The Truth About How Pennsylvanians Feel About Gov. Tom Corbett and His Budget
If you do nothing more than read or listen to the headlines in PA, you’d swear the peasants are coming with pitchforks for newly elected Gov. Tom Corbett because the budget he’s proposing (finally) balances the budget in PA—without raising taxes. After years of gimmicks and patches, and especially after two years of Obama’s stimulus money which has been squandered and is now gone (our children and grandchildren will thank us for that one—they’re the ones who will have to pay it back), states all over the country must now deal with serious deficits, including PA. Corbett was elected in part to do just that.
After issuing his budget last week, it’s been a non-stop scream fest from the media announcing how much residents hate the budget. The media narrative has been that Corbett “wants to slash spending on education but won’t levy a tax on Marcellus drilling.” In their efforts to support the narrative, newspapers and television outlets in PA commissioned a poll by Franklin & Marshall College, and they frequently quote bits and pieces from that poll to support their stated conclusions. The problem is, when you read the polling data for yourself, it doesn’t quite fit the narrative painted by the media.
Forthwith are the actual questions asked, and the full responses. This is not the complete survey which also includes demographic questions. You can download the full survey below and read it for yourself.
MDN offers its observations after each survey question—you can draw your own conclusions.
(Warning: Although this post includes details about Marcellus shale drilling, it also includes coverage of the broader issue of the PA budget and the recent poll conducted about the budget. Some of this material may appear to be “off topic” but in MDN’s opinion it provides the proper context to understand the issue of drilling and taxation.)
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Those in Pennsylvania who oppose drilling in the Marcellus Shale have gotten a bit desperate. They’re unhappy with new Gov. Tom Corbett, especially since the budget he introduced earlier this week contains budget cuts to education and calls for a layoff of state workers in order to plug a massive multi-billion dollar shortfall, without also including a severance tax on Marcellus Shale drilling in the state. Pennsylvania, like New York, California, Wisconsin, Ohio and a number of other states is essentially bankrupt from years of overspending and one-time gimmicks and budget patches. The chickens have finally come home to roost and now state governments have to make some hard decisions. It is in that context that anti-drilling protestors got nasty and thug-like yesterday: