In Pennsylvania, the Corbett-Cawley campaign today fact checked the false attack ads against Governor Tom Corbett that are being run on behalf of millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf by San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer. Steyer’s ad, much like millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf’s campaign, is light on facts and heavy on empty rhetoric.
“It’s no secret that millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf is bought and paid for by special interest groups. Wolf refuses to acknowledge our state’s pension crisis because he’s received $1.1 million from the public sector unions,” stated Corbett-Cawley Communications Director Chris Pack.
“Now we are seeing that Wolf’s anti-coal policies, such as his cap-and-tax proposal that would jeopardize over 62,000 Pennsylvania jobs, has resulted in him benefitting through millions of dollars in attack ads against Governor Tom Corbett from San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer.
“Tom Steyer is a hypocrite who made his fortune by investing in the coal industry who is now waging a war on coal because it will benefit him financially. It’s similar to how Wolf, who made his millions outsourcing jobs to other states and moving his company to Delaware is now pretending to be pro-Pennsylvania -- because it benefits Wolf.”
FACT CHECK
CLAIM: Tom Corbett cut funding to schools.
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: Funding for public schools has increased in each year of Governor Corbett’s first term, and now stands at an all-time high.
CLAIM: Pennsylvania to forgo $24 billion in fracking royalties (Reuters, 1/24/12)
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: NextGen is citing an opinion piece by a blog hosted by Reuters and pretending that it is fact. Though the blogger cites royalties in her title, the post is actually comparing revenues over 20 years from the local impact fee as compared to an extremely high extraction tax, that the blogger apparently would prefer. In reality, natural gas companies have paid $2.2 billion in state taxes since 2010 and $630 million in local impact fees over the last three years.
CLAIM: Corbett’s mismanagement has caused a huge budget deficit
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: Just yesterday, Governor Corbett signed his fourth consecutive balanced budget without raising taxes.
CLAIM: Corbett cut $1 billion from education
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: Governor Corbett has increased state spending on education in each of his four budgets. The funds referred to here are the federal stimulus dollars that Governor Rendell (Tom Wolf’s former boss) used to backfill his drastic cuts in state spending on public schools. Those expired stimulus funds left a $4.2 billion hole in the state budget. Governor Corbett balanced the budget, and has increased state spending on education by over $1 billion, leaving our schools in a much better fiscal position than they were in when he took office.
CLAIM: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: More Handouts for Oil And Gas Industry
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: The story being cited here actually makes no reference to handouts. NextGen is referring to a story about Governor Corbett leasing state land for natural gas development. Far from a handout, the article estimates this move will generate $75 million in royalties for Pennsylvania, in addition to the $582 million paid by natural gas companies for existing leases over the past five years. A similar plan was enacted by the Democratic-controlled Allegheny County Council and Executive.
CLAIM: The ad then goes on to say that the Governor is “keeping secret” on what he is getting from the oil and gas industry.
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: As there is no sort of citation, we can only assume that NextGen is making a wild accusation with no basis in reality.
CLAIM: NextGen ends this farce of an ad by asking Governor Corbett to release various records, including contributions, letters, and emails from oil and gas lobbyists.
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE : Since NextGen and their benefactor, billionaire Tom Steyer, are not from Pennsylvania, perhaps they are unaware of our campaign finance and Right to Know laws. So, in the interest of educating them, they can find disclosures of all contributions to Governor Corbett’s campaigns from 2004 – 2014 here in our easily searchable database. Our right-to-know law gives any concerned citizen to request and receive public records, including emails and correspondence from any state agency including the Office of the Governor. The appropriate forms can be found here, and requests can be made via standard mail, fax, email, or even in person.
RELATED CONTENT: WOLF UPS THE ANTE ON FLAGRANT HYPOCRISY
“It’s no secret that millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf is bought and paid for by special interest groups. Wolf refuses to acknowledge our state’s pension crisis because he’s received $1.1 million from the public sector unions,” stated Corbett-Cawley Communications Director Chris Pack.
“Now we are seeing that Wolf’s anti-coal policies, such as his cap-and-tax proposal that would jeopardize over 62,000 Pennsylvania jobs, has resulted in him benefitting through millions of dollars in attack ads against Governor Tom Corbett from San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer.
“Tom Steyer is a hypocrite who made his fortune by investing in the coal industry who is now waging a war on coal because it will benefit him financially. It’s similar to how Wolf, who made his millions outsourcing jobs to other states and moving his company to Delaware is now pretending to be pro-Pennsylvania -- because it benefits Wolf.”
FACT CHECK
CLAIM: Tom Corbett cut funding to schools.
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: Funding for public schools has increased in each year of Governor Corbett’s first term, and now stands at an all-time high.
CLAIM: Pennsylvania to forgo $24 billion in fracking royalties (Reuters, 1/24/12)
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: NextGen is citing an opinion piece by a blog hosted by Reuters and pretending that it is fact. Though the blogger cites royalties in her title, the post is actually comparing revenues over 20 years from the local impact fee as compared to an extremely high extraction tax, that the blogger apparently would prefer. In reality, natural gas companies have paid $2.2 billion in state taxes since 2010 and $630 million in local impact fees over the last three years.
CLAIM: Corbett’s mismanagement has caused a huge budget deficit
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: Just yesterday, Governor Corbett signed his fourth consecutive balanced budget without raising taxes.
CLAIM: Corbett cut $1 billion from education
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: Governor Corbett has increased state spending on education in each of his four budgets. The funds referred to here are the federal stimulus dollars that Governor Rendell (Tom Wolf’s former boss) used to backfill his drastic cuts in state spending on public schools. Those expired stimulus funds left a $4.2 billion hole in the state budget. Governor Corbett balanced the budget, and has increased state spending on education by over $1 billion, leaving our schools in a much better fiscal position than they were in when he took office.
CLAIM: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: More Handouts for Oil And Gas Industry
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: The story being cited here actually makes no reference to handouts. NextGen is referring to a story about Governor Corbett leasing state land for natural gas development. Far from a handout, the article estimates this move will generate $75 million in royalties for Pennsylvania, in addition to the $582 million paid by natural gas companies for existing leases over the past five years. A similar plan was enacted by the Democratic-controlled Allegheny County Council and Executive.
CLAIM: The ad then goes on to say that the Governor is “keeping secret” on what he is getting from the oil and gas industry.
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE: As there is no sort of citation, we can only assume that NextGen is making a wild accusation with no basis in reality.
CLAIM: NextGen ends this farce of an ad by asking Governor Corbett to release various records, including contributions, letters, and emails from oil and gas lobbyists.
CORBETT CAMPAIGN RESPONSE : Since NextGen and their benefactor, billionaire Tom Steyer, are not from Pennsylvania, perhaps they are unaware of our campaign finance and Right to Know laws. So, in the interest of educating them, they can find disclosures of all contributions to Governor Corbett’s campaigns from 2004 – 2014 here in our easily searchable database. Our right-to-know law gives any concerned citizen to request and receive public records, including emails and correspondence from any state agency including the Office of the Governor. The appropriate forms can be found here, and requests can be made via standard mail, fax, email, or even in person.
RELATED CONTENT: WOLF UPS THE ANTE ON FLAGRANT HYPOCRISY
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