Pay raise furor on the right

Rep. Mark Cohen has expressed concern that, while some progressive organizations have condemned the legislative pay-raise and attempted to use it as leverage for liberal ends (e.g., a hike in the minimum wage), the majority of the outrage has come from the right, where it has an anti-government flavor (and thus quite different goals). The Sunday Inquirer pursues that angle in a story positing a civil war within the state GOP with the grassroots taking exception to the move and the leadership defending it.

And at a meeting yesterday of the Republican State Committee, members passed a resolution knocking the GOP-controlled legislature and Democrat Gov. Rendell for the pay hike - a move that pollster Michael Young, a longtime observer of state politics, called "extraordinary."

In fact, conservative talk radio hosts and groups like the Young Republicans appear to be planning to punish some members of their party in upcoming primaries, perhaps finding Toomey-like super-conservatives to run against raise supporters. An interesting historical analysis of state conservative groups and trends can be found here.