And the beautiful open spaces, the forests of Pennsylvania, the recreational uses that come from having these green open spaces and forests, they contribute dramatically to the level of our tourism, dramatically.
Ed Rendell
I've always sort of believed that the future takes care of itself.
You know rule one for the vice president is make sure you never upstage the president, right? It's rule one.
I am a free spirit. I tell the truth, and I like to mix it up.
Look, natural gas, just like oil, is going to eventually go away. It's not renewable.
I hate negative ads in general.
There are a tremendous amount of environmental issues that are on the table.
George W. Bush always said and did what he believed and he let it rip.
I love the concept of community energy.
Tourism is our second biggest industry in terms of the people it employs.
If you have spent any time with Barack Obama, you know he's a funny guy. He's a good guy. He knows sports.
Under the law, the government, whether it's state, local or federal, cannot give the Catholic Church or any religious institution money directly.
And secondly, I would impose a significant state landfill tipping fee and use that tipping fee to fund the billion dollar bond issue that I want to create to produce the funds for all of the environmental challenges that we just went over.
For my part, I make this pledge to all of you: The politics of division, of pitting east against west, urban versus rural, region against region, and people against people will have no place in my Administration.
I'm interested in giving business an opportunity by improving the tax environment to invest and grow with Pennsylvania, to expand and put more money in capital investment and creating jobs.
One of the things that people don't realize is that that natural beauty, those recreational forests, they have an economic development impact for the state as well.
I think if we're going to have to landfill trash, and I think we basically have to, we might as well get the upside for it and dedicate that upside to improving the environment in so many different ways.
I have said consistently both in my papers and in my speeches - which you heard in the primary campaign - that I will continue to phase out the Capital Stock and Franchise tax.
I normally don't endorse in Democratic primaries.
If there was a way to discourage trash constitutionally, I would sure as heck take a hard look at it. I don't think there is. So I don't think there's a choice here.
Growing Greener doesn't produce money for farmland preservation or open space preservation.
If I lose, I lose. I'll do it on my terms.
And preserving our open spaces or having them there for recreational purposes is one of the things that contributes to the high level of quality of life that we offer in Pennsylvania, and that also translates into economic benefits.
If I were president, I am not sure that I would offer Ed Rendell the job of chief of staff.
We are the second oldest state in the Union because too many of our young people are leaving Pennsylvania. They are leaving Pennsylvania behind for opportunities elsewhere.
Like working families all across the state, we must find a way to make government live within its means.
Creating new jobs for Pennsylvanians continues to be my highest priority throughout the Commonwealth.
The Medicaid system currently steers people toward nursing home care. Far more people can be covered in community-based care programs for significantly less.
I think a moratorium probably is legal, and we should probably for a short period of time impose a moratorium so that we don't permit any additional landfill permits for the time being, so we don't exacerbate the problem.
But in the long run we're not going to be able to keep out of state trash away from Pennsylvania.
Number one I think we should impose a fee or a tax on the transportation of trash per mile.
We will not lose this election for lack of money.
We've been working our tail off and lead by that example.
I think Barack Obama has brought a new level of ethical standards to Washington. Has he changed some basic hard-knuckle politics? No. You need hard-knuckle politics to succeed.
Well, the infrastructure part of the stimulus has worked. There's absolutely no question about it. We can demonstrate in Pennsylvania and other states around the union how it's produced good, paying jobs both on the construction sites and back in American factories. It has worked.
Is regulation per se bad? Is better regulation bad? I think better regulation is good for the business community, and I think that's something we should get together on.
I think politics today is all about false choices: You can have a robust energy economy and a challenged environment, or a great environment and no economy. That's a false choice. You can do both.
Natural gas is great for America in so many ways.
One of the reasons we don't have our deficit under control is because Republicans are wusses and won't tell their base a simple fact that everyone knows. We can't eliminate the deficit without raising some revenue... They're wusses.
Most people are motivated by the economy. And if you've lost your job, lost your mortgage, lost your 401(k), you're angry. And if your brother-in-law has lost one of those you're angry still. And when you're angry you take it out on people who are in office. Which is natural.
I am a fiscal conservative.
I think national issues play into gubernatorial races less than, obviously, in Senate and Congressional races. Much less. They tend to be more decided by personality, leadership qualities and by state or local issues. They still have some effect, no question about it, but not as much as Senate and Congressional races.
It used to be that Democrats and Republicans would disagree, but they could be social to each other. There were times during the year that we acted together in the good of the country.
I think the president should be accessible, should answer questions that aren't pre-screened, but I think there should be a little bit of dignity to the presidency.
Would I be happy just practicing law? No. Would I be happy just doing TV and speeches? No. I want to do all of these things and be as active as I can... but my main goal is to have some degree of influence on the public discussion.
