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GOP guv hopefuls talk taxes, Marcellus
PHILADELPHIA— Republican gubernatorial candidates Sam Rohrer and Tom Corbett came here Tuesday evening to field questions from conservative activists on the economy the development of the Marcellus Shale.
Their appearance at a candidates’ forum sponsored by a coalition of Tea Party groups afforded Corbett an opportunity to court some of the party’s base before Republican State Committee meets this weekend, when it will almost certainly endorse him. Rohrer, meanwhile, was able to take on the frontrunner in an atmosphere favoring anti-establishment candidates.
The forum didn’t yield substantive policy differences. Both candidates said they’d rely on tax cuts and reduced spending to avoid state budget impasses like the one that plagued Harrisburg last year.
Corbett said he would to take a no-tax-increase pledge. Rohrer, for his part, said “I’ve already done that.”
Corbett stressed that government should be transparent, saying his office has been fast to respond to Right-to-Know requests. And Rohrer sounded a populist note, saying a government that is not transparent is “tyrannical.” Both said increased reliance on new technologies could bring greater transparency.
“It’s 2010,” Corbett said, “there’s no reason we can’t do it entirely electronic.”
On the sometimes contentious issue of how to develop Pennsylvania’s natural gas bonanza in the Marcellus Shale, Corbett avoided saying precisely whether or how he would tax the burgeoning industry, but called it one that is “clean and is here in Pennsylvania. It has a great future and I am counting on seeing Marcellus Shale develop during my administration.”
Rohrer echoed the sentiment, and said he’d avoid unnecessary taxes of the industry. The state should encourage investment from energy companies, he said, not “worry about how to tax them.”
February 9, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Tags: Sam Rohrer, Tom Corbett
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Nathan Shrader
Feb 10th, 2010
Glad to see that Sam Rohrer isn’t backing down!
David T
Feb 10th, 2010
In front of the moderates at State Committee, Tom Corbett said that he would not take a tax-hike off the table. Now, in front of a Tea Party Group he says that he’d sign the “no-tax increase pledge”…sounds like a politician who will say one thing to one group and the opposite thing to a different group.
Willis Markham
Feb 10th, 2010
I guess you never know which Tom Corbett is going to show up. It’s a luxury you get when you never have to vote on a single piece of legislation during your career. Chameleonism is something you can do when you run as a “reformer” without any hard positions on taxes, legislative issues, government reform, constitutional convention ,etc.
GOP -- no to taxing gas - Early Returns - post-gazette.com
Feb 10th, 2010
[...] Pa2010 wraps up the Tom Corbett/Sam Rohrer appearances before a tea party gathering in Philly last night — both signaled a desire to avoid taxing development of the state's Marcellus Shale natural gas reserves. At City Paper, Chris Potter notes you can watch the fireworks online. [...]
Greg K., PA
Feb 10th, 2010
Tom Corbett also has the luxury of virtually unlimited free press from his partisan witch hunt.
NEPArtisan » PA-Gov: Candidates Provide Typical Republican Solutions – Tax Cuts
Feb 10th, 2010
[...] to PA2010, Tom Corbett and Sam Roher, both Republican candidates eye’s up PA’s Governorship, have offered [...]
Ed H.
Feb 10th, 2010
So… no tax hikes will translate into bigger budget deficits.
Well, at least we know the Republicans are for that, because they certainly have never lowered spending in all the years tha they were in power in the state.
Will
Feb 10th, 2010
No Marcellus tax?— sure hope so considering Corbett’s top donor owns a large PA gas operation.
Rebekah
Feb 10th, 2010
Go, Sam, go!
Ed H.
Feb 10th, 2010
Go Sam Go!
And take Tom Corbett with you. Out of the state, preferrably. The same old, same old ideas that brought failure to state and Federal governments and their economies is the best the Republican Party can do in Pennsylvania… great.
Tico Taxpayer
Feb 10th, 2010
If you think that ANY republican is going to tax their Daddy – big energy – then you must be drinking the gas drilling run-off water.
Terra Firma
Feb 12th, 2010
“Big energy” is the only thing that will save PA after decades of overspending and under creating. By the way, your electric car runs on coal you dope
Info on Sam Rohrer, GOP Candidate for PA Governor « Thomas Jefferson Club Blog
Feb 23rd, 2010
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Info on Tom Corbett, GOP Candidate for PA Governor–Updated 2/24/10 « Thomas Jefferson Club Blog
Feb 24th, 2010
[...] 2/9/10 GOP Guv Hopefuls talk taxes, Marcellus [...]