Corbett dismisses Wall Street Journal criticism of his record as unfounded

Gov. Tom Corbett is defending himself after an opinion piece posted on The Wall Street Journal website criticized him for having few legislative accomplishments to show for his three years in office.

The piece knocked Corbett most specifically for not achieving overhauls of Pennsylvania education policy, pensions, and taxes.

At a news conference last week, Corbett said the piece was “obviously wrong.”

“Frankly, aren’t you all embarrassed that somebody writes a blog like that and they haven’t done their research?” he said.

Two of his policy goals remain unfinished: public pension overhaul and dismantling the state liquor system, he said.

But he said he has kept his campaign promises, and those issues weren’t among them.

“What did I run upon?” he said.

“Balancing our budget, reducing spending, saving money for the taxpayers of Pennsylvania, reducing taxes so we could grow the economy,” he answered.

The governor’s critics point to the latest transportation funding proposal as a broken promise, since it uncaps a tax on gas.His budget proposal for the next fiscal year would hike state spending by more than 3 percent.

Corbett is facing a crowded field of Democratic candidates who are after his job. Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial election will take place in November.