Want a road map to the White House?

You might want to check out the Manufacturer & Business Association’s “Eggs ‘n’ Issues” briefing Wednesday at 8 a.m. It will be held at the association’s conference center, 2171 W. 38th St.

David Kozak, professor of public policy and director of Leadership Erie at Gannon University, will speak at the event.

David Kozak/File photo

The political analyst will speak on the topic: “Road to the White House: Where We’re At, How We Got Here and Where We’re Going.” Besides the 2012 elections, he will discuss the “shifting sands” of American politics.

To register, contact Ann Miaczynski at 833-3200 or 800-815-2660. The cost is $30 for members; $60 for nonmembers.

– John Guerriero

Can’t get enough of former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter?

Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter/File photo

Well, then, you should set your DVRs to the Pennsylvania Cable Network, which is airing a 15-hour, five-part series: “Arlen Specter: An Oral History.” The series starts tonight at 7 p.m., with a new episode airing nightly through Friday at that same time.

Repeats will air at 9 a.m., Tuesday through Friday, and Saturday at 2 p.m.

The series is a compilation of one year’s worth of candid one-on-one interviews with Specter on topics such as the JFK assassination, the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings and the professional difficulties Specter encountered due to his Jewish faith, according to PCN.

Check PCN’s website  for your cable company’s channel listing.

– John Guerriero

A special guest blog post from city government reporter Erica Erwin:

Democrat Joe Sinnott will run for a third and final four-year term as Erie’s mayor.

Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott/File photo

Sinnott, whose current term runs through the end of 2013, said he wants to run for a third term because he has not yet accomplished everything he planned when he took the top job at Erie City Hall.
Specifically, Sinnott said he wants to continue working with the Pennsylvania League of Cities & Municipalities’ Core Communities in Crisis Task Force, a group of elected officials working to address financial and other issues facing municipalities across the state.

He said he also wants to continue to be involved in the redevelopment of the former GAF Materials Corp. site on Erie’s bayfront and ongoing revitalization efforts in the city’s midtown.
“I said that I would stay on until I felt the work I wanted to accomplish was done,” Sinnott said.
Sinnott said he is not aware of any challengers he might face in the 2013 municipal election.

Interest rates on federally subsidized student loans could double July 1 unless Congress takes action to keep them at 3.4 percent.

And with Senate Republicans today blocking a bill aimed at keeping them low, the Barack Obama campaign in Pennsylvania went on the offensive.

Both parties say they want an extension of the low student rates, but the GOP balks at the way the Democratic bill would pay for it. It would force high-earning stockholders in some privately owned corporations and professional practices to pay higher Medicare and Social Security payroll taxes, according to the Associated Press.

During a conference call today with reporters from the Erie Times-News and other media outlets, Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord, a Democrat; state Rep. Tony Payton, of Philadelphia County, D-179th Dist.; and Kathryn Badillo, a Millersville University of Pennsylvania graduating senior, talked about the prospect of the higher rates.

McCord said the clock is ticking for more than 7 million undergraduates, including nearly 400,000 in Pennsylvania.

McCord said that keeping college affordable is a critical part of Obama’s blueprint for the economy.

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has said that he, too, supports a push to keep the interest rates low.

But McCord claims Romney has contradicted himself, saying he supports a budget that would double the loan rates and then saying he opposes the idea.

Payton said he still has about $11,000 in debt from his college loans, while Badillo said she will graduate with about $25,000 in loans.

“Having this debt just waiting for me after graduation is a little concerning,” she said.

If there’s any good news here, it’s that interest rates would increase only on new loans.

Obama needs to recapture the youth vote, and this is an issue that could get college students involved. But expect both Obama and Romney to push the issue.

– John Guerriero

The Republican National Committee has issued its response to a new video touting President Barack Obama’s accomplishments during his first term in office.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus released the following statement on Monday:

“For someone whose campaign slogan is ‘forward,’ President Obama spends a lot of time looking backward and blaming others for the state of the American economy. While Obama may want you to forget he’s been president for the past three and a half years, the fact that his policies have wreaked havoc on the middle class from high unemployment, high energy and higher education costs won’t be forgotten. America deserves better than Obama’s brand of hype and blame.”