Rep. Simmons, You do not even need to try to defend yourself at this point, Some of us have l read all the facts for both parties involved , some of us have watched the debates and some of us have even met and spoke with both of you, There is NO DOUBT that YOU are absoultely the better man for the job! :)

Cutting funding that did not exist???? This is Justin Simmons once again claiming his party did not cut public education funding. This is not true. Two biggest examples: The charter school reimbursement was eliminated and the $259 million block grant was slashed. This was not federal stimulus money. Even Corbett admitted cutting state funding: http://www.psba.org/news-publications/headlines/details.asp?id=2382

With no money proposed to replace the $100 million from the old block grant program, this budget will give schools $80 million to $94 million less to spend than they got this year from the state.

Today, after touring Mt. Joy Wire to see that 130-person business, the governor was asked if the $429 million in lost state funding for schools compared to last year, meant he "cut education funding the state used to give?"

He responded: "We reduced education if you a take a look at it as a whole"

What's Deely going to do for us?????????????????????????????????????????????

Why not just stand up and say we made cuts to PA state Education funding of education? Be 100% up front and identify how you decided to include social security and pension payments and count that as classroom spending even though it was seperate in the past. This of course gives the apperance of more k-12 classroom education spending. To cut funding and then say it was all federal stimulus money is just wrong. PA is now more dependent on local property taxes to fund education than ever. 43 states spend more state dollars on public education than PA.

When speaking to both men- Deely could NOT and DID NOT answer questions Simmons was true, honest, looked us directly in the eye and did not hesitate. He is a bright, young man. He understands what we need and works extrememly hard to try to do everything he can. This race is already over. Rep. Justin Simmons will definately run another term!

Question from Deely: Are you interested in leveling the playing field between charters and traditional public schools Answer: You just want to destroy charters. That is not an answe to the question

Question from Deely about the state unemployment rate being higher than the nation: Answer "You really believe that don't you" That is not an answer. And by the way it is true.

@Mark. Sir, I mean no disrespect. I personally asked Simmons & Deely very specific questions that were a main concern to my family & friends. Again....Simmons listened, answered and took a real interest. Deely WALKED AWAY. End of story. For my family & friends ...we made our decision-Rep. Justin Simmons! :) Have a great day.

Mark I saw that debate too, you left out the part where Mr. Simmons did answer those questions. Remember the part where Simmons said that he does support increasing accountability for charter schools.

He also said that Mr. Deely was looking at the month to month, over the course of the entire time Simmons has been in office unemployment has gone down.

Mr. Deely was also using unemployment numbers that were released most recently from the Federal government, the numbers that said unemployment just dropped under 8%. Now remember that every statistic about unemployment over the last 4 years has been WRONG and needed to be amended, but they have a couple months between when the numbers are first released to when they need to be amended, strangely that puts us until after the election. I am am sure that once the amended numbers come out unemployment will be back over 8%

Now that is all I am going to say to you on this. I am not playing chess with the pidgins any more.

Arguing with liberals is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock over all the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around the table looking victorious.

Deely's not just a union guy, he's a public employee's union guy. sorry, but i just can't get beyond that.

Mark, I agree 100% all SCHOOLS should be on the same playing field, BUT Deely has only one thing he thinks about and thats schools, yes they should be a priority but so should job's, taxes, pension reform, equal pay, etc etc. I know all the teachers are pissed off at Corbett for cutting education. But I think that the teachers union has gotten so strong that they feel the only way to rein them in is to cut funding, make the local municipalities have to raise school tax and have the tax payers in an up roar. Is it working ??? Yes I am so sick and tired at looking at my tax bill its not even funny. Something has to be done, someone needs to start working together or the whole thing is going to fall apart.

No, Deely has only one thing he thinks about and that teacher pay and benefits. The Easton leadership proved they don't give a damn about kids when they let their own union (dumbass) members lose their jobs rather than take less of a raise.

Teachers care about ONE THING... like most union lunk-heads..... their PAY AND BENEFITS.

I am a question for Mr. Simmons. 840 million cut from education (no matter how you want to describe the knife). 20,000 teachers lose their jobs. I checked my taxes for the last 5 years. I have NOT received any kind of tax break. What exactly am I paying for now? I ask all of you the same thing. Wouldn't your taxes go down if you have fiscal conservatives?

The Simmons-Deely election was over before it started. The Democrats just dont get it...The public at large loathes the Teachers and Public sector Unions. The secret is out ..their pensions are the reason for the overwhelming deficits at the state level across the country. So what do the dems do here ....lets get behind and support a Ex union boss ( Deely) from the teachers union and run him against Rep Simmons.
Whomever made the decision to run Deely should be fired on the spot. Make no mistake....Rep Simmons does a great job and he pummeled Deely in the Debate.Simmons wins by double digits,

Good grief Spengler. Are you like one of Deely's butt boys or something? Get a friggen life. You don't even live in the district.

