Pennsylvania Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr. has not mastered the art of pandering. Or answering embarrassing questions about his inaction with something more reassuring than variations of "I don't know." Mr. Casey is a genuinely likeable person with what appears to be a solid and unblemished track record of public service. He also is the likely Democrat candidate who will try to unseat U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn Hills, on Election Day. Casey's office sent a seemingly harmless news release last week titled "Casey sides with taxpayers in pay raise lawsuit." Given the overwhelming revulsion Pennsylvanians have for the General Assembly's unconscionable and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to give massive pay raises to its members and others in state government -- without debate or public input -- how could Casey go wrong by siding with the people in a lawsuit filed by a citizen activist• Here's how. The news release inadvertently raised questions about Casey that apparently he had not anticipated. We spoke by telephone on Wednesday. His "well-documented public opposition to the legislative pay raise" consists of that news release and one in October (three months after the pay-jacking was signed into law by Gov. Ed Rendell) and a newspaper story in which Casey said he opposed the raise. He could not name another instance. Even when prompted. Casey did not speak about the pay-jacking with Mr. Rendell, the ringleaders in the Legislature or state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Cappy, who helped cook up the scheme. Casey, who has a law degree, did not file a lawsuit regarding the pay-jacking. Why? "I am not sure what you could do," he said. "I did not look into it." The issue is not even mentioned on the Casey campaign Web site or the state Treasury's, other than the news releases. This is his "well-document public opposition"? Casey also is a board trustee of the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System. Board members squandered more than $207,000 for 116 out-of-state junkets in the last seven years including to Europe, Asia and Las Vegas. Board chairman Roger May and finance committee chairwoman Melva Vogler have attended 59 conferences since July 1998. The two account for more than half the money spent on junkets. Did Casey do anything about that unconscionable misuse of money other than issuing a statement of concern? "I don't think we did," Casey said. Has that travel policy changed or is it still in effect• "I do not recall," he said. "I am not aware of any change." Did Casey or any other board member at least speak with the globetrotters? "I don't think so." Was any trip a violation of the travel policy? "I am not aware that it was," he said. Did Casey look into that? "No," he said. "I would not know if every trip was legitimate. I am sure within that context the executive director Jeff Clay does. I do know his office is very professional and thorough." Candidate Casey understandably wants the voters to focus on the money he has saved the taxpayers and the tens of billions of state dollars in his care. But now voters will be questioning if Casey really cared about the pay-jacking. They also will wonder how much of the well-documented PSERS money Casey could have saved the taxpayers. And of course, why he didn't.

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