Has Kanjo Flipped On Tolling?

Lou Barletta challenged Paul Kanjorski's position on tolling I-80 yesterday. He put out a press release accusing Kanjorski of desperately trying to mislead voters on where he actually stands. The release contained previous statements from Kanjorski which demonstrated his support for tolling or lack of effort to ensure the interstate wasn't tolled.

From the release:

• Aug. 3, 2007: “I believe that the federal government should respect the decisions made by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” Statement from Paul Kanjorski after the tolls were announced, www.kanjorski.house.gov
• Nov. 8, 2007: The Peterson-English Amendment to the Transportation Appropriations Bill would have stopped the tolling of Interstate 80. The bill was defeated. Paul Kanjorski had his chance to show his independence. What did he do? Did he demand a meeting with Leadership on this amendment? Did he ask Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators to support the amendment in conference committee? He did nothing. He did not fight for his constituents.
• Nov. 29, 2007: “Let’s do all the interstates. I think we’ll have to end up tolling 80, 81, 78 and 95.” Bloomsburg Press Enterprise story printed in the Pocono Record.

On Tuesday, Kanjorski submitted a letter of opposition for tolling I-80 to the Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. The letter argued that tolls would burden Pennsylvania businesses and cited an '05 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation study that recommended not tolling the highway.

Raising the tolling issues seems to be a beneficial to Barletta because it shifts the focus away from recent attacks on his Social Security record. However, in order to further pander to Senior Citizens, Kanjorski put out another ad towards the end of last week.