Druck-ing Up the Election

From Joe "The Nerd" Ferraro's blog on The Huffington Post:

Pennsylvania lost a congressional seat as the result of not gaining enough people relative to other states. The GOP took full control of the state government in 2010. They have the opportunity to redraw the lines for the new congressional districts.

Part of the reason the GOP was able to maintain control of the statehouse was a Democratic state representative from suburban Philadelphia, Paul Drucker (D-157 Dist.), who in 2009 got the that reaches from King of Prussia, PA, to Reading, PA, US 422. This is an hour drive when traffic is clear – it takes about 3 days during rush hour.

Dotted along this highway are corporate centers (many somewhat empty), drug company headquarters, outlet malls, growing suburban population centers and Valley Forge National Park.

The proposal would have cost residents and businesses literally thousands of dollars to drive this road.

When Drucker, whose district sits around the King of Prussia terminus of the highway, was told of the economic damage this tolling would do to the residents and businesses of region, he turned a tin ear to keep pushing the idea along.

Read more about Ferraro's theory that Drucker's ambition could once again sink the Democrats here.