One Year After His Inaugural, Corbett Struggles with Misplaced Priorities and Controversy

January 18, 2012

 

Harrisburg, PA - Today is the one-year anniversary of Tom Corbett's swearing-in ceremony. Gov. Corbett's first year was filled with missteps including plum positions for donors to misplaced priorities to policy failures to a string of cabinet mishaps and much more.

 

"Tom Corbett's first year has been a disaster for Pennsylvania families," said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Jim Burn. "Gov. Corbett started his year by kicking 41,000 Pennsylvanians off their health coverage and ended it by denying Medicaid benefits for 88,000 children. He has filled his cabinet with donors and their family members, passed a budget that decimated education and supported partisan legislation at the expense of policies that will help create jobs and get our economy back on track. It's an awful first year record."

 

Corbett's staff distributed a memo trashing his fellow GOP governors in an attempt to puff up his own record.


 

Memo on Corbett's performance missing a few things (Morning Call) But the memo, penned by the governor's deputy chief of staff, Luke Bernstein, in anticipation of last month's Pennsylvania Society gala, overlooks the reality that several administration goals were unfinished at the time and some continue to face long legislative odds in 2012.

 
 Corbett's administration removed 88,000 children from Medicaid.

 

Since August, 88,000 Pennsylvania children have lost Medicaid benefits (Philadelphia Inquirer) More children lost Medicaid coverage in Pennsylvania in December than in the previous three months combined, according to new Department of Public Welfare numbers that show a total of 88,000 cut since August.
 


A high paid Corbett administration official resigned over controversial comments he made about women.


 

Corbett aide who edited journal resigns (Philadelphia Inquirer) A high-level Corbett administration adviser resigned his $104,470 position Tuesday after questions were raised about his outside role as editor of a conservative faith-based journal. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120118_Corbett_aide_who_edited_journal_resigns.html?viewAll=y

 


Corbett proposed making it more difficult for struggling Pennsylvanians to receive food stamps.  

 

Prospect of 'asset test' for food stamps in Pa. stirs anger, fear (WHYY) The state of Pennsylvania's plan to end food assistance to people who have more than $2,000 in savings is getting quite a reaction.


 
Corbett filled his cabinet with donors and their family members. Cabinet members then caused one bad headline after another by repeatedly abusing their power.

 

Inquirer Editorial: Follow the money (Philadelphia Inquirer) Elections have consequences, so it's hardly shocking that Republican Gov.-elect Tom Corbett is loading up his transition team with business leaders. But Corbett's reliance on advisers who contributed bundles of cash to his campaign is another deflating example of money buying access in Harrisburg.

http://articles.philly.com/2010-12-26/news/26356706_1_donor-limits-transition-team-team-corbett

 

Corbett cabinet capers continue (Philadelphia Inquirer) We are beginning to wonder whether some high-ranking members of Gov. Corbett's administration (and in one case, those related to them) need a course in civility. 

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/harrisburg_politics/Corbett-cabinet-capers-continue.html

 

Corbett passed a budget that slashed funding for K-12 and higher education, forced dramatic increases in Pennsylvania tuition costs, forced increases in local property taxes, caused the loss of tens of thousands of Pennsylvania jobs, increased class sizes and dismantled the social safety net. The budget process lacked transparency in spite of his campaign promises and provided corporate giveaways.

  

Gov. Corbett's first budget deserves a D (Patriot-News) So how did lawmakers do? Unfortunately, not well. I'm giving this budget a D. The budget prioritizes spending reductions regardless of consequences - a priority that few Pennsylvanians share. To accomplish this, the budget cuts the number of teachers in the classroom, raises college tuition and forces increases in local property taxes in many places. It leaves most of a $785 million revenue surplus untouched and frees natural gas drillers once more from paying a tax in Pennsylvania that they pay everywhere else. 

Corbett kicked 41,000 Pennsylvanians off their health insurance by letting adultBasic expire.

 

Working Poor Sue Gov. Corbett Over AdultBasic Funding (CBS Pittsburgh) Last month, adultBasic became the first victim of the Corbett administration's budget axe and now in a David and Goliath battle, people like Sheryl are taking on the governor.

 

Despite the state's budget problems, Corbett refused to implement a severance tax so he could keep in Grover Norquist's good graces and protect his gas-drilling donors.

 

Corbett argues against a severance tax (WITF) Polls may show a majority of Pennsylvanians favor a natural gas severance tax, but Republican Governor Tom Corbett calls the concept "un-American," and argues the levy would stifle a growing industry.

 

Corbett ignored the crisis of Pennsylvania's infrastructure. 

