The best days ahead? Maybe not.
It is a certainty that every candidate for governor will tell us that our best days are ahead. As a realist, I am skeptical.
Gov. Tom Corbett has been unable to pass three critical pieces of legislation in Republican houses of the General Assembly, both of which one would expect would be friendly to him and aligned with his goals for the state. Despite extensive bipartisan public support, transportation funding, privatization of the sale of alcoholic beverages, and pension reform to address an astounding $47 billion shortfall have not been acted upon with time drawing short before yet another legislative recess.
What would change in a second Corbett administration to prod our elected officials to do their jobs and to respond to the will of the people? Were the governor to be voted out of office, as appears likely today, how would things be any better with a Gov. Allyson Schwartz or Gov. Rob McCord? The House and Senate are likely to remain under Republican control, thus they would be apt to be even more hostile to the expensive, big government proposals which a Democratic governor would surely espouse.
A governor can be the finest person with the most sensible ideas, but when legislative roadblocks are erected, a state like ours can be ungovernable, as is currently the case. The future would appear to be grim.
Oren Spiegler
Upper St. Clair