IT’S NO “GAFFE”. CORBETT SAID IT BEFORE

By ONORATO FOR GOVERNOR

PITTSBURGH: The Corbett campaign’s ongoing effort to downplay GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett’s statement that “the jobs are there” but Pennsylvanians would rather just “sit there” on unemployment is at sharp odds with the candidate’s actual record.

Facing new questions about whether Corbett’s comments indicate that “Tom Corbett is simply not ready for prime time,” as the Harrisburg Patriot-News reported, and with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noting that “the Republican’s post-primary road has hit several bumps,” Corbett took to the airwaves yesterday to offer the typical insider politician’s non-apology apology.

“I regret that in that one statement, I may not have been clear or complete as I possibly could,” Corbett told CBS3 in Philadelphia.

But in fact, Corbett said exactly what he meant – and he’s said it before.

Following a visit to a job referral center in Lancaster in March, Corbett “provocatively suggested that Congress’ decision to extend unemployment benefits might be having the opposite of its intended effect and actually be serving as a disincentive to go back to work. ‘What I see here are people looking for jobs, but that’s only 10 percent [of the unemployed],’ he said. ‘What about the other 80 or 90 percent?’” [Capitol Ideas, March 18, 2010]

Even as the Corbett campaign worked to deflect attention from the fact that the candidate has consistently blamed the unemployed, they continued to struggle to identify the “source” of Corbett’s observation. So instead of identifying a single business owner, yesterday Corbett said that he’s heard it from as many as “seven” anonymous Pennsylvanians.

On Friday, Corbett “pointed to one candy company in Camp Hill as an example, saying the owner told him they hired 50 European college students for the summer when the company was unable to fill its full-time positions.” [Capitolwire, July 9, 2010]

Later, his spokesman told another reporter that, “Corbett was simply relating a story told by the owner of a plumbing business. He did not name the business.” [Allentown Morning Call, July 9, 2010]

On Monday, the number of sources grew. Speaking in Lancaster, Corbett told Capitolwire: “That’s what had been reported to me. I’ve had three or four people tell me, people have turned down work.”

And on Philadelphia’s CBS3 yesterday, Corbett said he was “was repeating a story that I’d heard from about five, six, seven different people across the state of Pennsylvania.”

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