Mike Schlossberg - Darth Voter

On Christmas Eve, I stole a story first published in The Patriot News about Lehigh Valley State Rep. Mike Schlossberg. It seems that State Rep Daryl Metcalfe watched as Mike Schlossberg did a bit of ghost voting, casting at least one vote for an absent fellow Democrat in a crucial budget matter. This is a violation of state house rules, and Metcalfe vowed he would take it up with the House Ethics Committee.

WFMZ-TV69 decided to steal this story, too, and contacted Schlossberg. Like his Mentor Fed Ed, Schlossberg has ignored requests from me for public comment. He's ignored constituents on his official Facebook page, too. But when a TV news station with a much wider audience than yours truly wanted to know what's going on, he could no longer hide.

I'd expect a normal person to act contrite and claim he simply didn't know what he was doing. I could see him blaming an Evil Twin who did it while his head was turned the other way.  Instead, Darth Voter was arrogant. He called it "much ado about nothing," a "common practice," and said it is "expressly allowed" in the Senate.

He also blamed everything on "tea party extremists."

Last time I checked, neither I nor The Patriot News are "tea party extremists." Daryl Metcalfe, the person who actually saw Darth Voter in action, is certainly a tea party enthusiast. But he's not the one who was ghost voting. That was Schlossberg.

The rule states, "No member shall be permitted to vote and have his or her vote recorded on the roll unless present in the hall of the House during the roll call vote." There is no exception in this rule for members who wish to vote against the tea party agenda.

Is it common practice?

It's not supposed to be. In fact, under House rules, a state rep must vote if he or she is at his desk when a matter comes up. He is unable to vote "present."

There's good reason for this requirement. You see, if a legislator votes, he is considered present and is entitled to claim per diems. The complaint over a "common practice" that Schlossberg derides as "much ado about nothing" is one that enables state legislators to rip off taxpayers by claiming per diems while sitting on a beach. That may not mean much to him, but it matters to those footing the bill. As Common Cause Executive Director Barry Kauffman noted way back in 1998, "Each time the rules are flagrantly violated, it breeds more violations. It breeds contempt for the whole system."

Schlossberg, who claimed $60,857 in expenses in 2014 on top of his $85,338.65/year salary, is hardly one to be concerned that legislators are taking too much from the citizens. He doesn't think much of them, and in fact disparages them for spending too much time watching TV.

Is ghost voting "expressly allowed" in the Senate?

In a word, No. In the Senate, all votes are roll call votes. If a State Senator is going to miss his vote, he advises the leader of his party how he intends to vote, and the leaders honor those wishes.

After reading Darth Voter's arrogant and dishonest explanation to WFMZ-TV69, I can only guess at what he's said to Miked Fleck.