Campaign Political Pipe Dreams strain the Realms of Reality

It occurs to me that many of the current candidates for the Pennsylvania Lt. Governor job have not even read the job description nor do they understand the concept of leaders and followers. Like all true politicians, they are talking Political Pipe Dream Goals well outside the Realms of Reality and taking public credit for work they were ordered to do by the people they serve, claiming accomplishments for themselves that was actually done by the multitude of committees or boards they sat on, and pushing political campaign agendas that they know full well they will neither have the authority nor the support necessary to get done.

Mr. Schenker states that he’s going to build a grass roots movement to get two constitutional amendments passed to limit the state legislators terms and to reduce the size and cost of the legislator. Saying that it’s going to take him 4 to 6 years to get this done, what is he going to be doing for the people of Pennsylvania while he’s so busy attacking the legislator? He indicates that he’ll be doing nothing else during the 4 year term, calling the Lt. Governor’s position a do-little post and a sidekick bully-pulpit position.

Carol Aichele is someone who’s never owned or run a business, but claims to understand business and shows her ignorance by stating that “some business principles” might apply to government. She and her fellow commissioners are supposedly using a new process that she calls “management for results”.

If she wants to banter about business terminology, then she should first understand that “Management for Results” is a concept as old as business itself and is a personal management skills building concept for general managers who hold profit/loss responsibilities within a company and is normally applied to their professional growth plan rather than applied to business principles and is the first time I’ve heard it used as a Government management principle.

In a statement sounding very similar to the Democratic Party’s stance on government control, she states “The Chester commissioners examine every program and proposal to see if it fits with one of six priority areas determined by the board - those that don't fit are dropped. We define the results we want, and then we budget to manage and achieve those results. It is a business model for managing government. Results in the school district showed that the process makes government more effective and less costly in the long run. The same process could be used on the state level”.

Mrs. Aichele, this might be a good model for kitchen table budget economics but which priority areas are you going to use to ‘decide’ where money should be spent on a state wide disaster or even a federal kick in program that brings jobs and revenues into our state?

The last I understood of our constitution, it’s the legislator that determines how much money we’re going to collect and spend and it’s the Governor’s and their job to budget that money out to projects and programs. I ask, exactly how much of the state budget are you Mrs. Aichele as Lt. Governor, going to have control over to use your Management for Results principles on?

These are two examples of candidates who for political campaign purposes are talking outside the realms of reality and outside the realities of their experience and knowledge of executive government. While they try to focus the public attention on pipe dreams about the abilities and capabilities of the Lt. Governor’s role in government, they should look at reality and for once look at the job description and try to understand exactly what the role of the Lt. Governor is, before they talk about pipe dreams.

Lt. Governor’s Job Description

* The primary responsibility of the Lieutenant Governor is to assume the office of Governor should the elected Governor be unable to complete the term

* The Lieutenant Governor's constitutional duty is to preside over the State Senate, where he or she may vote only in the event of a tie

* As a member of the Executive branch, the Lieutenant Governor (can) be an important source of advice and assistance to the Governor in policy formation and administration

* The Lieutenant Governor's actual role depends upon the Governor

As a business owner who manages by example rather than for results, a leader of personnel who again manages by example rather than for results, a manager of real assets and a Soldier who understands the interactive roles of leader and follower; I find it more amusing than insulting how the current cadre of candidates for Lt. Governor are using the same old time tested, political smoke schemes, over and over to blur the eyes of the public and the media to seek a position in which they will pursue their own agenda of political back climbing rather than assisting the governor and legislators in managing the affairs of the state.

This message was authorized by:

Robert Allen Mansfield
Candidate, Lt. Governor, PA