Posted on 11/02/2014 9:14:30 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
We wanted to like Tom Wolf.
With many aspects of the commonwealth struggling under the leadership of Gov. Tom Corbett, we went into our endorsement process – like so many Pennsylvanians – assuming Wolf would come out on top.
But when it came time to pit Corbett’s record against Wolf’s rhetoric, we couldn’t bring ourselves to support the Democratic challenger.
We don’t know where Wolf stands on too many important issues that affect Northeastern Pennsylvania. From capturing methane gas to restoring rail service from New York City to Scranton, Wolf is the candidate who just won’t commit to a position.
We understand why. With Corbett on the defensive, Wolf built his campaign – and his hefty lead in the polls – around a simple message: He’s not Tom Corbett.
It made sense for Wolf to do that. After all, this is his campaign to lose. Be vague, and you’ll sway a majority of voters. Be specific, and you risk alienating people. The downside is that we don’t really know what we might get if Wolf becomes our governor.
Corbett, the Republican, ran on an unsexy platform four years ago: He’d be an austerity governor in a state badly hurt by the nation’s economic downturn. His focus would be on the economy, economy, economy. To his credit, many Corbett-led initiatives were rooted in his promise to restore Pennsylvania’s economy to health.
His tenure, of course, forced his hand on issues ranging from gay marriage to education funding. It’s the latter subject that has badly damaged Corbett’s campaign. Wolf has persistently misled Pennsylvanians that Corbett cut $1 billion in education spending. That’s a distortion at best. Pennsylvania Department of Education data show Corbett has consistently earmarked more state dollars toward education than his Democratic predecessor.
In staying on the defensive, Corbett has been unable to effectively get the message out about all that he’s accomplished for Pennsylvania: He has created private-sector jobs and held the line on taxes.
Corbett also was able to pass a comprehensive transportation-spending bill. It’s an imperfect bill that lacks a “wow” factor, but the fact is Corbett crafted a solution to a problem that had been kicked down the road for years.
Corbett says we can expect more of the same should he earn re-election. Wolf’s vision? Broad strokes. Nothing specific.
Corbett’s an imperfect governor, and it’s our sincere hope that he’ll treat our region better should he win. We want stronger environmental protections as natural-gas drilling alters our economic landscape. We want more mass-transit options, such as a train to metropolitan New York that would make high-paying jobs there easier to reach. We want more of the state’s transportation pie: It’s discouraging that the state’s long-term transportation plan still doesn’t expand Interstate 81 to three lanes through Wilkes-Barre.
But what’s the alternative? With Corbett, we know what we’re getting – and there’s a lot to like. Wolf might be worse. He might be better. So long as he favors platitudes to specifics, though, endorsing him simply isn’t an option.
This race is no longer the record blowout it appeared it could be, but it’s looks out of range for the incumbent to pull the upset. RCP Average has Wolf up 11 points.
Hopefully, if it is lost, it will be the only Governor’s mansion to fall to the rats (including Alaska where CONSERVATIVE SEAN PARNELL must defeat RINO turned Marxist labor scumbag Bill Walker who is running as a so called “Independent” with the endorsement of the RAT party), and hopefully it will return to the GOP in 2018 to have Wolf out of there before redistricting.
Its painful to realize that Corbett is nothing I want, he doesn’t even have the willingness to properly inspect abortion clinics in this state.
Earlier this year a Pro-Life blogger revealed via a Planned Parenthood source that PP clinics cancelled abortions scheduled for the days when the PA Department of Health inspectors showed up.
The response to her blogging came not from the Corbett Administration itself, but the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, which said the Corbett Administration was “investigating”. I heard nothing about it since....
Later in the year the Associated Press wrote a story about the PA Health Department asking a PP clinic in Chester County about their doctors having admitting privileges at local hospitals. The health department backed off after the AP started asking questions.
A new abortion clinic regulation law (ACT 122) was passed by our legislature and signed by Governor Corbett in the aftermath of the grand jury investigation murder trial-conviction of Dr. Kermit Gosnell in Philadelphia.
The grand jury said in its report that “politics” was involved in the lack of health department oversight of the Gosnell abortion clinic.
It turns out that for a 16 year period when both Republican Tom Ridge and Democrat Ed Rendell were governor, the health department did not inspect the Gosnell clinic.
I know Tom Wolf is a lifelong financial supporter of PP, but it looks like Tom Corbett is playing footsie with them as well in spite of the hype from the PA Pro-Life Federation that he is “Pro-Life”.
I’m with Sarah Palin and for the candidate you choose to demonize named Walker in Alaska.
That’s all the GOPe political machine is capable of, gross exaggeration about its opponents.
Here in PA Tom Wolf the crony capitalist is made out to be somem Joe Stalin Communist. Wolf has the Stalin-look when it comes to facial hair, but that’s the only similarity.
A new abortion clinic regulation law (ACT 122) was passed by our legislature and signed by Governor Corbett...So? What’s your bitch?
Well, I’m glad you don’t live anywhere near Alaska, bud.
His leftist platform is right on his website for you to see. The frigging democrats don’t pull their own boy and endorse you cause you’re MORE CONSERVATIVE than the Republican. Wake up. Either her Paliness is wrong or the entire rat party is right, duuuuuh hmmmmmm, easy call. She’s mortal and fallible, deal with it.
Palin is peeved cause Parnell and the GOP Legislature repealed a tax on oil production she considered part of her legacy, something “bipartisan” she could point to. The PEOPLE later upheld this is in a referendum. That tax that was stiffing the biggest industry in the state and was rightly repealed and I’ll mention again, the PEOPLE voted to keep the tax cuts, local tea party groups opposed the repeal effort. This spiteful endorsement greatly lowers my opinion of Sarah Palin.
