John Featherman. (Photo: Facebook)

John Featherman, the underdog Republican nominee running against Rep. Bob Brady in Pennsylvania's first congressional district has released a new ad online calling his rival "a dog" and accusing him of backing allies indulging in scandalous behavior including spending taxpayer dollars at strip clubs. The ad, which is entitled "My Dog, Bob Brady,"  begins with a scene at the Philadelphia "foreign student program" where a woman with an unspecified foreign accent asks another woman for help coming up with an "American name" for her new Yorkshire Terrier. The other woman suggests the dog owner name her Yorkie "Bob Brady" because he's "one of the worst congressmen ever" and "a dog."

In the ad, the woman continues to explain that "Boss Brady gets people elected in the city council and statehouse" where they "hot dog around." To illustrate this, the ad shows shots of a man approaching a scantily clad woman in a bar and a pair of cigar smoking men in suits ogling a dancing stripper.

"Bob Brady's been a big dog in government for a long time and his party's lapdance loving lapdogs are having a doggone good time wasting taxpayer dollars," the woman says.

"I'm a democratic party boss here in Philly, so the cash comes with the job!" one of the cigar smokers happily exclaims to the dancer shimmying in front of him.

Mr. Featherman, whom the folks over at PoliticsPA describe as a "perennial protest candidate" has a history of releasing provocative campaign ads. The stripper scene is taken from an ad he released in May of last year. His latest ad finishes with a shot of an elderly naked woman kissing a framed photo of Mr. Brady, which is from another ad he put out in March that featured the nude woman giving voters the "naked truth" about Mr. Brady.

Despite his provocative videos, Mr. Featherman is a longshot to defeat Mr. Brady, who has served in the House of Representatives since 1999 and never taken less than 85 percent of the vote in a general election. Based on the latest campaign finance reports, Mr. Brady also has $771,174 in his campaign war chest compared to Mr. Featherman's $2,375. Mr. Featherman's website identifies him as a real estate agent and "elected Republican committeeman" in Philadelphia's Chinatown neighborhood.

Watch Mr. Featherman's new ad below.

Jerry Sandusky at a preliminary hearing in his trial for child sexual abuse. (Photo: Getty)

An interesting article that appeared in yesterday's print New York Post, but somehow hasn't made its way online, details a major GOP donor's ties to the Penn State sex scandal. The story, written by Carl Campanile, noted Lance Shaner, who gave the maximum donation of $2,500 to the Romney campaign and $100,000 to Mr. Romney's super PAC Restore Our Future, served on the board of convicted child molester and retired Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky's charity, Second Mile. Mr. Shaner also donated $155,550 to Republican Pennsylvania Tom Corbett's gubernatorial campaign and the Pennsylvania Republican Party headquarters was named after him. 

Second Mile was founded by Mr. Sandusky in 1977, ostensibly to help underprivileged and at-risk youth. Mr. Sandusky met many of his victims through the charity. Questions have been raised about the Second Mile board's handling of Mr. Sandusky. the charity is reportedly being investigated by the U.S. Postal Service, which enforces some federal laws related to child exploitation. Mr. Corbett has also called for an investigation.

Mr. Shaner was on Second Mile's board from 1998 until 2006. During this time, the charity was made aware of child abuse allegations against Mr. Sandusky on at least two occasions. In 1998, Second Mile knew Mr. Sandusky was being investigated for "misconduct in a Penn State shower" with a boy from the program. That investigation was closed when the district attorney declined to press charges. In 2002, Second Mile CEO Jack Raykovitz claimed he was told by Penn State's athletic director Tim Curley that the University conducted an investigation into an allegation of "inappropriate contact by Mr. Sandusky with a youth in a university locker room" but found "no corroboration."

Second Mile finally removed Mr. Sandusky "from all of our program activities involving children" in 2008 when he let them know about a third investigation of allegations of sexual abuse made against him by an underage boy. In spite of this, he was still affiliated with the charity until his retirement in September 2010.

According to the Post, Mr. Shaner declined to comment on their story, "but Romney backers in Pennsylvania defended him."

"Lance is a terrific guy. I don't see any connection with Sandusky," Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Rob Gleason said.

President Barack Obama

With his latest campaign ad blitz in the battleground states, President Barack Obama would like to remind you that the economic crisis began before he was in office. His ad, which will air in nine states, articulates what are clearly becoming the main early messages of his reelection bid; the economic recovery may be slow, but it is happening and the Obama administration has made a number of acheivements that make it worth keeping the faith for the many voters who believed in him during the last election.

"In 2008 an economic meltdown, 4.4 million jobs lost, America's economy spiraling down. All before this president took the oath" a narrator says in between grim news clips from the financial crisis as the ad begins.

As shots of Tea Partiers play, the narrator said,  "some said our best days were behind us, but not him." The narrator goes on to give the Obama administration credit for several accomplishments as clips of the president play beginning with a shot of his inauguration clearly labeled "January 2009."

"He believed in us. Fought for us and today our auto industry is back firing on all cylinders. Our greatest enemy brought to justice by our greatest heroes Our troops are home from Iraq. Instead of losing jobs were creating them," the narrator said.

President Obama's ad, which is called "Go" ends with an acknowledgment the economy hasn't fully recovered. However, it argues the president still deserves the fervent hope he infamously inspired and courted in 2008.

"We're not there yet, it's still too hard for too many," the narrator said. "But we're coming back, because America's greatness comes from a strong middle class. Because you don't quit and neither does he."

