Friday news roundup

• Well, this is just heart-warming: half of the freshman class in the PA State Assembly are choosing free lease-to-own cars paid for by taxpayers. Notable from the greater Philadelphia area are Reps. Rick Taylor (yup, "we only have one car and I don't want to strand my wife") and Brian Lenz (nope, "vowed to put voter interests first"). I think this also leaves Babette Josephs as the only regional Rep. who takes public transit to and from Harrisburg...
  
  
• The Inquirer looks at the current Philadelphia mayoral field and wonders about the health of the GOP here. Even potential party-switchers probably judge that it's the wrong year to be running on the Republican ticket...
  
  
• Our own Sen. Arlen Specter appears to be behind the disappearing US Attorneys around the country (being replaced without Senate input), via a clause he sneaked into a bill at the last minute. Some moderate.
  
  
• A profile of the Granny Peace Brigade and their visit to Washington, which doubles as a reflection on the changing roles of older women.
  
  
• An opening on the School Reform Commission has been filled with a Rendell appointment of a local foundation executive.
  
  
• DN columnist Elmer Smith looks at recent candidate proposals to combat violence with increased policing levels, and argues that increasing probation/parole officer numbers would be a more cost-effective way to reduce high rates of recidivism. Surely nobody working 175 cases is giving them all what they need to find a better way of life.
  
  
• The DN opinion page feels cautious optimism about Gov. Rendell's ambitious health-care agenda. Some folks over at YPP seem excited too.
  
  
• AAJane caught Rendell speaking on a local TV call-in show and offers a rough transcript of the discussion, including a smattering of detail about his health care proposals (and a diss for single-payer solutions) and other issues/programs.