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Dems come together for another gubernatorial debate

PITTSBURGH—The four Democratic candidates for governor came together here Sunday for their second debate in three days, talking about their stances on passing state budgets, creating jobs and health care policy.

The event, co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, the Pitt College Democrats and the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club, featured a lively debate between the candidates, facilitated by questions coming directly from audience members. Key issues of discussion also included tax policy, environmental protection, abortion rights and same-sex marriage. The forum, moderated by KDKA political editor Jon Delano, saw rifts emerge on tax policy and social issues that were similar to a Friday night debate in Harrisburg.

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Auditor General Jack Wagner both called for a reduction in corporate taxes, saying such a move would attract businesses looking to relocate to Pennsylvania.

“Pennsylvania boasts the second-highest level of corporate taxes in the U.S.,” Onorato said. “We need to let companies know that they can grow in our state without having to deal with excessive tax burdens.”

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty and Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel disagreed, calling instead for a reduction in the number of loopholes available for large companies in the state—which they said force the tax rates up in the first place.

Same-sex marriage and abortion rights were again areas of disagreement for the candidates, with Hoeffel continuing to position himself to the left of the other candidates.

“It is time to legalize same-sex marriage in this state,” Hoeffel said. “This is America and this is the 21st century. It is time we secured equal rights for all.”

Doherty also used strong language in support of same-sex marriage, while Wagner and Onorato only said they might “support such legislation”—a stance that seemed to go just a bit further than they went on Friday but still stopped short of explicitly backing same-sex marriage.

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January 31, 2010 at 5:20 pm

--John Manganaro

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  1. Chris Zurawsky

    Jan 31st, 2010

    Hi John -

    Thanks very much for the story. Could you make a correction please? The event was sponsored by the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club (as per the press release that I sent to PA2010 on the 25th, I believe, and please note the full name) and co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and the Pitt College Democrats.

    Thanks very much,
    Chris Zurawsky
    President
    14th Ward Independent Democratic Club

  2. WiseOne

    Jan 31st, 2010

    THE GATEKEEPERS OF THIS WEB SITE DELETED MY COMMENTS ABOUT SPECTER AND TOOMEY VOTING TO REPEAL THE GLASS STEAGALL ACT IN 1999, AN ACTION THAT RUINED OUR BANKING SYSTEM. WHY IS PA2010.C0M AN UNDEMOCRATIC SITE? WHO CONTROLS IT? LET’S HEAR FROM DIANO AND OTHERS ON THIS.

  3. Dan Hirschhorn

    Feb 1st, 2010

    Hey WiseOne,

    As editor of pa2010.com, I can personally assure you that no such comment was deleted. I looked back at our comment database and didn’t see it. But we’ve been having a few glitches here and there, and you’re not the first person to encounter this problem.

    Nonetheless, my sincerest apologies that it didn’t post.

    Open dialogue is critical to us. If you’re ever having trouble getting a comment through, please feel free to e-mail me the body of it at editor@pa2010.com. I’ll be happy to make sure it gets online.

    Sorry again.

    Dan Hirschhorn

  4. leftylucie

    Feb 1st, 2010

    The wise one points out the largest single issue confronting our republic: the concentration of wealth in a few international corporate persons who the US Supreme Court just gave the greenlight to flood our elections with money that can be written off against their taxes. Both Toomey and Specter acted in the interests of these corporate persons on Wall Street when they voted to repeal protections for citizens and consumers against corporate oligarchs. Auditor General Wagner has been hammering at the point how these Wall Street predators are conducting a stealth backdoor bailout using our education funds all across the state. Frankly, that takes some guts. I hope that Joe Hoffel joins in that fight against the white shoe lawyers and craven bankers who are paying themselves bonuses while unemployment skyrockets.

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