HARRISBURG -- It sounds impossible, maybe even ridiculous, but Lebanon County businessman and political activist Russ Diamond insists he's serious.

He'll try to persuade his fellow Pennsylvanians to make a "clean sweep" of state legislators, throwing out all incumbent House members and half of the Senate in the 2006 elections.

Diamond, 42, who runs a company that makes compact discs and DVDs, launched a campaign yesterday called Operation Clean Sweep.

Diamond, who lives in Annville, 20 miles east of Harrisburg, debuted a Web site called www.pacleansweep.com as a way for other Pennsylvanians who are as upset as he is over the pay raises legislators approved for themselves to keep in contact.

He called it a way to channel his anger, and that of his friends, neighbors and other disaffected voters who are upset over pay raises ranging from 16 percent to 34 percent that state lawmakers approved in the wee hours of July 7.

"As someone who watches government closely, I'm always upset at what the Legislature does, but this time they truly did cross the line," said Diamond, who ran last year for both the state House and for Congress on the Libertarian party ticket.

"This time, it's a smack in the face of voters," said Diamond, who is now a registered Republican. "They act like voters are sheep and I don't think they are."

He has set a wildly ambitious goal -- to look for challengers and political neophytes willing to run against the 203 incumbent House members and 25 senators in either the May 2006 primary or the November 2006 general election. Half of the 50 senators will be up for re-election next year.

Diamond described his actions as "a grass-roots effort to channel taxpayer ire over the legislative body's recent vote to increase compensation for themselves and members of the executive and judicial branches."

He said the Web site "will list non-incumbent candidates who sign a declaration affirming their willingness, once elected, to repeal the raise [and] subject future raises to voter referendum."

Repealing the raises is virtually impossible. General Assembly leaders pushed strongly for the higher pay for themselves and the rank and file, using choice committee assignments to attract subordinates' votes and saying, correctly, that voters haven't punished legislators over a pay raise in decades.

Diamond said he's on the conservative end of the political spectrum, but added, "This pay raise issue cuts across the usual conservative/liberal, Democratic/Republican political lines."

He said he knows that talk radio shows and newspaper letters to the editor are filled with protests against the raises, and he's even heard talk about lawsuits being filed to try to block the raises.

But, he insisted, "the only sure way to right this wrong is by removing all incumbent lawmakers from Harrisburg."

Without any debate, state House members voted 119-79 for the pay raises at about 1 a.m. on July 7 just before adjourning for the summer. The Senate voted 27-23 an hour later, also without debate, and left the Capitol.

Longtime Harrisburg observers say voter anger has been stirred in the past over pay raises or hefty pension increases for legislators, but within a few weeks voters calmed down.

Diamond said he's aware of that but hopes this time will be different.

Why does he want to throw out all incumbents, rather than just those who voted for the pay raise?

He said he isn't impressed with what legislators who voted against the raise are saying -- that judges and Gov. Ed Rendell's Cabinet members deserved it or that the legislators will give the extra money to charitable causes.

He's disappointed that lawmakers who voted against the raise seem afraid to openly criticize their colleagues who voted for it.

According to Diamond, some conservative Republican legislators from the Reading-Lebanon area have said privately they voted for the raise in exchange for a promise that leaders will hold a vote this fall on a plan for broadening the sales tax and eliminating property taxes.

"This whole horse-trading thing among legislators is a real problem," Diamond said.

In a related matter yesterday, a think tank called Issues Pa released a study of the cost of the Pennsylvania Legislature and how it compares with other states.

It confirmed that Pennsylvania legislators, at their new base salary of $81,050 a year, have surpassed New York and Michigan -- at $79,500 and $79,650 respectively -- and now trail only California -- at $99,000, soon to rise to $111,000.

It also said Pennsylvania has the most full-time legislators of any state, 253. The only state with more legislators is New Hampshire, but those 424 legislators get only $100 a year for a limited number of session days per year.

"While the increase in each legislator's base pay irks a lot of people," Issues Pa said, "the size of the Legislature is an even bigger driver of cost."