Onorato, Corbett exchange barbs in debate
Share with others:
State Attorney General Tom Corbett and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato assured voters Saturday night that they would cope with projected multi-billion dollar state deficits without raising taxes, but in their second debate neither gubernatorial candidate offered more than anecdotal suggestions on how they might achieve the deep spending cuts that would be needed to accomplish that goal.
In a one-hour exchange, Mr. Onorato, the Democratic nominee, assailed his Republican opponent for what he characterized as shifts and qualifications in the Republican's no-tax hike pledge.
Mr. Corbett charged that Mr. Onorato had oversold and fallen short on his pledges to reduce taxes in county government.
Mr. Onorato also sought to capitalize on Mr. Corbett backtracking from an earlier suggestion that he would consider raising employee contributions to deal with the massive debt owed to the federal government by the state unemployment compensation fund. Asked about the issue in their first debate, Mr. Corbett had ruled out an increase in the UC tax on employers but held open the possibility of an increase for employees, a suggestion that brought howls of outrage from labor officials. He did rule out the employee contribution Saturday night, explaining the shift after the debate by saying, "I had time to think about it."
In his post-debate comments, Mr. Onorato mocked the new position.
"It could change again," he said. "[It] shows he is not ready to govern.''
The debate at WPXI-TV studios in Pittsburgh, just a few miles from each of their homes, came with less than three weeks to go before the Nov. 2 election. It was one of the last opportunities for Mr. Onorato to try to draw out his front-running opponent. Mr. Corbett, with a consistent lead in the polls, has run a more low-key campaign, careful not to do anything to shake up a status quo that appears to favor him along with GOP candidates up and down the ballot.
Saturday's forum was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters and moderated by Philadelphia Daily News political columnist John Baer. The last of their three planned debates is scheduled for Monday night in Philadelphia.
The candidates again split on the issue of taxing the burgeoning natural gas industry exploiting the state's Marcellus Shale deposits.
Mr. Onorato criticized Mr. Corbett for his stand against a severance tax on the gas industry, charging that it was motivated by the dollars the Republican had received from the industry.
First Published October 17, 2010 12:00 am
