The blog has had 829 unique reads in two days! Keep sharing / Keep shaming.
Thanks and spread the word. This is ALL of OUR democratic republic. You wouldn’t know from our #BrokenSystem.
PA House Chair Rep Matt Baker will kill medical marijuana: “House Health Committee Chairman Matt Baker said Friday he has no plans to take up the Senate’s medical marijuana bill — or any medical marijuana bill, for that matter.”
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/05/pennsylvania_senates_medical_m.html
Meanwhile, the latest Quinnipiac poll = 88% PA wants it:
The Pa Senate passed medical marijuana by over 80%. For the second session in a row. Recall that last session, then Majority Leader (now Speaker) Mike Turzai refused to bring it to a vote. So it died. And the whole process went to square one.
And there we have “OUR” process.
Many years ago Russ Diamond painstakingly documented how a small handful of General Assembly leadership plays this game with every, single piece of legislation. I recall he used a number less than 30 individuals who matter, but it has been a while. Mainstream media normally does nothing to reveal this charade of our elected officials working together to blah blah, so bravo to PennLive here. Diamond did so in his perennial masterpiece “Tip of the Spear,” which I continue to recommend all read.
He was roundly scoffed at by members of The Political Class – a term I believe he coined, or at least brought into common use. PA State Rep. Russ Diamond is now an elected legislator. I hope he has retained the scorn for this very process he so accurately showed us.
“I think there are a lot of unresolved issues and when you talk with the scientific groups and the medical community…” Baker says:
There are few issues that haven’t been resolved (beaten to death, actually) during the years of PA Senate hearings and testimony. I can’t understand why the House members can’t just review some of that. It is not like they don’t have the staff to help them. That seems like a smokescreen.
If nothing other than mainstream exposure of our #BrokenSystem comes out of this, at least it is something.
In seemingly (no really, I assure you) unrelated news:
Health Committee Leader Who is “Skeptical of Medical Marijuana” Has Ties to Pain Killer Lobby
Yes, that would be the same PA House Chair Rep Matt Baker. Shame on you.
Steve Todd - Passionate about things that matter. 
I think you need to rethink your decision . Why are you against helping these people. If it’s true that you won’t bring this up for a vote because of the donations you get from the pharmaceutical company’s i
Will say it’s not going to last because you will be getting voted out of office next term for not helping all these people !!! You are a asshole and your day will come , as they say what goes around comes around.
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That is a nice thought, Samuel. Unfortunately, The Political Class has rigged the game so they are virtually untouchable. Baker certainly is, and so was then Majority Leader (now, promoted to Speaker) Mike Turzai, who did the same thing last session.
They do what they want, we have no realistic power to remove them. The only ones they answer to are the small and shrinking (a tiny sliver of the much-vaunted 1%) who can afford the obscene levels of campaign funding, which are the only remaining prerequisite to winning.
We HAVE to prove me wrong this one time. I know I am doing all I can to. 737 unique readers must join me!
Take care.
~ Steve Todd
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Both the Pa Attorney General and Auditor General offices need to look into the over 20 years in office of Matt Baker. Especially his connections to the county elected and other elected representatives in North Central Pa and their ties to money. Pennsylvania has one of the most corrupted county political structures in the U.S. ( if not the most) and this is perpetuated through the state Legislature. The GOP needs to clean up their habitual mess, starting with Baker and their other elected, in North Central Pennsylvania. The cycle of intimidation, fear, corruption and political empowered abuse needs to be ended.
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Paul: That is the problem with our #BrokenSystem. Baker has not only done nothing illegal, but he has done what our system REQUIRES him to do to be able to afford to run for public office. Those in elected power, including the General Assembly, Pa Attorney General and Auditor General, have no incentive to change it. We the People must do so.
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You can’t make decisions for other people, you are clearly uninformed. My sister has stage 4 breast cancer and medical marijuana allows her to have a quality of life meaning, she can sleep at night,meat, and so her tumor levels went from 7,000 to below normal. We are clearly going to have a problem, I suggest you have a meeting with me and my sister before you make a decision that will affect her life. You are very selfish and I have no idea how you got voted in. I will continue to tell my friends in the state to get you out of office.
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I will assume you are writing to Rep Baker, and not me. If so, I agree, it is selfish of him to deny your dear sister the medicine that might help her, and certainly has no history to indicate it would hurt her. How he got elected is simple: he raise the extraordinary funds needed to do so, and is in a super safe gerrymandered district, so he can’t realistically be removed. At least several tens of thousands of those dollars to make Baker electable came from the Big Pharma Lobby, if the source linked in my article is accurate. Best luck to your sister and all her loved ones. I wish you best, and will do all I can to right this wrong.
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Steven Todd is uninformed on the medical marijuana and the benefits it has to offer with no side effects.
Cigarettes and tobacco are legal and kill people.
When was the last time someone died from an overdose of pot?
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I am very informed on the benefits of medical marijuana. Whoever told you I am not is the uniformed one. My knowledge has been gained by fighting hand in hand with our sickest to get them medicine for years.
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I think Don Shore’s comment came from thinking that the blog piece you wrote about Matt Baker was actually about yourself. It’s the design of this webpage, with your face and name at the top. I actually had to reread it just to make sure I knew who we were talking about.
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I can’t see how even a quick glance at the blog would make one think it is about me. It is my blog, my pic at the top. Kinda common practice.
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I just posted your info and how you have accepted money from big pharmaceutical companies and posted it all over the numerous websites I run. Along with your phone number, contact info. I told you my sister has stage 4 terminal cancer and you deleted my post! I offered you a date to talk about this issue. I think you are an uninformed, un compassionate buffoon and I will use my powers to remove you because you do not represent the 88% of your constituents in the area you should be representing! Good luck, buddy. You declared war on your own people.
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I think you are confusing me with Representative Baker. This is not Baker’s site.
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Send Rep. Baker a message. I just did. One man is making decision that affect many people. Is he God, or does he just like acting like one???
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Oh, many of us have and continue to. For years. Who knows? If enough do, he may have to put our bill on the agenda for discussion. Thanks for helping. Everyone else, join in:
http://www.repbaker.com/Contact.aspx
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