 

OPINION: Corbett fiddles while Pennsylvania roads crumble (Express-Times) Here is what we see: A governor in the grip of paralysis. While his spokespeople have hinted that he will speak up soon about the possibility of impact fees on natural gas drillers, his seeming ambivalence on the transportation crisis borders on negligence. It's time to act, and Corbett must know that. The Legislature is primed to deal with this issue, knowing that when the calendar flips to 2012 and House and Senate campaigns begin heating up, the political will to raise any tax or fee will evaporate. Then we'll be looking to Corbett to take a stand on rutted roads and crumbling bridges in 2013, when he begins assessing his chances for re-election.

Corbett's top priorities failed amidst GOP infighting and failed leadership.

 

Corbett will have to wait on school vouchers, Marcellus impact fee(Newsworks) Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said he wanted to pass school vouchers and a Marcellus Shale impact fee this year. Neither one of those is going to happen. 

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/31382-corbett-will-have-to-wait-on-school-vouchers-marcellus-impact-fee&Itemid=1

 

House Majority Leader Says Marcellus Impact Fee Was Never "His Issue" (StateImpact)Sen­ate Pres­i­dent Pro Tem Joe Scar­nati has made an impact fee his top pri­or­ity all year. And ever since Gov­er­nor Cor­bett unveiled his impact fee pro­posal in Octo­ber, his admin­is­tra­tion has made it clear they want a bill signed into law, ASAP...Turzai and House Repub­li­can lead­ers never shared that zeal for a speedy over­haul of Mar­cel­lus Shale reg­u­la­tions. 

 

Corbett made a strong appeal for school vouchers, including a trip to D.C. All of his efforts brought low approval from Pennsylvanians, spurred protests, and failed to come to fruition.

 

Corbett trip to D.C. sparks anti-voucher protest (Philadelphia Inquirer) Protestors from Philadelphia, Bucks County and Harrisburg made their way to Washington, D.C., this morning to protest at an education-related conference where Gov. Corbett was scheduled to speak. About 200 demonstrators gathered shortly before noon outside the Washington Marriott Hotel, chanting "Save Our Schools," and holding signs, such as "Vouchers Aren't the Answer."

 

Corbett suggested that it would be a good idea if universities made up for the budget shortfalls he forced upon them by drilling for oil on campus.

  

Gov. Tom Corbett suggests Pa. universities raise money through Marcellus Shale drilling(Associated Press) Some Pennsylvania universities should consider drilling for natural gas below campus to help solve their financial problems, Gov. Tom Corbett said today.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/04/gov_tom_corbett_suggests_pa_un.html

 

Out of touch with the state's budget crisis, his campaign promises, and reality, Corbett's administration spent almost $200,000 for new SUVs. 

 

On vehicle purchase, Corbett doesn't tell full story (WITF)  A lie? No. The truth? Sure. The full story? Not at all, we've learned over the last few days. Since Corbett promised to reduce the state's vehicle fleet by 20 percent, and proposed a budget cutting $1 billion in spending, the equivocation is worth taking a look at.

 

Corbett came out in strong support of a Voter ID law that will disenfranchise Pennsylvanians to help Republicans win elections. 

 

 Voter ID law isn't needed (Philadelphia Inquirer) The Republican-controlled state House has revived a long-dormant proposal to require that voters produce government-issued photo identification each time they cast a ballot. There's no way that's going to be good for turnout among the poor, elderly, disabled, or non-driving voters, which includes many Philadelphia Democrats. Those voters are less likely to have a driver's license or similar official ID, which would be required under the measure recently given committee approval.

 

Corbett pushed a proposal to dramatically change the electoral college votes in Pennsylvania. This was roundly criticized by Pennsylvanians, newspapers, and even the congressional delegation of his own party. 

 

Tampering With the Electoral College (New York Times) In theory, choosing electors by Congressional district would actually get closer to a national popular vote than the current winner-take-all system in most states. But in practice, Congressional districts are usually politically and racially gerrymandered by highly partisan state lawmakers. Distributing Electoral College votes based on those districts would necessarily reflect any bad practices that went into drawing the political lines. Pennsylvania legislators know that the state has more Republican-leaning districts, even though the split in the popular vote between the parties is roughly even.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/tampering-with-the-electoral-college.html?_r=2

 


Corbett signed into law, a redistricting proposal that is extremely gerrymandered, was crafted behind closed doors, and splits up Pennsylvania's communities.


 

EDITORIAL: Remember those who sold out Pennsylvania voters in flawed redistricting plan (Express-Times) If Corbett had an ounce of integrity, he'd veto this redistricting plan. He'd also back legislation calling for reapportionment by an independent commission, instead of whichever party controls the state government at the moment. So what can the lowly voter do to send a signal that this concentration of power is unacceptable? Vote out the people who voted for this insult.

 

That's one tough year.

 

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