>> we have a budget, a new poll, and the pennsylvania primaries are just a month away. whew! let's get the inside story. good morning. i'm tamala edwards. welcome to "inside story." let's introduce you to the panel. first up, talking about that poll we've got chief f&m pollster terry madonna. good morning. >> morning. >> we've got gop state official renee amoore. >> good morning. >> and we've got journalist harold jackson. good morning. >> good morning, tamala. >> and marketing exec brian tierney. >> good morning, tamala. >> let's start with the budget. 266 days later, we finally have a budget. the governor had been adamant up to a couple weeks ago saying, "i don't care. i'll wait you out. i'm not signing this. they moved on to negotiating the next year. now what he's going to do is today, he's letting the budget go into law. he's not signing it, he's not vetoing it. he's just letting it be. was it the right thing to do, and what does it mean for later

fights? if i was a republican, it would just say, "if i can wait you out, i can win." >> yeah. >> yeah, that's what i'm saying. absolutely, without a doubt. he didn't have a choice. his democratic caucus -- they were not gonna support him. some of them were ready to jump on the other side of the aisle. he didn't want to be embarrassed about that, so "why should i veto when my folks aren't even supporting me?" bottom line is -- finally we got a budget so people can get some money, some hospitals can get the programs we initiated, what they had. you know, maybe not-for-profits that lost staff can bring their staff back. there was a lot of hurting things. i mean, i have a not-for-profit, and we really suffered -- people being laid off, those kinds of things. so it's a good thing. >> terry, let's talk about some of your numbers, though. you've got a new poll out this week, and it would suggest that people were blaming the legislature, not the governor, that he had cover to keep going and saying, "not my fault." >> yeah. but i think my colleague is absolutely correct. his position at this point had become untenable. yeah, the legislature took more of the heat. remember, the governor still has the so-called bully pulpit. >> mm-hmm. >> he can go and talk about

things that the voters do want. they want education spending. they favor a shale tax. they want the structural deficit taken care of. but they don't want an income tax hike, they don't want a sales tax hike. and that's the dilemma. but moving forward, the governor did, i think, the only thing he could have done. he now will say, and here's the point he has made -- "it's on the republicans. you bear the onus of this budget, not me." >> do voters really look at it that way? do they care? >> i don't think he was ever able to basically turn the stove up and have it get really hot for anybody. i mean, nonprofits were suffering, but it wasn't that explicit. >> school districts. >> school districts were suffering, but they were finding ways around it. only two states didn't have a budget after a year-and-a-half. illinois, where they've got more than one governor in jail, right, who was about to default on their debt. one of the worst states run -- >> you had to bring that up. >> you had to go there. >> it's like a hall of fame there, you know what i mean? and pennsylvania. >> right. >> and the governor, though, why he jumped is what renee said. his own party was about to go to

the other side. >> but here's a bigger point, i think. look. most residents of this state did not feel the pain. it was relatively limited. 75,000 or so state workers were on the job since the 2009 supreme court decision said, "uh-oh. you can't not pay the workers. so for most people, it was not kitchen-table talk. they were not getting up debating the budget. >> harold, let me run this by you. when you look at what they've got at the end of the day, did anybody really win? the governor got $200 million more for education, an increase but not the $400 million that he wanted. he did not get the increase, things like the shale tax and the other taxes that he wanted. but republicans also did not get pension reform. they did not get the privatization of wine and liquor. so you're kind of like, "well, after all that fighting, did anybody really get something they wanted?" >> well, i think the republican legislators won. they won this battle, and governor wolf made a number of tactical mistakes politically. one problem -- the bigger problem is that even though the polls showed that the public supported wolf, the legislators