My opinion of any freeper bashing Parnell, LYING or speaking from IGNORANCE on behalf of liberal scumbag Walker by saying he’s not a liberal, and suddenly sounding like the occupy wall street crowd when talking about eeevil oil companies and how cool it is to tax them, is less than zero.
Parnell is a conservative, not “GOPE”. Visit ANY FR thread about Parnell from before Palin’s bizzare endorsement of piece of garbage RINO turned defacto democrat Bill Walker, for proof of that.
Show me the enforcement, I see the opposite based on media reports this year. PP getting advance notice of abortion clinic inspections plus the health department backing off on getting info about doctors admitting priviledges at local hospitals.
PP is getting a pass on abortion clinic oversight from the Corbett Administration just like the infamous Gosnell clinic got a pass from two previous governors.....
The political machines of both parties make the world a better place for special interests like Barack Obama and Obmacare, an ecomonic boom for big health insurance companies, big hospital groups and big pharma.
My father is heavily invested in these well performing stocks that are doing better than the rest of the stock market under Obamacare.
That’s the real reason the GOPe doesn’t want to repeal Obamacare.
The cronyism between the Murkowski GOPe machine in Alaska and the oil companies is good for them, but not for the little guy.
The cronyism of Obamacare and Romneycare before it in Massachusetts is just as bad for the small hospitals, small groups of individual doctors, not to mention those who have to buy their own insurance or have their work week cut to 30 hours.
I think your gripe is with the Health Department. Many of these Dept. Heads outright break the law, unless a Cabinet officer lowers the boom on them. Many long time state employees are liberals and stay that way. By the way, the Philly Health Dept. was receiving money to conduct the inspections of Gosnell prior to his bust.
My current gripe is with the Health Department of the
Corbett Administration. The Corbett Team is afraid to even comment on the situation again illustrating the Republican Party’s weakness.....
Rich people like Democrat Tom Wolf and another crony capitalist Republican named Louis Appell from my town
and nationally known rich people like Bloomberg, Buffett and Gates support Planned Parenthood.
With that in mind I almost feel like I have to ask questions like: Which politicians are taking money to not inspect abortion clinics????????
Sean Parnell was the only conservative in recent memory to give a stiff challenge to GOPE RINO Don “not so” Young.
For you to intimate he’s a member of the RINO wing of the party is BREATAKING ignorance. You know who was an Alaksa RINO from the Murkowski wing of the party? Walker. You know what he is now? A friggin democrat in everything but name. Parnell is clearly, at least on the issues of taxes, MORE CONSERVATIVE than Sarah Palin, and he’s a DAMN SIGHT more conservative than Bill Walker.
Tell us more about why you love taxing eeeeevvvvvillll oil companies, comrade. Tell us why the PEOPLE OF ALASKA were wrong when voted to UPHOLD those tax cuts.
Maybe stick to commenting on races you know half a thing about.
I have an Alaska Family Values Guide, it asked questions to the candidates about abortion, same sex marriage, legalization of marijuana, etc., Parnell answers were opposed to all of the above, as was Sullivan in the race for Senator, as any real conservative would.
Walker? He would not even respond...neither did Begich. If this doesn’t tell you what Walker and Begich are, nothing will.
Conservatives here in Alaska know the real score about Walker, sadly, judging by most FReeper posts, conservative in the lower 48 do not. Parnell is far and away the real conservative in this race.
“Parnell is a conservative, not “GOPE”. Visit ANY FR thread about Parnell from before Palin’s bizzare endorsement of piece of garbage RINO turned defacto democrat Bill Walker, for proof of that.”
Walker is a union whore, socialist. Look at his website, and click on what he advocates!
” Parnell is far and away the real conservative in this race.”
Period!
Accusing Tom Corbett of “playing footsie” with Planned Parenthood is vile... If you did even a teeny bit of research before you flung nasty accusations around, you’d see that Planned Parenthood is desperately trying to defeat Corbett.
From Planned Parenthood website - Top 10 Reasons Why Governor Corbett is Bad for Pennsylvania Women
http://www.plannedparenthoodpa.org/top10corbett/
PA GOP Governor Defends Ultrasounds Bill: Tells Concerned Women ‘You Just Have To Close Your Eyes’
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/15/444999/pennsylvania-governor-supports-ultrasound-bill/
Corbett appears to not be enforcing the new law because of these stories about health department interaction with Planned Parenthood that have appeared this year.
I realize PP has a political action committee and I have no doubt they favor Wolf, who has given them some of his own money over the years......
But it appears to me that Corbett is dropping the ball and not enforcing the new law through the health department.
The grand jury in Philly said Gosnell’s clinic was not being overseen by the health department because of politics.
There were no inspections for the years that both Ridge and Rendell were governors.....
The ultrasound bill was shot down by the liberals with its original supporters running for the tall grass like then State Representative (Now my Congressman) Scott ‘the Patriot’ Perry.
Perry publicly withdrew his support around the time that story broke in 2012 and he was in the congressional primary......
Just one more reason I won’t vote for Perry tomorrow either....
Corbett pretty much went silent in my mind as well because his comments result of the firestorm the liberals stirred up.
You’re just all gibberish... excuses for everything and you just make up accusations wherever you feel like it. It just boils down to you campaigning against Republicans no matter what positive traits they have because you are a hard-core third-party activist.
Your homepage says you are inspired by Rush... well, it doesn’t sound like he has any respect for YOUR strategy.
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