Corbett says key to Pa. job growth is to cut state spending

    Speaking at a Cumberland County college, Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett vowed to turn around Pennsylvania’s economy by cutting taxes and trimming state spending.

    Referencing Pennsylvania’s 9.2 percent unemployment rate, Corbett said the best way the government can boost job growth is by reining in spending.

    The Attorney General argued that taxpayers suffer when state government grows during bad economic periods.

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    “When you continue spending,” he says. “And the revenues aren’t coming in because the economy’s gone south and Wall Street’s gone south, but you continue to spend, the only place you can go get that revenue is empty out the piggy banks, as I call them – the rainy day fund and so forth. And then you have two options. You either increase taxing, which is not going to stimulate the economy. Or you cut the taxing, and you cut the spending.”

    After six years of steady growth, state spending has remained relatively stable during the last two years of the Rendell Administration.

    Corbett also argued for more specialized education, saying high schools and colleges need to train students for skilled trade careers, and tailor curricula around industries that have job openings within Pennsylvania.

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