Hoeffel criticizes Corbett on health care
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Democratic candidate for governor, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel
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Joe Hoeffel, the most liberal of the four Democratic candidates for governor, blasted Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett Monday for appealing to hard-line conservatives in the GOP by joining a lawsuit seeking to overturn the new federal health care reform act.
Mr. Hoeffel strongly defended the new health care law, signed by President Barack Obama last week, saying it will be good for Pennsylvania. He assailed Mr. Corbett for opposing it, along with 12 other state attorneys general, all but one of them Republican.
Mr. Hoeffel said he thinks Mr. Corbett is worried about the appeal of state Rep. Sam Rohrer of Berks County, his opponent for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the May 18 primary. Mr. Rohrer has been getting support from conservative elements in the party, who are sometimes called "tea partiers," because of their protests against the federal government and taxes, modeled after the Boston Tea Party of 1773.
"Tom Corbett always struck me as a moderate Republican, but his desire to appeal to the right wing of his party has overwhelmed his good judgment," Mr. Hoeffel said. "It concerns me that Tom Corbett would veer to the right and join this lawsuit, which has hardly any chance of succeeding."
Mr. Corbett has said provisions of the health care plan the Obama administration pushed through Congress overstepped the bounds of the U.S. Constitution. Mr. Corbett contends the federal government is interfering with interstate commerce and doesn't have the right to tell people to buy a certain product or service, such as health care.
Mr. Hoeffel broadened his criticism of Mr. Corbett beyond just the issue of health care, also criticizing him for opposing efforts by towns to enact laws requiring people to report lost and stolen firearms and by opposing efforts to enact a new tax on gas companies that pump natural gas from areas of Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania.
The new health care law is quickly becoming a volatile political issue splitting the two parties. Lt. Gov. Joe Scarnati of Jefferson County, who is also the state Senate GOP leader, is thinking like Mr. Corbett, and wants to amend the state constitution to blunt one of the major effects of the new federal law -- the one requiring people to buy health insurance.
He said the federal government "should not mandate that an individual participate in a given health care system." The new law "crosses the line in many different aspects of personal freedoms and governmental intrusion."
Some questions could arise as to whether a state constitutional amendment could override a federal law. The exact nature of federal power vs. states rights will be a major issue in the lawsuit being filed by the 13 attorneys general. It claims the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reserves for states all power not specifically granted to the federal government.
First Published March 30, 2010 12:00 am
