The above video is part 3 of an interview with PA Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach. See Political Policy posts dated 10/27/09 for part 1 of his interview and dated 10/29/09 for part 2 of his interview.
In this final interview Rep. Gerlach outlines his leadership proposals on the following issues:
- Expanding PA Gaming - Rep. Gerlach recognizes the economic development gained with the slots online in PA, but is cautiously optimistic about expanding gaming in PA from a social values perspective. Before expanding gaming in PA Gerlach believes, "we need to wait and see what the social consequences are as this continues to play out across the years, but I would not support expansion of that because I do believe there will be some very significant social consequences in terms of addictions and other social problems, so let’s really understand what the practical impact of (expansion) has been before we make decisions on whether to expand to a further level.”
- Property taxes- Rep. Gerlach believes that local communities should decide whether property or income taxes should be used as their basis for taxation. He believes this is a decision best left up to the local communities to resolve.
- Increasing PA income taxes- Rep. Gerlach says NO to increasing PA income taxes. According to Rep. Gerlach increasing PA income taxes does not grow jobs. He has identified billions in medicaid and welfare abuse that could serve to reduce the size, scope and costs of these programs to provide savings for all Pennsylvanians and that would also retain the integrity of these programs, while not requiring an increase in the commonwealth's income tax.
- Rep. Gerlach's Experience- Rep. Gerlach believes that Pennsylvanians need a Governor with Rep. Gerlach's PA and federal legislative background, experience and commitment to address and resolve issues affecting all Pennsylvanians. Pennsylvanians need a Governor who can hit the ground running addressing the issues at hand the first day in office.
Tom Corbett, PA Attorney-General, is also running for the PA Republican gubernatorial nomination. However his role as both state AG and gubernatorial candidate while prosecuting "bonusgate", wherein both Democratic and Republican PA legislative employees allegedly received bonuses for political work, has been seen by many as a gross conflict of interest. Corbett has been perceived as slow to prosecute Republicans implicated in "bonusgate". Paul Carpenter of Allentown's Morning Call reports, "The attorney general, however, has been blasted for exclusively targeting Democrats in the bonusgate mess, avoiding fellow Republicans as he courts them for support in his quest to be nominated by his party for a run at the governor's office. Partisan Democrats smell a whitewash."
Rep. Gerlach believes that Corbett cannot have a “day” job as PA Attorney-General with expectations to prosecute his own party while at the same time curry support from them as a gubernatorial candidate. Rep. Gerlach has called on Tom Corbett to resolve this conflict of interest as he sees fit in order to best serve Pennsylvanians in his duty as Attorney-General. Again, more common sense advice from Rep. Gerlach.
JIM GERLACH WILL BRING COMMON SENSE LEADERSHIP TO PENNSYLVANIANS
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