PA Senator Scarnati Agrees To Pay For Super Bowl Trip, After Scrutiny

I've gotta say, I'm still jealous. Pennsylvania State Senate President Joe Scarnati got a free, all-expenses trip to Dallas to watch the Steelers-Packers game. The trip, paid for by Consol Energy Inc., got him there, got him into the party, and I'm sure got him some delicious food. Why, you might ask, would Consol do this for the Senate President? They have become a major player in the "Marcellus Shale" natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. Senator Scarnati just happens to be one of the most powerful people for writing the regulations on them.

Well, Scarnati is doing the honorable thing, sort of. He's re-paying them for the whole trip. Well, except for the airfare, which he's passing off to his campaign account (I'd do it too for $1200). I guess he gets credit for making sure no one can call this a bribe.

Hmmm.... The Pork or the Barbecue?

AP:

An energy company drilling in Pennsylvania’s gas-rich Marcellus Shale paid for a top Republican state senator’s trip to see the Pittsburgh Steelers play in the Super Bowl in Texas, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, had his ticket, plane ride and hotel bill paid for by Consol Energy Inc., one of Scarnati’s top aides told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

LVI makes an excellent point:

I think this sort of thing - the Superbowl party in Texas, corporate lobbyists picking up the tab for Tom Corbetts inauguration - is a lot more like good old-fashioned bribery than, say, campaign contributions. They're not aiding the Senate President in his professional capacity, (although they did do that too). What you have here is Joe Scarnati the dude enjoying an entirely private benefit on the frackers' dime. He should give it back.

Frankly, to inject some honesty here, for what State Senator Scarnati is giving them as Senate President, he's a "cheap date." No taxation at all for extracting natural gas from our land here, causing millions in damage to our roads and environment, while importing the labor for the work from all over the place. So they get free profits, we get nothing, and the cost to them is a party in Dallas for the Super Bowl. That's one hell of a deal.