Reality Checks

I'm a big fan of www.factcheck.org which I used extensively during the recent presidential campaign.
Since copying is the biggest form of flattery, I've decided to do a little fact-checking myself.

From a recent Ravenstahl campaign announcement (courtesy of the Busman):

"Pittsburgh needs leadership, not a desperate politician willing to do or say anything to get elected. That's why and how he's run for four political offices in the last 8 years with no accomplishments to show for it. While he's talking and done nothing, I have submitted campaign finance reform pending before Council and I am reforming Pittsburgh's decades old procurement practices. Politics as usual from Dowd. Try again, Pat."

Let's get this straight. Back in June, Ravenstahl vetoed the campaign finance bill that City Council passed. Councilman Dowd voted for this campaign finance reform bill. At the time, Ravenstahl said: "It provides an unfair competitive advantage for the wealthy and will have a chilling effect on the labor movement. It will inhibit the ability of challengers to mount successful campaigns against incumbents." Six months later, in January, Ravenstahl and Onorato co-introduced a joke of a campaign reform bill that is clearly too late to affect this year's election, and has ludicrously high limits. Now, "Mr. Ravenstahl said previously that the proposed campaign finance bill will make substantive changes and could hurt incumbents like him." So which is it? Will Ravenstahl, the incumbent, be hurt or helped by campaign finance reform? We're supposed to believe that Ravenstahl will veto a bill that will help him, yet be a proponent of a bill that will hurt him. Ha.

I've already done a report on what I think Dowd has done right over the past year. You can decide for yourselves if you think Dowd has "no accomplishments to show for it." Additionally, in the past week or so, he has also been continuously calling out Ravenstahl on issues from pay-to-play politics to the PWSA bond issue. I wish he hadn't waited until deciding to run for mayor to call out the incumbent, but it's better late than never.

Things Ravenstahl got right:
Pittsburgh does need leadership. And a lot of us are pretty sick of you, Ravenstahl, the desperate politician willing to do or say anything to get elected.