"Go" is airing in all of the biggest battleground states; Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado. Watch the ad below.

Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney at a presidential debate in Arizona in February. (Photo: Getty)

Mitt Romney and his erstwhile rival in the race for the Republican nomination, Rick Santorum, are spending a little time together today at the Pittsburgh home of Mr. Santorum's former senior strategist, John Brabender. Staffers for Mr. Santorum described the sitdown as two politicians, just hanging out.

"Santorum aides have said an immediate endorsement of Romney is not expected at the session. Instead, they describe an opportunity for the one-time opponents to get to know each other better and discuss the upcoming general election campaign," reports CNN.

According to his aides. Mr. Santorum also hopes to discuss some of his pet issues with Mr. Romney. During his campaign Mr. Santorum, focused on social issues, particularly abortion and gay marriage.

Staffers with both men released few details of their Pittsburgh powwow, which the pair of politicians apparently wanted to keep quiet.

State Senator Liz Krueger said she has some concerns about Governor Cuomo's new tax plan.

Occupy Wall Street protesters launched an effort to take over foreclosed homes. 

A Senate committee subpoenaed former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine about his role in the collapse of financial firm MF Global.

Not everyone in Dimock, Pennsylvania thinks they need water deliveries to combat the effects of hydrofracking.

A young man with a gay mother had some words with Michele Bachmann.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals doesn't think White House Press Secretary Jay Carney took bestiality seriously enough at a recent briefing.

Mark Ruffalo makes his case against hydrofracking outside a hearing in Manhattan last week. (Photo: Hunter Walker)

A group led by actor Mark Ruffalo took a bus from City Hall to Pennsylvania today to deliver water to a community they say was affected by the controversial natural gas drilling procedure called hydrofracking. Governor Cuomo and the state Department of Environmental Conservation are currently considering whether to allow hydrofracking in New York.

Mr. Ruffalo, a longtime opponent of the procedure and resident of upstate Sullivan County, told Politicker fracking contaminated the water in Dimock and he thinks it would have similar consequences here. "There's no doubt in my mind, or most people's minds at this point, that the way this industry has been moving forward up until now will contaminate New York State," Mr. Ruffalo said.

Hydrofracking, which is short for hydraulic fracturing, involves extracting gas from underground rock layers by creating fractures with a cocktail of pressurized water and chemicals. Last year, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Ed Rendell, who was the state's governor at the time, determined the water in Dimock was unsafe and said Cabot Oil and Gas, which conducts hydrofracking in the area, would have to pay $12 million for a pipeline to bring drinking water to the area. In the meantime, Cabot was required to deliver water to affected homes.

"On November 30, Cabot Oil and the DEP decided that these folks, for no scientific reason, no longer need this water, so they cut them off," Mr. Ruffalo said. "We're bringing our New York State, pure New York State unfracked drinking water, to the folks in Dimock, P.A., our brothers and sisters, our fellow Americans," Mr. Ruffalo said.

Mr. Ruffalo said the decision to abandon plans for the pipeline and stop water delivery was made after Pennsylvania's newly-elected governor, Tom Corbett, received more than a million dollars in campaign contributions from the energy industry.

"When Corbett came into office, he dropped that plan. He took a $1.6 million, what I'd like to say vig, from the oil and gas industry to stop the $12 million pipeline that Cabot Oil was meant to build," Mr. Ruffalo said.

Before departing on a bus bound for Dimock, Mr. Ruffalo held a press conference on the steps of City Hall where he was joined by activists from several environmental groups and Lance Simmens, a former special assistant to Governor Rendell. Mr. Simmens slammed Governor Corbett's decision to discontinue water delivery and the planned pipeline.

"The current Administration clearly needs to address this deplorable decision," Mr. Simmens said.

The mayor of Binghamton, New York, which is about 30 miles from Dimock, supplied the water for Mr. Ruffalo's mission.

"Binghampton has offered to join in a mutual benefacting relationship with Dimock, P.A. to bring them water every single day at no cost," Mr. Ruffalo said. "The town board of Dimock, P.A. voted three to zero against allowing that to happen after taking a meeting with Cabot Oil. Endemic corruption is happening in Pennsylvania and it needs to be looked into."

As of this writing Cabot Oil and Governor Corbett's office have not responded to Politicker's request for comment on this story.

Though he's concerned about the situation in Pennsylvania, Mr. Ruffalo is optimistic hydrofracking won't come to New York. The Department of Environmental Conservation is currently reviewing whether to allow the procedure here after conducting a series of hearings around the state. Mr. Ruffalo said those hearings went "amazingly well" with opponents of hydrofracking greatly outnumbering those who showed up in support of the procedure.

"It was four-to-one in Binghamton, in Loch Sheldrake it was like eleven-to-one against gas drilling and, here in New York City, it was like 2,000-to-two people," Mr. Ruffalo said. "It sends a very clear message to the Governor where New Yorkers stand on this issue. As people get educated on this, they're turning away from the idea that this is actually good for New York State."

Folk singer Joan Baez is playing an Occupy Wall Street concert.

Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. changed his Facebook profile photo to a picture from his trial after he was acquitted of bribery charges. 

The NYPD disciplined the trio of officers who arrested City Councilman Jumaane Williams and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio's community affairs director Kirsten John Foy at the West Indian American Labor Day Parade in September.

Governor Cuomo made a pair of appointments.

President Obama's right hand man announced he's leaving the White House by year's end.

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno lost his shot at a Presidential Medal of Freedom following allegations he protected an assistant who sexually abused multiple young boys.