On the campaign trail: Jim Cawley spoke last Friday morning at a Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce breakfast.
Jim Cawley recalls the day in early 2011 when he and Tom Corbett raised their right hands to take the oath of office, Cawley as lieutenant governor and Corbett as governor.
“In the left hand, we were being handed a bill,” he said.
That bill was a $4.2 billion deficit. Corbett was advised by some that rising taxes was the road to recovery.
“Gov. Corbett said, ‘No, that’s the road to ruin,’” Cawley said.
Cawley spoke last Friday morning at Wesley Enhanced Living Pennypack, 8401 Roosevelt Blvd., as part of a Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce breakfast.
Al Taubenberger, president of the Chamber, called for a moment of silence for State Trooper David Kedra, a Burholme native who died last week in an accidental shooting during a training exercise.
Among those in attendance were Republicans Dee Adcock, a candidate in the 13th Congressional District, and Matt Wolfe, a lawyer and West Philadelphia ward leader running next year for an at-large City Council seat.
Corbett and Cawley are in a very difficult re-election race against Democrat Tom Wolf and his running mate, state Sen. Mike Stack. Stack addressed a Chamber breakfast last month at WEL Pennypack. Polls show Wolf with a lead of about 20 points.
Cawley, standing at a podium with a sign attached that read, “Less Taxes, More Jobs,” argued that Corbett has earned another four years, based partly on four balanced budgets.
“We are moving in the right direction,” he said.
Cawley, who spent six years as a Bucks County commissioner, explained that the Corbett administration is spending more money on public education than at any time in state history.
The lieutenant governor pointed out that Site Selection magazine rated Pennsylvania №1 among states in the Northeast region for new corporate facilities.
Voters know that Wolf rides a blue Jeep, but Cawley wants them to know that he plans to raise taxes and has no plan to pay for his proposed boost in education funding.
Cawley noted that Wolf has a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, adding that MIT in his case should stand for “More Income Tax.”
In a question-and-answer session, one man told Cawley that he believes Corbett is sagging in the polls because the public does not understand that the administration has raised funding for public education.
Indeed, Cawley said he spoke to a teacher at a diner in Schuylkill County, and that she told him, “I don’t believe you,” before walking away.
Cawley showed the Chamber crowd a campaign flier displaying a chart indicating public education funding has increased every year since 2011. The lieutenant governor asked the forgiveness of Sister Maureen McGarrity, president of Holy Family University, before declaring that it is “a damn lie” to say Corbett has cut education funding.
Cawley has asked the Pennsylvania State Education Association to prove him wrong.
“My phone still hasn’t rung,” he said. ••