didn't fear that because they knew they had no real challengers in this upcoming election. >> exactly. you're right. >> so they had no real fear. to answer your question, the biggest losers probably were the schools. the school got more money but they're still not at the point that they were before governor corbett cut their funding. the city schools in philadelphia actually would have done better with the budget that was before the legislature in december. they would have gotten $100 million more in that budget. >> not to get -- but, you know, taxes are high enough. i mean, between real estate taxes and sales taxes and this tax and the city, this is anecdotal. i was driving from the midwest, from abilene, kansas to pennsylvania border -- $3 in tolls. from the pennsylvania border to here -- $30 in tolls. >> yeah. >> $30 in tolls. $3 dollars across the country, the last 450 miles. >> not a single time in modern history have we had a general tax hike in an election year. >> right. >> 2003, 1991, 1983, 1977. they were all tax hike periods and they used the income tax. but guess what?

not in an even-numbered year. >> no, never. >> not in an election year. >> well, people may be taxed too much in pennsylvania, but the real problem is that you have a tax system that needs reforming. and to answer to the progressive income tax that's in pennsylvania, maybe you would have some of the inequity ended -- >> given how they worked on the budget, i don't think that that's ever gonna happen. >> it probably won't, but it's what needs to happen. >> let's move on and talk about some of the big races coming up within the next month. mcginty, first up. she had been lagging, it seemed like, in polls. a little lackluster, but, boy, does she have some huge firepower behind us. she's got -- casey came out and said he supported her, rendell is supporting her. >> wolf. >> emily's list -- wolf is supporting her. emily's list had pledged $1 million focused on women voters, and this week, the dscc -- which means the guys in washington are paying attention -- they're gonna show up with the money saying, "we're going to put in the money." today, i saw an ad from the seiu. she's got up a new ad and an interesting recalibration. before, she was talking about everyone getting a fair shake. now she's really trained on -- >> women. >> women. and this has worked for

emily's list in the past. when they focus on what they call their "women vote!" campaign, it's turned around a lot of races. will this work for her here? >> well, she's running a campaign very much like hillary clinton. >> that's right. >> she's literally imitating the clinton campaign. sestak has a 17-point lead. he is an indefatigable campaigner. he has met with 5 and 6 and 10 and 20 and 30 democrats all across the state for five years. he has worn out 20 pairs of sneakers. and he also has a niche -- defense, national security, from his days as admiral. but i think mcginty is doing, from her point of view, the best thing because the democratic electorate will be more female than male. she's going after that segment of the electorate likely to vote, and only time will tell. >> go ahead. i'm sorry, renee. >> it's hard with women in pennsylvania, let's be clear, that are running. sestak people love because he's like the presidential candidates. he's not gonna hear what people say in washington. he's gonna do his own thing, so

his party is scared of him. and so emily's list -- yeah, they help, but how far will this help? is she still lagging with women? yes, as far as i'm concerned. >> and also, some people say, you know, "he's really independent. that's why the party leaders -- frankly, that's not the case. the inside story about joe sestak is that his personal style is pretty abrasive -- really rough on staff, changes a lot of staff, always turmoil around him. and i think at one level, these people honestly feel like governor rendell and some of the other people who are coming out, and bob casey, that he doesn't have the temperament to be a u.s. senator. kind of a ted cruz school of -- >> that he won't necessarily do what they need him to do. >> no, yeah, he's just not a really particularly nice guy. yeah. not a really nice guy. >> but in describing joe sestak, you were describing arlen specter. >> oh! >> oh. good point. >> that's interesting. >> yeah, but there are -- 46% of pennsylvania democrats are undecided. >> so it's still wide open. >> there is still room for mcginty to come back. >> i think so, too. >> i agree. >> you cannot rule that out.

