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PA GOP News Brief – Monday, May 16, 2011
May 16th, 2011

PA GOP News Brief

Monday, May 16, 2011

 

The Rundown

As debate over the 2011-12 state budget begins in earnest, the charge to lawmakers from the Gov. Tom Corbett administration is crafting a fiscally responsible state budget that reins in government spending and bolsters private-sector job creation in order to put the commonwealth on more solid ground financially and economically.

The governor set the stage in March by offering a $27.3 billion proposal that would take Pennsylvania back to pre-recession, 2008 spending levels. While the budget as proposed by the governor would have a significant impact on higher education and hospital communities, it is only a starting point for negotiations. Over the coming weeks, the governor and lawmakers will debate these and other cuts as they reach agreement on how best to achieve the reduced spending sought by the administration.

Budget cuts are never easy, nor are they an easy sell. Living within ones means requires tough choices, as Pennsylvania individuals and families — and job creators — that struggled during the recent recession know all too well. But sometimes it becomes absolutely necessary to do so, and now is one of those times for state government.

On Thursday, May 12, DeSales University hosted a luncheon featuring Governor Tom Corbett.

The event was organized by the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and brought a crowd of over 150 individuals to the conference rooms in DeSales’ University Center. Following a short lunch, Corbett was gave a speech addressing many of the most recent hot topics including state budget, economy and education.

This being his first appearance in the Lehigh Valley as Governor, Corbett set out to address the $4.2  billion deficit in the budget. Although he placed the blame on the prior administration’s inability to ‘say no,’ his main focus was what can be done now to fix the spending/revenue problems weighing on Pennsylvania.

Q: The immense amount of national debt has only increased in the last few years with the bailouts of numerous companies. How should America alleviate that burden for future generations?

A: This is a huge concern. We’re especially concerned with what state we are going to leave our country in for your generation and beyond. My boys are in sixth and eighth grade so their future is certainly a concern as a parent. The state we are in is just not sustainable, both in terms of the level of discretionary spending as well as in entitlement spending.

The real challenge going forward is the 2012 budget debate and what spending parameters we’re going to set for the coming year and decade. This is where there is significant disagreement. The president’s budget really had no entitlement reform and proposed a spending plan that would balloon the debt. In my opinion, it was irresponsible. The House Republican budget has been criticized in different ways, but it was trying to be more serious about debt and deficit reduction.

Despite Washington coming to grips with the fact that the debt threat is real, policymakers still are not having the debate Americans deserve.

The talk is too often restricted to “shared sacrifice.” This sets up a debate where we are really just arguing over whom to hurt and how best to manage the decline of our nation. It is a framework that accepts permanently higher taxes and bureaucratically determined access to health care as givens.

A better name for this approach is “shared scarcity.” It represents a deeply pessimistic vision for the future of this country — one that would lead us to a diminished future.

The House-passed budget — “The Path to Prosperity” — offers an alternative vision. It is rooted in the recognition that spending discipline and economic growth are the keys to balancing the federal budget.

 

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