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Petro Travel Center manager charged in robbery is heading to county court

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Katie McGinty describes herself as &#8220;a pretty scrappy person&#8221; and Wednesday she said, if elected, she will apply that approach in the U.S. Senate.</p><p>McGinty, 52, told the Times Leader Opinion Board that she would seek to sit on the Senate Appropriations Committee with two main priorities on her plate &#8212; to look out for taxpayers and to fight for working people.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m very resourceful when it comes to getting things done,&#8221; McGinty said via telephone. &#8220;I believe in investing in U.S. companies and putting Americans back to work.&#8221;</p><p>McGinty is running against Joe Sestak of Delaware County, Braddock Borough Mayor John Fetterman and Joe Vodvarka of Clinton, who won a big victory Tuesday when the state Supreme Court reversed a lower court and ordered the semi-retired spring manufacturing shop owner back onto the primary ballot.</p><p>The Democratic nominee will square off in November against Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, who is running unopposed in the primary.</p><p>McGinty said she will work on behalf of families, fighting for higher wages and family-sustaining jobs.</p><p>&#8220;I want to revitalize our economy,&#8221; McGinty said. &#8220;I will fight to get Pennsylvania moving again.&#8221;</p><p>McGinty, who has received several high-level endorsements and has compiled a formidable war chest, said her message has resonated with the people.</p><p>&#8220;Families are struggling to make ends meet,&#8221; she said, using terms like &#8220;working together,&#8221; and &#8220;bi-partisanship.&#8221;</p><p>McGinty said her life resume is extensive, having worked at high level positions in Washington and Pennsylvania, while also owning a business and being a working mom to her three daughters.</p><p>She said the definition of a successful U.S. senator should be measured beyond legislation. She said she has the ability to bring &#8220;the right people to the table&#8221; to address key issues.</p><p><strong>On the issues</strong></p><p><strong>Social Security/Medicare:</strong> McGinty said she wants to strengthen both of the programs. She said 40 percent of senior citizens rely on Social Security for 90 percent of their income.</p><p>McGinty said she will oppose any effort to privatize Social Security and work to ensure those benefits keep pace with inflation. She said she will fight to protect Medicare from becoming a voucher system that would force seniors to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for their health care.</p><p><strong>Education:</strong> McGinty said she would work with Pennsylvania&#8217;s senior Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, to invest in early childhood programs, like universal pre-K education, as well as to expand public education from elementary school to college.</p><p>She said she favors making college costs and technical training affordable and available to anyone willing to work hard without burdening families and students with tens of thousands in debt.</p><p>&#8220;I support the refinancing of student debt to give middle class families the break they need to afford a quality education,&#8221; she said.</p><p><strong>Jobs/economy:</strong> McGinty supports a gradual raise in the minimum wage to $15 per hour. &#8220;This is critically important,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Our wages have lagged more than just about every other state. Household income is less than it was six years ago and wages are not going up.&#8221;</p><p>McGinty said more than 14 million new jobs have been created, but &#8220;the wages just aren&#8217;t there.&#8221; She said some 70 percent of economic activity is driven by increased spending power. &#8220;In areas where the minimum wage has been increased, the economy has been impacted positively. It&#8217;s vital to growing the economy.&#8221;</p><p><strong>U.S. Supreme Court:</strong> McGinty said the current opening on the nation&#8217;s highest court should be filled now. She said no nominee should be given a rubber stamp, but should be afforded a fair, efficient and effective hearing.</p><p>In choosing a Supreme Court justice, McGinty said she would require the nominee to favor a woman&#8217;s freedom to make health decisions, a union&#8217;s right to organize and bargain, a clean environment and the overturning of the 2010 Citizens United ruling that tossed out the corporate and union ban on making independent expenditures and financing electioneering communications and gave corporations and unions the green light to spend unlimited sums on ads and other political tools, calling for the election or defeat of individual candidates.</p><p>McGinty also said she feels there should be limits on campaign spending.</p><p><strong>Gun control:</strong> McGinty, who boasts that she has a target in her office that has a bulls-eye she hit from 200 yards, said there needs to be some &#8220;common sense steps taken to reduce gun violence.</p><p>&#8220;Military armament should be for the military,&#8221; she said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Katie McGinty, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, talks with the Times Leader Opinion Board recently. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL061315KatieMcGinty-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Katie McGinty, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, talks with the Times Leader Opinion Board recently. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Senate candidate promises to use &#8216;scrappy&#8217; style to get things done</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Katie McGinty</strong></p><p>Age: 52 (May 11, 1953)</p><p>Party: Democrat</p><p>Seeking: U.S. Senate</p><p>Family: Husband, Karl Hausker; 3 daughters</p><p>Residence: Wayne, Chester County</p><p>Education: B.S., St. Joseph&#8217;s University (1985); J.D., Columbia University Law School (1988)</p><p>Experience: Legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Al Gore (1989-1993); chairwoman, White House Council on Environmental Quality (1993-1998); adviser to Gore presidential campaign (2000); vice president, Natsource LLC (2001-2003); secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (2003-2008); senior vice president, Weston Solutions Inc. (2010-2013); unsuccessful candidate for governor (2014); chairwoman, Campaign for a Fresh Start (2014); chief of staff, Gov. Tom Wolf&#8217;s administration (2015).</p><p>Website: <a href="http://katiemcginty.com/" target="_blank">katiemcginty.com</a></p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

McGinty said she will use her ‘scrappy’ style to get things done