Guzzardi Explains Campaign — Bob Guzzardi, whose roots and sympathies are firmly in the middle class of the Springfield, Delaware County where he grew up, is opposing incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett in the May20 primary election.
Guzzardi is running a self-funded campaign in which he is pointedly refusing all donations. It may be historic.
Here are the policy answers he provided to a questionnaire from the York Daily Record.
Should Pennsylvania sell and privatize the state-owned wine and liquor stores?
It is not the government’s core function to operate, control and promote the use of beer, wine and liquor. There needs to be a “separation of sin and state”. It is the role of government to tax and regulate. We need the traffic cop. If the liquor stores had been sold, the proceeds could have been used to fund both pension spike and “crumbling roads and bridges falling down.”
Do you support privatizing management of the state lottery?
The lottery is not only gambling but it is a rigged game. It is not a core function of government to operate, control and promote gambling. There needs to be a “separation of sin and state”. It is the role of government to tax and regulate. We need a traffic cop. Proceeds of a sale can be used to finance both the pension spike and “crumbling roads and bridges falling down.
Should Pennsylvania raise the minimum wage?
The best job training is a job. Raising cost of labor means fewer jobs. An arbitrary, artificial and inflated wage rate centrally planned government bureaucrats punishes silent victims, particularly, in inner city by reducing jobs available. Higher minimum wage correlates with higher unemployment among young adults, particularly, those with limited work experience, limited training and limited skills.
Spiraling unemployment about young black men will not be helped by an artificial wage.
Do you approve or disapprove of the transportation spending bill that was signed into law in November?
Act 89 of 2013, clearly, violates Article VIII, Section 11 of the Pennsylvania Constitution as well as Articles III, Section 1 and Section 3. It imposes a $2.4 billion dollar tax increase on motorists, truckers and the trucking industry. There was no grassroots demand to repair crumbling roads and bridges falling down injuring and killing children but an industry driven initiative by campaign contributing crony hacks benefitting from billions of highway contracts. Secretary of Transportation Barry Schoch was, in effect, a highway contractor lobbyist before Gov. Corbett appointed him Sec. of Transportation.
Do you support state funding for charter schools?
I support expanding parental choice and control in education decisions. Parental control over a child’s education is the key to providing a “thorough and efficient system of public education” as required by Pa Con Article 3 Section 14.
I support expanding and funding Charter Schools, Cyber Charter Schools, Education Improvement Tax Credits, and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credits. Charter schools are safer than government schools which are unionized bureaucracies. Non-union charter schools cost about 80% of cost of unsafe and educationally dysfunctional government schools.
I will not increase government spending and that may mean goring the ox of the unionized government bureaucracy school monopoly. If government schools are so good, why are parents forced to use them?
Do you support or oppose a plan to require new state employees to participate in a 401(k)-style retirement plan as opposed to a current state employee pension system?
“Perhaps the most important thing taxpayers should know is that the state has
been spending more than it collects in revenue for six straight years. Gov.
Corbett’s proposed budget would make that a seventh year.”
Elizabeth Stelle of Commonwealth Foundation Feb. 6, 2014
Auditor General DePasquale warns of municipal tax increases and bankruptcies
because of the pension spike.
Scranton Times Tribune, March 2, 2014
“State Spending is at an All-Time High
Elizabeth Stelle of Commonwealth Foundation Feb. 6, 2014
PSERS and SERS project total taxpayer contributions for these two plans will increase from $1.7 billion in 2011-12 to more than $6.1 billion in 2016-17
a 257 percent increase.
Commonwealth Foundation, March 15, 2014
For drilling, should Pennsylvania have a severance tax based on the volume of natural gas produced or an impact fee based on the number of wells in operation?
All gas, oil and drilling companies pay all Pennsylvania business taxes like any other business corporation. “The Power to tax involves the power to destroy”. When one business is singled out for special taxation, then any business can be targeted; no business is safe from the General Assembly’s avarice. More power to the General Assembly means fewer resources for individual citizens to pursue happiness in the way they choose.
