Sparks Fly At 2nd Corbett, Wolf Campaign Debate
PHILADELPHIA (KDKA) - Tom Corbett and Tom Wolf faced off Wednesday morning on KYW Radio in Philadelphia, and it was a feistier exchange of views with both candidates going after each other.
Education issues dominated with Corbett defending his record.
"We have increased the funding -- contrary to what my opponent would say -- we've increased the funding to its highest level ever from the state," the governor asserted.
"Property taxes have gone through the roof under your administration. Class sizes have increased," Wolf retorted.
"Property taxes have gone through the roof because of the pension system," Corbett responded.
"People in many schools are paying to have their kids play in extracurricular activities. Services have been cut. I don't know how you can look at what's happened to public education in Pennsylvania and say you're a friend of education," said Wolf.
The governor defended his handling of the budget, even the recent short-term borrowing.
"I reduced the budget by about $72 million -- the proposed budget we are now in -- because I thought it reached a higher point than I thought it should be," noted Corbett.
"Let's look at reality. I'm not sure what world you're in here," mocked Wolf. "If I had a cash flow balance in my business like the state does, there's no bank that would give me a line of credit. We've been downgraded by three outside objective bond rating agencies."
When Wolf criticized Corbett for not having a plan to grow jobs, the governor shot back.
"Right now we have 180,000 jobs filled. We have 250,000 jobs on the website to be filled," he said.
And Corbett said Wolf was not up front on his tax plan.
"You really haven't answered the question. How much are you going to tax?" the governor pressed.
Wolf repeated his support for an extraction tax on natural gas, opposed by Corbett, but said he couldn't draft a tax plan without knowing what kind of budget deficit Corbett was leaving the next governor.
Click here for more on the debate from CBS Philadelphia.
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