Joe Hoeffel, the most liberal of the four Democratic candidates for governor, blasted Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett Monday for appealing to hard-line conservatives in the GOP by joining a lawsuit seeking to overturn the new federal health care reform act.
Mr. Hoeffel strongly defended the new health care law, signed by President Barack Obama last week, saying it will be good for Pennsylvania. He assailed Mr. Corbett for opposing it, along with 12 other state attorneys general, all but one of them Republican.
Mr. Hoeffel said he thinks Mr. Corbett is worried about the appeal of state Rep. Sam Rohrer of Berks County, his opponent for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the May 18 primary. Mr. Rohrer has been getting support from conservative elements in the party, who are sometimes called “tea partiers,” because of their protests against the federal government and taxes, modeled after the Boston Tea Party of 1773.
“Tom Corbett always struck me as a moderate Republican, but his desire to appeal to the right wing of his party has overwhelmed his good judgment,” Mr. Hoeffel said. “It concerns me that Tom Corbett would veer to the right and join this lawsuit, which has hardly any chance of succeeding.”
Mr. Corbett has said provisions of the health care plan the Obama administration pushed through Congress overstepped the bounds of the U.S. Constitution. Mr. Corbett contends the federal government is interfering with interstate commerce and doesn’t have the right to tell people to buy a certain product or service, such as health care.
Mr. Hoeffel broadened his criticism of Mr. Corbett beyond just the issue of health care, also criticizing him for opposing efforts by towns to enact laws requiring people to report lost and stolen firearms and by opposing efforts to enact a new tax on gas companies that pump natural gas from areas of Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania.
Tags: Joe Hoeffel, Joe Hoeffel for governor, Tom Corbett, Tom Corbett for governor, Tom Corbett health care lawsuit
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