Really Great Analysis of Corbett's Pennsylvania Budget, and What It Really Means to People

[Curmudgeoness]

2. All funding cuts, no mandate cuts....

our county commissioners are telling us to brace for a tax increase, since the state has cut so much funding of programs that the state has mandated.

So Corbett is all excited about lowering taxes and cutting spending, but he has not bothered to hit the other side of the Republican argument----big government. This means that no one in the state of PA will have any tax relief (unless they are drillers) since any cuts made at the state level will be offset by increases at the county and local levels. This is why I am always leery of all the hype about governors who have cut spending.....at the state level, maybe.

I am not advocating getting rid of most of the mandates, but I call "foul" on the principles that this governor is operating under.

One of the cuts discussed was another cut this year of 20% from the Human Services Development Fund, which funds services like mental health, developmental services, drug and alcohol services, and children and youth services. In 2007, this fund provided $379,341, and in 2012, it will provide $144,963, which is nearly 62% decrease in five years. But these services are still necessary for society as well as being mandated.

Thanks Gov. Corbett. We all knew that the Republican party was going to have our back on tax relief.