Tom Corbett's Final Stand

There is less than two weeks until Election Day and Corbett is down by 17 points and needs to make a move (Real Clear Politics). Tom Corbett made his final stand last Wednesday and tore apart Tom Wolf over his proposal to raise the state income tax during a campaign stop in Westmoreland County. Corbett claimed that Wolf’s proposal would put an undue burden on taxpayers and stifle the growth of job-producing companies like General Carbide Corp., the Hempfield manufacturing plant he toured. Corbett’s final stand was able to cut Wolf’s lead to only 7 points, but still think Wolf has this election in the bag (Real Clear Politics).

Tom Corbett said, “This race has boiled down to taxes. His (Wolf's) plan would up personal income taxes by 188 percent. The increase is going to be huge.” He told this to the workers at General Carbide Corp. and the people of Pennsylvania to be wary of supporting Wolf who says he can lower taxes for some people and raise it for others without offering specifics. Wolf’s plan to raise taxes would be terrible for the state’s business climate because it would raise taxes on job creators and hurt a growing economy that has 250,000 job openings across the state according to the Tribune-Review. Also, along with higher tax rates will result in a spike in healthcare costs (Tribune-Review).   Corbett specifically targets General Carbide Corp. as a last straw to try to change voter’s views of Wolf and vote for him. He told the corporation that if they do vote for Wolf and if he does execute his plan, this will prevent the company from investing in machinery and growing its workforce of about 225. This is a huge deal to Pappafava-Ray, the chief executive of General Carbide Corp., because the more money they can save and not pay high taxes and health care, they can put the money back into the business and grow. This is a really desperate move by Corbett, but he was able to cut Wolf’s lead to only 7 points now. Corbett says he isn’t too worried right now about the polls and still thinks he can pull off a win for this election. Corbett is hoping for a comeback in this election like in 1978 when Republican Dick Thornburgh's defeated Democrat Pete Flaherty after Thornburgh was down by 17 points.

Personally, I don’t think Corbett has a chance even with him down by 7 points. Corbett blew his chance as soon as he raised taxes on the middle class by increasing the gas tax and made one billion dollars in cuts to education, which forced school districts to raise real estate taxes. Corbett said this himself, that this election has boiled down to taxes and he was the reason for them when he was governor. Tom Wolf pointed this out to the voters from the very beginning of his campaign and gave Corbett no chance from the start.