Gov. Tom Corbett is defending himself after an op-ed posted on The Wall Street Journal website criticized him for having few legislative accomplishments to show for his three years in office.
“Well, obviously it’s wrong. You know it’s wrong,” Corbett said to reporters at an unrelated event. “The sad part about it is a it’s a blog, by somebody who didn’t’ really look at what we’ve accomplished in the last three years.”
The piece, written for OpinionJournal.com and displayed on the WSJ site, knocked Corbett for his low polling numbers and criticized him for being “unable to corral his caucus to pass even de minimis pension, school and tax reforms.”
“Frankly, aren’t you all embarrassed that somebody writes a blog like that and they haven’t done their research?” Corbett said, adding that he didn’t have “the list” of accomplishments handy, but could provide it at a later time.
Corbett acknowledged two policy goals that remain unfinished: public pension overhaul and dismantling the state liquor system. “Keep in mind, when I ran for office, I didn’t run on either one of those two,” he said. “What did I run upon? Balancing our budget, reducing spending, saving money for the taxpayers of Pennsylvania, reducing taxes so we could grow the economy.”
The governor has critics who point to the latest transportation funding proposal as a broken promise, since it uncaps a tax on gas. His budget proposal for the next fiscal year would also hike state spending by more than three percent.
