attempt to break the silence.

Speaking on Fox and Friends Tuesday, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction should consider reforming the tax code if it is “serious about growth.”

As a 15-year-old, I have noticed people my age seem to lack knowledge of the way the government works and the great consequences that can come from an election. These are both areas that need to be understood in order for one to play an active role as an American citizen.

The Republican vowed he would be the 8th District's most accessible representative and said his office in the Longworth House Office Building belongs to the people.

Robert G. Loughery is the first Bucks commissioner from the upper part of the county since the 1970s.

As members of Congress debate whether to raise the U.S. debt ceiling—the limit on our government's debt—we should all agree on at least one thing: Under no circumstances is it acceptable for the U.S. to default on its debt. Not only are we morally obligated to honor our debts, but we benefit greatly from the nearly universal conviction that ...

State Rep. Marguerite Quinn will reintroduce her plan to suspend for one year any automatic cost-of-living-adjustment for members of the General Assembly.

Republicans have an advantage in reshaping districts because they control three power centers - both chambers of the state Legislature and the governorship.

HARRISBURG - Gov.-elect Tom Corbett met for the first time with the small army of volunteer advisers who form his extended transition team, but he remained tightlipped about prospective Cabinet appointments or his promised government belt-tightening.

Tom Corbett will be Pennsylvania's 46th Governor!

A trio of Bucks County residents backed by the county Republican committee say they have evidence linking Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy's campaign to a scheme to flood the county voter registration office with fraudulent applications for absentee ballots.