SPENDING IS THE FOCUS OF MY CAMPAIGN. THERE IS FISCAL ICEBERG AHEAD THAT WILL TAKE US ALL DOWN. Pennsylvania needs to be a place to grow businesses and to grow old and government spending is taking so much money that we cannot feel safe in our businesses or in our homes.
Do you approve or disapprove of Pennsylvania’s 2012 voter ID law?
I am beginning to think this is not as important as I once did. There have been no prosecutions or even reports in Philadelphia from Commission Al Schmidt that evidences any voter fraud which is surprising. Both Commissioners Schmidt and Stephanie Singer are very smart and very honest and if there were wide spread voter fraud we would know about it.
Do you approve or disapprove of how the state legislature has been handling its job?
Republican Governor Corbett broke his promise of “No New Taxes; No New Fees” and is now lying about it in his campaign commercials. The Republican General Assembly has been more than complicit in spending more, borrowing more and taxing more. I want to be the voice and the hand of the Forgotten Taxpayer. Article IV Section 16 of the Pennsylvania Constitution is a powerful tool.
Do you support legalizing online gambling? Expanding Casinos?
From what I know, internet gambling cannot be taxed or regulated so I don’t think it is a good idea. The expansion of casinos is a decision for local municipalities. I neither favor nor disfavor but prefer to let the people decide if they want more gambling or not. Where people prefer to spend their money is their business, not mine.
Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape (and six other abortion questions)?
The questions are simplistic and do not address difficult and complicated moral, theological and personal matters. Life begins at conception. Medical science is clear. It is common sense. An iPad does not begin at conception. Infanticide
cannot be tolerated. Late term abortion, partial birth abortion is infanticide and barbaric. Who would advocate for such a thing? Why would they?
Abortion is a moral wrong but most of us do a lot of immoral things. The way to reduce, even eliminate abortion, is to change hearts and minds, not to enact more coercive laws. No law can make you a more moral person or love your neighbor. If you won’t obey God’s law, why would you obey mine?
Pennsylvanians have reached a compromise between anti-abortion purist position and the pro-abortion 24/7 position. Interfering with this compromise by the citizens is not a priority. Let us see how society evolves
Should we have more laws to regulate gun ownership (and three other gun questions)?
Pennsylvania Constitution Article I Section 21
The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.
This language is contained in the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776. The original 1776 Constitutional provision was modified in the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1790 and the words have not changed since 1790.
Guns should not be in hands of felons or mentally ill people who are a danger to themselves or others. We do not need more laws. The police and the Courts need to enforce the many gun laws we do have.
Do you support or oppose allowing adults in Pennsylvania to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use? Do you favor or oppose allowing adults to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a doctor recommends it?
The science about the value of medical marijuana is ambivalent and inconclusive. Oncologists have not advocated using medical marijuana. I will defer to science on this issue. Colorado is experimenting with legalized marijuana. Let us see how it works out. I think it will end badly but I may be wrong.
Should Pennsylvania legalize civil unions for same-sex couples? Should Pennsylvania legalize same-sex marriage?
Historically and etymologically marriage is between a man and a woman. Men and women are different, spiritually and physically. There is no reason that homosexuals, to be authentic, should act like heterosexuals. The dynamics between a man and a woman have a totally different dynamic than between two men or two men.
Why should your party’s voters choose you on May 20?
Because it is clear that I will be the voice and the hand of the Forgotten Taxpayer. That I will gore the spending oxen that need to be gored to reduce state government spending at all levels, state government borrowing at all levels and reduce the tax burden on taxpayers in order to make Pennsylvania a place to grow businesses and to grow old. Tom Corbett broke his “No New Taxes; No New Fees” promise to those who voted for him in 2010 and he is lying about it in his campaign commercials. The polls have consistently told us that Tom Corbett is a November loser. There is a reason for that. does not deserve to represent the Republican voter.
I am a Limited Government Constitutional Republican who will not increase state spending or borrowing or taxes or fees. Count on it.
Guzzardi also notes that he is a strong opponent of Common Core.
Guzzardi Explains Campaign