GOP candidate for Governor, Sam Rohrer, answers criticisms of his support for the pay raise and pension increase

Brad Bumsted of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a great article on the criticisms of Sam Rohrer's voting for the 2005 pay raise and the 2001 state pension increase. As a Sam Roher supporter I am not going to defend his votes. They were horrible misjudgments and political mistakes. But the thing I like about Sam is he is honest about them.

Rohrer, who bills himself in campaign literature as an "authentic conservative," told a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon Monday that the pay raise is "a vote I wish I'd never made." He said he voted for it because he made a commitment to do so and wanted to keep his word. The pension vote four years earlier was a mistake, based on inaccurate information legislative leaders provided, he said. Click Here To Read More

However, I also have to say to Pennsylvania voters that no candidate is perfect especially when you were under the tremendous pressure from the House caucus leadership to vote for them. If you didn't leaders like former Speaker John Perzel were threatening to pull committee chairmanships and so on.

The bottom line in this race is that I am voting for Pennsylvania's future not its past. I am focusing on in here and now. You have to vote for the candidate that best represents your principles. I am concerned about state budget increases and cutting spending. Sam has a record of voting against Rendell's bloated state budgets. That is something Tom Corbett can't say. How has Tom Corbett help control state spending as Attorney General?