You need to visit president bush mexico city policy and the freedom of choice act that was presented on april 19 2007 hr 1964. Also look up jerrold nadler for more assistance. Good luck justin

Justin has the state GOP writing all of his positions papers, so we can't expect him to actually keep track of his own lies. If you want to know where he stands on women's right to choose, go here http://www.pafamilyvoter.com/site/search. Justin would vote to ban coverage for abortion services under the state insurance exchanges mandated by Obamacare. He's not finished screwing over the women of PA.

@Cary, I am sorry you feel obligated to answer practically everyone's comments inorder to lead everyone to believe Deely is the best man for the job. Kevin Deely ignored the questions asked directly to him from me in a one on one conversation...my thought is, if this is how he treats his constituants prior to being elected, he doesn't deserve to be elected. He certainly is not nearly as knowledgable as Rep. Simmons...who, by the way, did NOT ignore our questions and concerns. Infact he investigated them. You can say whatever you like about Kevin Deely but Justin Simmons is the man for the job!

Okay, we get it....Kevin Deely is a drug addled useless piece of dreck also known as a teacher 'cause Lord knows all the little darlings born into the 131st district are 'above average and in NO NEED of an education' or if they do, their mummies and daddies can get the au pair to educate them.and Justin Simmons is God's little Ray of Sunshine.....that HE gave us to worship and adore. (Isn't that the purpose of the USPatch to wine, dine and ......Simmons) First of all, you have NO idea what or where any of the teachers who have posted here work, or how much they get paid or even if they get benefits never the less how good.......so, like you were asked, unless you know squat about the situation your opinions are about as useful as Simmons waxing eloquent about the functions of a uterus.....he doesn't have one, is not an OB/GYN so why do we allow him to dictate what we, those of us who have one, do with it? And Fox, IF Cary is Karen Beyer, she had that office, she is uniquely qualified to say what it entails.....I think the only reason she didn't keep the seat is Simmons was ready willing and able to get in bed with the GOP and he DIDN'T have female parts. So, Crestor? How much is Simmons paying you for those hummers?

Hey Cary.....You are definitley one of Deely's union Douche Bags. Unfortunately for you Simmons reputation is far from a sleeze ball....He does have a reputation as a gentlemen and a statesmen. Desperate people say the wrong things. If I were you I would walk away from the Deely camp. He has no shot of beating Rep Simmons.

To Carl and every other retiree who enjoys a lifestyle made possible by all of us public-school-educated taxpayers, do the patriotic thing and just stop voting. Your whole attitude is, I got mine and I'm shutting the door behind me. If you bothered to learn a few facts, instead of just the day's anti-American right-wing rants, you'd know that your taxes are going up because Justin Simmons supported Corbett's slashing of state education funding. Sending representatives like Kevin Deely to Harrisburg would shift the burden back where it belongs. If you've retired your brain, just do the right thing and retire as a voter, too.

Since Justin Simmons has been in office, I have called his office to ask questions regarding his voting record and been told they would have to contact Harrisburg to get answers. My response to that is why do we need his office if they cannot answer ANY of my questions. Elliminate his office and just call Harrisburg which would save a lot of money. Each of these representatives have at least 3 or 4 people on our taxpayer payroll. I have also talked to one of his staff at a Salisbury School Board budget meeting and asked them to call and they never did. My calls were only returned recently right before the election.
When I called Alen Spector's office when he was our Senator, they Always were aware of the bills and legislative action occuring. Karen Beyer ALWAYS responded and gave aid to constituents and her office was located in a much more central location which was much more accessible to the majority of her constituents and the handicapped.
I found Simmons attitude offensive and desrespectful during the debate when he interrupted during K. Deely's responses.
Are we forgetting that K. Deely is supported by the Sierra Club and the Conservation Voters of PA? Remember if we do not protect our environment and protect our water and air nothing else matters as we will not be able to live on this planet.
Jane

Jane,

Yes, Deely is supported by a number of left-wing, socialist, tree-hugging moronsmwhomwant to destroy our economy and our way of life. That's why Justin is the better choice. I've always found him to be intelligent, level-headed, and responsible

So Carl, just tell me: When did you and all of your WWII generation decide to turn against your country? Is this really all about Vietnam protests? Right-wingers like Simmons and Romney will eliminate Obamacare while you and yours continue to enjoy Medicare and the Drug Benefit. And while you and yours continue to enjoy Social Security, they will phase it out for those of us who are making it possible for you. Do you like seeing what austerity has done to Greece and European countries? Do you assume you'll be dead before the worst hits our society and inconveniences you in any way?