>> and again, emily's list, what they've done in the past has been incredible. i want to get your quick take on sestak's new ad, "i've got your six." we've seen it with broadcasting companies to support veterans. some people like it. some people think it's gimmicky. was it the right move -- especially when she's targeting women, was it the right move for him? >> first of all, it's a complete rip-off of the nonprofit organization. and harrison ford and other people talking about the veterans thing. i don't think it's particularly -- and i think he looks like it's a forced smile and all those sorts of things seem in it -- i don't think it's particularly -- i think it's one of those things which is -- in a conference room, somebody would say, "that's a great idea. why don't we just take --" and then when you see the execution, it's not that effective. >> okay, let's keep talking about ads and go on and talk about pat toomey. what is your latest sense of how strong he is in the polls? they have been closing a bit. >> yeah. i mean, toomey has led most polls very narrowly. i think that toomey's biggest fear is whether the democrats get what we call a wave -- whether the democratic presidential candidate, likely to be hillary clinton, wins by eight, nine, 10 points. and what we have seen over the

last couple of election cycles is new. the death of ticket-splitting, more straight-party voting. 80% to 90% of voters are now casting straight party votes. at least for the president of one party and then down the ballot, senate and congress. i think that's his great fear, that somehow the democrats sweep the state -- i'm not saying that will happen -- and then he gets taken out by a democratic wave. >> 'cause the democrats, really, are focused on his seat. he's up with two ads today. >> oh, yeah. >> let's about this week. >> oh, yeah. they want it bad. >> let's talk about them. they both are focused at women. he's clearly saying, "okay, katie mcginty, if that's where you're going, let's go there." one focuses on the effort that he took after sandy hook to join with joe manchin and ask for more background checks. so, a woman saying, "he stood up for more gun rights, but the second one, which is called "support" has the wife of a police officer saying, "you were with us," and this is the line that jumps out in the ad -- as you've got pictures of people rioting, "when rioters destroyed american cities, pat toomey stood strong with police and

denounced the rioters when others wouldn't." very trick thing when you're dealing with urban centers like philadelphia and pittsburgh where some people look at those pictures and think, "people needed to riot." was it a smart ad on the part of pat toomey? >> i think he thinks he's not gonna get that vote, probably, number one. number two is i think it is tactically probably a really smart spot for him to be in. on the one hand, he's got the "i can cross the aisle. i can work with democrats in the senate. i'm a conservative economic, but i've got a compassionate part." now he's kind of coming back to the trump part of the party. >> and i agree with brian 100% because he's saying, "how much of that vote am i really gonna get? but i need to really outreach even more to more folks to do what i need to do to make it happen." >> yeah, i think the fact that he's dialing back on what he said about not meeting with president obama's supreme court nominee shows that he feels that he's in trouble and he needs to get back to his base and not worry about what he probably won't get anyway, which is a strong turnout in his favor in those urban areas. >> absolutely. >> are you surprised not to see maybe the republican senate committee here, as well? even though he's not in a

contestive primary, he was up with ads early doing everything he could to try to create a background of inevitability. now it's getting a little tighter. if the dscc said to me, "i'm gonna be there," i would start coming in, too. >> yeah. it shows that they, too, feel he's very vulnerable. >> yeah, he has about 10 million bucks -- >> correct. >> a much larger war chest. but you're right. the democrats cannot win the senate. they need five seats, if they don't win the presidency, without this race. this is gonna be one of the most high-profile senate races in the country. tom smith and bob casey in 2012 spent $40 million. this race is gonna reach $50 million. >> oh, absolutely. >> the money is gonna flood in, tam. >> and the nrsc will come in. >> that's what i wanted to say. and don't think they're not working right now. >> yeah. >> let me be real clear about that -- there's a time that will happen. >> investing in infrastructure. >> that's right. >> investing in terms of voter targeting. there's a lot of things going on. >> let's quickly switch to the race for attorney general, the democratic primary. my goodness. lots going on there. josh shapiro is up with an ad.

