McGinty, Toomey joust over who is softest on corporations

Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and his Democratic challenger Katie McGinty are tangling over the use of corn ethanol in motor fuel and the five-year-old Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The attacks Monday by Toomey and McGinty in Pennsylvania’s neck-and-neck race are part of a larger campaign theme in which they’re accusing the other of favoring big corporations over regular people.

Toomey’s targeting corn ethanol as corporate welfare that harms Pennsylvania. McGinty’s supports it as a renewable fuel.

Meanwhile, McGinty’s accusing Toomey of trying to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a favor to banks. Toomey says the bureau isn’t necessary.

Last week, the bureau fined Wells Fargo $100 million for allegedly opening millions of unauthorized customer accounts while Toomey’s blaming a Philadelphia oil refinery’s financial woes on ethanol blending costs.