GOP candidate for governor offers the same old bad ideas

I bet health care consultant Paul Mango of Pine was pleased as punch that his upcoming gubernatorial run was covered in such detail by the PG (“GOP Hopeful Outlines Plan to Cut Taxes for Businesses, Homeowners,” Sept. 12).

Self-declared as “the only candidate in the race that has a vision” it’s entirely clear to anyone reading his proposals that they are cut-and-paste failed GOP policies and that his vision rarely makes it up or down the dial beyond Fox News.

His proposal to slash the corporate tax rate by twothirds is just another version of the failed Kansas tax cut experiment, currently being repealed four years after the fact by the GOP-dominated Kansas Legislature, thanks to an explosion of the state deficit.

And how much do you trust his proposal to eliminate property taxes to fund schools? I guess we are to put our trust in a GOP-dominated state Legislature that can’t pass a budget or seem to agree on any sort of new funding expansion even at the risk of driving up taxpayer borrowing costs due to falling bond ratings.

Going one step further, Mr. Mango seems to want to replicate the dreaded Michigan model for expanding and approving charter schools — a system recently exposed in The New York Times as a fraud and as failing. Thanks, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos!

At least the conservativefunded Commonwealth Foundation thinks these are great ideas, predicting the corporate tax cut will “help jumpstart Pennsylvania’s economy.” Mr. Mango has all the answers. The question is whether he is able to hoodwink enough people to vote for him. BENJAMIN SOLTESZ

Spring Hill