he's got a lot of endorsements -- wolf, rendell, casey, planned parenthood. zappala also has a lot -- the building trades here, county commissioners for 11 different places. up with a new ad in which he shows sandra blake, walter rice, janay palmer -- really trying to make the argument that he is this civil rights domestic violence candidate. >> yeah. >> and it was an interesting bid. was it the right thing for him to do with some black leaders saying, "hold on a moment. we're not sure the record holds up." >> i thought he was gonna photoshop himself into walking with dr. king, maybe, or something, you know? right on the lincoln memorial, you know what i mean? i mean, somehow. how could he have been there? he was only 6 at the time, you know? >> you would go there. >> yeah. >> was it a bad idea? if you have john dougherty and bob brady already trying to work on your behalf, let them do what they do. did he need to do that ad? >> no, i think -- >> he felt he needed to do it. whether we thought or not, he thought he needed to do it. >> look. here's the bigger narrative in my humble judgment. zappala's running as the prosecutor, even though he hasn't been in a courtroom in 20, 25 years. he's the prosecutor. he puts the bad guys behind bars.

you got that? josh shapiro -- not a courtroom guy, not a trial lawyer. shapiro is gonna say, "look, this is about reforming that office. it's a mess. it's disintegrated at the top. yeah, 830 people in that office are doing their job, but it needs leadership, it needs a reform, it need administrative overhaul. i'm the guy that can do that. look what i did to montgomery county." you got those two different narratives going on. >> yeah. >> you're right. >> which one's winning? >> well -- >> zappala has the name i.d. >> yes, he does. i mean, his father -- i mean, it seems like there's been a zappala on the ballot for 30, 40 years. >> in the west, he has. but on statewide, as well. so, people are familiar, i think, with -- "i've seen that name before." but josh is an interesting guy. i don't know him well -- i've met him on a couple of different occasions -- but has been able to, seems like, really cross aisles and work with republicans on the other side. >> we said that before. he has always been able to cross the aisle. >> yeah. >> east versus west. east versus west. >> that's a big thing. >> there's more people living over here. >> yeah. more people live here. >> well, let's also mention that john morganelli from northampton also got into it. he's put up a video where he's

talking to the camera. he also went to norristown to nip at shapiro, saying, "you're mr. goody-goody, good government. actually, i think that you've been rewarding people who have donated to your campaign or who you think will." >> right. >> does this have any scratch? i mean, you watch philadelphia and this area closely. is it gonna have any traction or no? >> i really don't know, you know? because that's one of the races that people don't pay that much attention, too, to be frank with you. >> that's right. >> it's not about who gets out there, people at the polls on election day. and the ads -- people really don't pay much attention the attorney general ads. >> and the fact that you, you know -- i mean, the amounts of money are kind of inconsequential. i don't blame morganelli for trying to do it. i don't blame him for going down to the courthouse steps and trying to say it, but to quote frank rizzo, you know, "who am i gonna help? my enemies? of course i'm gonna help my friends." >> in 2012, when obamacare carried the state by 5.2 percentage points, bob casey won reelection by 9, kathleen kane led the ticket at 13. >> that's right. >> here's the point i'm trying to make. it was a democratic sweep. to go to your point, exactly. there's not going to be a lot of attention in terms of the

average voter to these elections. i hate to say that because they are important. >> all right, well, we'll take a short break and we'll come back to more "inside story." >> "inside story" is presented by temple university. temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. plugged into the city, powered by the world. temple.edu/takecharge.

>> welcome back to "inside story." so, mayor kenney out with his soda tax plan. and now it's interesting to watch the different sides maneuver to help him. he's had jerry jordan come out, tweeting to the teachers -- "why don't you sign up, say that you're in support of this plan?" you've also had rodney muhammad from the naacp saying, "listen, this is something that we should support." but ed rendell goes on the radio this week and just says, "i've never -- it's not personal. i've never been for sin taxes. what's next -- doughnuts and hamburgers?" >> yeah. seriously. >> and he also says -- yeah, well, and then he also says, you know, he thinks it would hurt poor people. >> well, it's interesting that they decided to go to the soda tax route again. and of course, the best route to fund something that you want to continue in perpetuity like pre-k is through the property tax. the problem is that philadelphia's increased the property tax more than 20% since 2010. but if they did the property tax, they could derive the same amount of money, about $95 million a year, and a home

