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Corbett performs slight [sic] of hand; Dan Sainovich; Beaver County Times; October 19, 2011.
Confusion I had dealing with “Dan/Danny Sainovich” letters from Industry/Ohioville is over. After he read an April 2011 critique of one of his letters, Mr. Sainovich was kind enough to clear things up. In an e-mail note, Mr. Sainovich wrote, “I thought I would shed some light on Dan vs Danny Sainovich. Danny is my father and we both live in Ohioville. His name is Danny and mine is Dan - you are correct that we do have opposite views on politics. Actually there is no jr or sr but we have come to an agreement to use jr and sr so that folks don’t get us mixed up.”
Previous critiques of Mr. Sainovich’s letters are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Mr. Sainovich is an administrative organizer for SEIU District 1199P.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“In response to Mr. Spiegler’s Oct. 14 letter ‘Corbett should be called Houdini,’ at first I thought the letter was going to be sarcastic, but the letter praises Gov. Corbett.”
[RWC] I had the same first thought as Mr. Sainovich because Mr. Spiegler’s letter-writing body of work shows him to be a Republican impersonator and told us at least twice (here and here) Mr. Corbett couldn’t balance the PA budget without more taxation.
Previous anti-Corbett letters from Mr. Sainovich were entitled “Ways to get more revenue” and “Corbett is double talking on taxes.”
“I also believe he is similar to Houdini -- a slight [sic] of hand artist. He held the line on state taxes, but what have counties and municipalities had to do? Many have increased the millage to make up for what the state has reduced.”
[RWC] That was the choice of the “counties and municipalities.” In any case, we need to remember both local and state tax revenue comes from the same place, you and me. Tax revenue from Harrisburg doesn’t grow on trees; it comes out of your family’s paycheck just like local tax revenue. The difference is people have more control over local taxes than they do for state taxes.
“School class size is up. Teachers are being laid off. Schools have cut back to half-day kindergarten. It seems that schools just expanded to full-day because studies have found that early childhood schooling sets the groundwork for youngsters.”
[RWC] The item in this paragraph to pay attention to is “Teachers are being laid off;” the rest is window dressing. Fewer dues-paying teachers means fewer taxpayer-dollars for labor union management to spend on lobbying and campaign contributions to Democrat politicians.
“Corbett floated a $500 million short-term loan for highway work.”
[RWC] So?
“Finally he realizes that there should be some type of tax on gas extraction in Pennsylvania. I support this, but he says he is keeping his promise of no new taxes -- these are fees. Also, he is looking at raising fees such as for drivers licenses and vehicle registrations.”
[RWC] Mr. Sainovich would like us to believe “fee” and “tax” are synonyms. Mr. Corbett does not “realize that there should be some type of tax on gas extraction in Pennsylvania.” The proposed fees are a fixed-dollar amount per drilling site (not a production-based tax) and the revenue is to pay for local impacts of drilling, such as increased road wear and tear.
As for “raising fees such as for drivers licenses and vehicle registrations,” these are among the recommendations of the Transportation Funding Advisory Commission (TFAC) formed by Mr. Corbett earlier this year. To date, Mr. Corbett hasn’t made any legislative proposals based on the TFAC recommendations.
“To the reader and Corbett -- don’t be a phony. Is he really that different?”
[RWC] Huh?
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