As Corbett Ponders Signing The Budget, Wolf Says He Doesn't Like It
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- While Governor Corbett evaluates whether to sign the budget his fellow Republicans in the legislature have sent to him, his Democratic challenger Tom Wolf, campaigning in Pittsburgh, told KDKA political editor Jon Delano he disliked this budget but stopped short of saying he would veto it.
Delano: "You don't like this budget, do you?"
Wolf: "No I don't."
Delano: "But you're not prepared to say you would veto it?"
Wolf: "I'm prepared to say if I were governor and this were the choice I were given, I'd be very disappointed in myself and the people of Pennsylvania should be very disappointed in me."
Wolf says Corbett's problem began long ago by failing to negotiate a better budget with state legislators.
"I would hope that I would have gotten a budget that didn't have smoke and mirrors in it, that has more than just one-time fixes and some made-up revenue figures. I'm in business. I do budgets every year," added Wolf.
And the Democrat is clear what he wants from the legislature.
He would expand Medicaid to bring in new federal dollars and close tax loopholes.
"I'd call for a 5 percent tax on the Marcellus shale," he said. "That could be used to restore some of the cuts in education and make sure we have the regulations and enforcement to do it right."
But who knows if Wolf would be treated better than Corbett by the legislature.
And here's another challenge for Wolf if he's elected governor.
He's a Democrat and the General Assembly is likely to remain Republican.
But Wolf says he can do a better job dealing with those folks than Corbett.
Wolf says he'd work with legislators, as he has done in the business world.
"You bring people together," he said. "You figure out where you're trying to go. You listen, and at the end of the day you come with something that is actually going to do what you all want, and that is to make Pennsylvania better."
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