that costs $130,000 would pay about $140 more per year. >> mm-hmm. >> the only reason they won't go that route is because poor people don't vote the way others do. >> mm-hmm. >> you know? and so the poor people, they're gonna put this soda tax on you, and people who they're afraid of upsetting, who pay property taxes, they're leaving them alone. >> i agree 100%. and to me, we constantly go to the most vulnerable people to do those type of things, which is not a good thing. i mean, the poor folks already are struggling, and then you're putting something else on top of that. >> and what's the logic of it? seriously? >> how big a deal is it to rendell? >> i think it really hurts him because this is a really popular democratic mayor. >> mm-hmm. >> probably the most successful, perceived to be, in the last 30, 40, 50 years, right? and he's saying, in his own way, "you know, i just don't quite" -- affable, but basically, you know, putting a harpoon through it. it really is -- what is the logic of it? why not diets? i mean, people say aspartame is really bad for you. >> it is. >> why not french fries? and i mean, as he -- to pick up

on what the governor said -- rather than do a smart, more difficult thing, which is let's talk about property tax reform, let's talk about reforming government. >> right. the abatement tax. >> it's like, "hey, you know what? i got an idea. i voted against a two-cent tax, but how about a three-cent tax?" which is the case. >> and who's gonna give me a hard time? >> yeah. >> and that's what you said now. >> because it's pre-k. >> exactly. >> you know, the whole issue of pre-k is something that's difficult to achieve, as well. there are a lot of childcare centers in philadelphia, but they don't meet the rating system of the keystone stars. and what kenney wants to do is to bring all these daycare centers, childcare centers up to standard so that they can actually educate small children, as well as provide a safe place for them to be when their parents are at work. but it takes time, it takes money to do that. >> mm-hmm. >> to move up from two stars to four stars in the keystone stars program, it takes years. >> that's gonna be years. >> i look for places -- when i was putting my kids in places, there are not a lot. >> right. >> there would be a lot of work to be done. >> mm-hmm. >> exactly. >> all right. let's take a turn and talk about your poll. as we end up here this morning,

terry, look at the national race, april 26th, we would have thought, "oh, my goodness. the primary will be past us." now it could be important. and it's looking like if john kasich can just hang on, this could be a good place for him. >> yeah, he's only three percentage points behind. he made a big move. he does very well down here in the southeastern part of the state among republicans that are, you know, moderate to moderately conservative. and he's made a big move. and remember, he has said, "i'm not going to idaho. i'm not going to utah. i'm not campaigning out in the southwest. i'm gonna come into the northeast. he's a neighboring state governor. mckees rocks native. plays up his pennsylvania roots. has a fair amount of support among republican leaders. >> that's right. >> former governors. >> yeah. >> you got bob asher, national committeeman, who's having events for him. i mean, this thing is -- it's moving. he has a chance. it's moving. >> now, he can't win the nomination on the first ballot. >> oh, absolutely not. >> mathematically, he will not be the nominee if it's decided on the first ballot.

>> but it doesn't look like anything's gonna be decided on the first ballot. >> well, a couple things, too. what happens is, number one, is kasich, i think, is viable. in washington, he chaired the house budget committee. he's a successful governor, he's a conservative but he's also a compassionate kind of guy when you see what's he done in ohio. >> we heard "compassion" and "conservative" before. >> yeah. >> exactly. >> but this guy will deliver on that. i think people view him as a conservative moderate. a guy who actually, you'd think, "i'd be proud to have him as the president of the united states. pennsylvania, though, is gonna play a critical role. of the 71 delegates, only 17 will go with whoever wins the top line. the other 54% -- you might have some fun in cleveland, sounds like, huh? >> listen, i'm gonna have a lot of fun. trust me. >> you're gonna be in a back room, smoking cigars. >> i'm gonna do whatever i can do. >> let's hope it's fun, not frightful. another interesting thing out of your poll, looking at both hillary, at cruz, and trump, the people looked at, at the moment, as being the front-runners, the voters say, "we think that they could win," but i don't feel so good about them. they're negatives are really high. what does that mean? >> how many different ways can you say, "this is the most ugly presidential election in modern history"? you have to go back to the 19th

