The education of our young people has to be a key element in restoring American competitiveness in the global marketplace. Simply put, if other countries have a better pool of well educated workers than we do, those countries will get (and are getting) the best jobs. A friend, who is an educator at a major university, recently told me how most freshmen from Europe and Asia come ready for advanced college work, while most American freshmen go straight to remedial reading and math. Therefore, it seems an act of pure insanity to gut education to give tax breaks to criminal polluters, but that is exactly what Gov. Tom Corbett (R-PA) has done, while also destroying the safety net.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) signed a disastrous state budget last night that favors the natural gas industry at the expense of the state’s children and least fortunate citizens. The $27.15 billion budget does not raise taxes, but cuts health care for more than 100,000 of the state’s poorest residents. It did this by slashing Medicaid contributions by $280 million, which will result in a $425 million loss in matching federal funds. State universities and community colleges have announced the largest tuition hikes in state history as education funding took a heavy, $863-million hit.
Yet, state Republicans and Corbett did not have to punish children and the neediest to plug a $4 billion budget deficit. Several variations of natural gas drilling taxes were proposed this year, and an extraction fee tacked onto the budget by the state Senate last week would have raised $310 million. However, Corbett threatened to veto any tax, and he strong-armed the state House into withdrawing a vote on the tax this week just hours before it was scheduled to be debated. Corbett’s obstinacy continues even though Pennsylvania is the only major gas producer that does not tax its use.
So why is Corbett very friendly to natural gas, despite its documented dangers? It may be because the governor owes part of his political career to the industry, having accepted almost $1.3 million in campaign contributions from drillers. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported this week on the cozy relationship between Corbett and Chesapeake Energy, the state’s largest natural gas driller, which began during Corbett’s first statewide campaign for attorney general… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Think Progress>
RepubliCorp will get a second benefit here. Pennsylvania’s children will grow up too dumb to know that their tap water is poisoned by fracking.
14 Responses to “To PA’s Students: Frack YOU!”
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That is just sick. WTF is wrong with these people?
Three things.
1. They are Republicans.
2. They are Republicans.
3. They are Republicans.
There is nothing beneath them these days– I think we all need to expect this sort of behavior from individuals and a party (Repugs) without honor , or ethics–
They are completely lacking in both.
The Pennsylvania budget has drawn a lot of attention because of its approach to environmental issues.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/06/state_budget_cuts_deeper_into.html
Thanks for the input Ahab. It adds insight. 💡
If it’s any consolation, Corbett’s shenanigans are NOT helping him with the polls:
http://www.keystonepolitics.com/2011/06/corbetts-poll-numbers-continue-to-sag/
May his career be shorter that Boehner’s Boehner.
My “cause celebre” – the govs. are all whores – even my friend Cuomo has decided to get a few bucks from his pimps – those feet keep sliding into the corporate bathroom stalls – not just the feet either – their faces are looking a bit like oreos when they come out!
Cuomo should be ashamed for that one.
That said, the Chrack tax issue defeated Dan O….
I trust you are referring to the so-called “Tennessee Crack Tax”. It should have been defeated.
The appropriate placer for your comment is in our Open Thread. I post a new one every day for people to make comments off topic from the day’s articles.
A bull shit meter is an useful tool for measuring bull shit by volume. However, what some people need worse is ‘Ly-dar”, so they can tell where it’s coming from! (not me, I’ve always been able to tell who’s lying) 👿
It might be useful for detecting closet Republicans. 😉