Tom Corbett: The Fundamentals of Our Economy Are Strong

By ONORATO FOR GOVERNOR

HARRISBURG: Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dan Onorato today blasted Republican Tom Corbett for claiming that the only thing preventing unemployed workers from finding a job is their own laziness.

Taking a page from John McCain’s 2008 playbook, when the presidential candidate infamously declared that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong,” Corbett told Pennsylvania Public Radio on Friday that:

“People don’t want to come back to work while they still have unemployment. They’re literally telling – I’ll come back to work when the unemployment runs out. That’s becoming a problem. The jobs are there, but if we keep extending unemployment the people are going to sit there and… I’ve literally had construction companies tell me, I can’t get people to come back to work, until… they say, ‘I’ll come back to work when unemployment runs out.’”

Corbett made his comment in Lancaster County, where 21,700 unemployed people are currently looking for a job. Across the state, 591,000 Pennsylvanians are out of work and trying to find employment. The average person on unemployment receives $310 per week in benefits to put food on the table and keep a roof over their family’s heads.

“This is a fundamental difference between me and my opponent, and I don’t know what world Tom Corbett is living in,” Onorato said. “Our economy is struggling, families in Pennsylvania are hurting, and Harrisburg insiders like Tom Corbett aren’t doing anything to help them. Tom Corbett doesn’t even recognize there’s a problem, so it’s no surprise that he has no real plan to improve our economy or actually create the jobs that in his mind already exist.”

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]

Does Tom Corbett believe that Pennsylvania workers are lazy because an anonymous plumber or a candy company owner told him so?

Or do Friday’s comments simply reflect Tom Corbett’s long-held belief that Pennsylvanians themselves are what’s wrong with our economy? After all, Corbett’s view that lazy unemployed workers would rather collect benefits than find work is nothing new.

In March, Corbett visited a career center and “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]

While Corbett has been busy blaming the victims, Onorato has successfully worked as Allegheny County Executive to encourage businesses to create jobs in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Allegheny County’s unemployment rate is significantly lower than both the state’s and the nation’s.

“Tom Corbett thinks Pennsylvanians would rather be unemployed than earning money for their families, and he simply doesn’t understand the economy,” Onorato said. “As Allegheny County Executive, I’ve turned around a struggling economy and promoted private sector investment to help encourage job growth. Tom Corbett has no experience and no clue.”

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