century when andrew jackson was accused of murder for the duels that he fought. >> right. >> we all know about jefferson and childbirth and all that. and look what happened to al smith when he ran for the presidency in 1928. the vicious anti-catholicism that was about -- and even with john f. kennedy in 1960 had a -- i mean, this is one of the ugliest, mean-spirited, nasty campaigns that we've ever seen. all these candidates' negatives as this continues will go up. you know, the voters might say, "i'll pick the least --" you know where i'm heading with this. >> yeah. >> or some people may not even come out and vote. >> or stay home. >> stay home. >> that's the biggest problem for me -- people not coming out to vote. >> we'll see. >> all right. well, we're going to take a short break and come back to our insiders' inside stories of the week.

le

>> "inside story" is presented by temple university. temple fuels students with academics and opportunities to take charge. plugged into the city,

powered by the world. temple.edu/takecharge. >> welcome back. time for our insiders' inside stories of the week. terry, we'll start with you. >> well, get this. 94,000 voters as of last friday had switched to the republican party -- from democrat, independent, other parties -- switched to the republican party. some democrats switched to do what? to vote for trump because they think that would help hillary in the general election. others to vote for kasich and to vote for trump in our closed primary. 67,000 have switched to the democrats. we have not seen numbers like this in -- who know when? i could not find larger numbers of party switchers looking back through the registration data. >> interesting. renee. >> i'm not switching. but what i do want to say ios that i'm excited 'cause philadelphia finally has a really good candidate to run for congressman against either fattah or dwight evans, and that's james jones.

he's been out there -- african-american republican ready, raising money, and we absolutely have a chance, for once, so go for it, james. >> okay. harold. >> well, i wanted, first of all, to say "happy easter" to everyone. >> mm-hmm. >> and my inside story is that belgium is not the united states. france is not the united states. and this xenophobic rhetoric that's being thrown out there to suggest that we need to bar muslims from this country because of the terrorist attacks that occurred there are just wrong. i mean, we have a pluralistic society. muslims are able to achieve as much success as anyone else in this country. and that's why we don't have the same type of terrorist attacks occurring here as those cell groups are doing in europe. >> all right. and we'll end with you, brian. >> a lot of talk about how ugly politics are, how mean-spirited it's getting. april 5th at noon at the girard-dicarlo institute at villanova school of law, there's gonna be a discussion with governor jon huntsman, moderated by a distinguished brian tierney. anyway -- but governor jon huntsman, who chairs something called the "no labels" group, which is about -- let's find ways to work together which

joe lieberman and some of those folks. i think it'll be interesting discussion. and timely. >> very timely. all right, well, thank you to all of you. thank you for joining us. we hope that you're having a great weekend and enjoying your easter. and of course, we look forward to seeing you back here next week for "inside story." >> happy easter. >> happy easter. >> happy easter. ? i'm gray hall, coming up next, houston texas here they can. the villanova wildcats win a spot in the ncaa final four. police capture another suspect in the bombings in paris and brussels. around the world christians celebrate the resurrection we'll take you to those services and

more. next on "action news." for years, i was a laboratory chemist, developing drugs to fight deadly diseases. as a scientist, i know there's more that washington can do to help families. i'm running for congress to protect planned parenthood funding so more women get cancer screenings and treatment... to pass a ban on fracking in the delaware river basin to preserve our clean water, and to always protect medicare and social security. i'm shaughnessy naughton and i approve this message.

it is march 27 i'm dprai -- gray hall. nydia han is off. this is some of the stories we're following