A Satirical Letter to Corbett from one of his big supporters (by Scranton newspaper columnist)

[JPZenger]

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/kelly-what-would-a-letter-from-a-corbett-supporter-say-exactly-1.1257682#axzz1jZm4LiXe

by Chris Kelly, a columnist for the Scranton times-Tribune. He writes an imaginary letter to Corbett from a big supporter. Excerpts:

"When I read in the newspaper that you are keeping the heat on these ungrateful freeloaders - making them prove they really need my hard-earned tax money to put food on the table, clothe their kids and keep roofs over their heads - I just had to write. It's high time These People were Put On Notice, and an asset test to qualify for food stamps is just the ticket. The days of a single mother of two living high on the hog collecting $403 a month in food stamps - the maximum in most Pennsylvania counties - are over! Do you have any idea how many lobsters you can buy with $403 a month? I don't, but I'll bet it's a lot!

We want people to feed themselves! Is that so wrong? If you ask me, it's misguided do-gooders like the monsignor who keep the poor down by running soup kitchens, homeless shelters and clothing drives. If you got rid of these crutches, folks would have to stand on their own two feet (unless they're in wheelchairs, but you get the point). Bottom line: If there's no pain in being poor, why would anyone want to climb out of poverty? It's so simple, but some folks just don't get it. Take Gary Drapek, head whiner for the United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne counties. "It's stupid, idiotic and, quite honestly, heartless," he said about your cuts. "I can't understand it. I can't understand the rationale behind it."

What is harder to dismiss is Kelly's obsession with getting a severance tax on Marcellus Shale drilling - just because they have one or more such taxes just about everywhere drilling is done. Kelly and his fellow ink-stained wretches also want you to close something called the "Delaware Loophole," which allows almost 70 percent of corporations doing business in Pennsylvania to pay zero corporate income taxes. They call it "corporate welfare," as if there is any comparison between the damage done by a fraction of the population collecting a pittance on public assistance and the overwhelming majority of corporations draining millions from the state and giving next to nothing in return.

... your critics keep harping on the fact that your opposition to even a minimal severance tax on drilling has cost taxpayers at least $292 million. They say the proof can be found on the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center's Severance Tax Ticker at http://pennbpc.org/severance-tax-ticker. ...I checked it out and, again, the numbers look bad, but don't be discouraged, Gov. Corbett. The information only matters if people see it. ... Hey, maybe we'll be neighbors in whatever gated community we flee to!"

[JPZenger]

1. A great cartoon

[Curmudgeoness]

2. This is worth a chuckle, at least until you let it sink in.

I love satire. But then I think about what is said and it disgusts me. I actually hear that sort of thing from real people who are true believers. Let's hope that the backlash from these policies is swift.