Five good reasons to knock out Gov. Corbett in Tuesday's election

Republican Gov. Tom Corbett faces a long-shot re-election match against Democrat Tom Wolf in Tuesday's general election. Voters, it seems, like small-government conservatism more in theory than in practice, and no one dislikes Corbett more than Philadelphians harmed by budget cuts to public education and programs serving the poor. When it comes to Corbett (and, in most of the following cases, the Republican legislature), the city finds a lot to hate. Here are five good reasons to oust Corbett.

Eviscerating public education

Philly's underfunded public schools went into free fall after Corbett cut about $860 million from K-12 education in his first budget (the exact figure depends on which line items you count). Corbett points to rising pension costs and expired federal stimulus dollars to make the claim that no cuts were made. But what he allowed to happen is an unambiguous disaster: thousands of positions — teachers, nurses, counselors and administrators — have been eliminated, 30 schools were closed and students have been denied classes in arts and music. School libraries have been left dark.

Corbett refuses to acknowledge how wrenching the state of permanent crisis has become. Indeed, he has never made a single documented visit to a Philly public school. What's worse, he has exploited the disaster to attack the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) and cut their health benefits — an effective salary cut for educators who already dig deep into their own pockets to buy classroom supplies and are often paid less than suburban counterparts.

"You have a battered staff teaching some of the poorest and neediest kids in the country with desperately inadequate human and material resources," says Amy Roat, a teacher and PFT building representative at Feltonville School of Arts and Science, and a steering committee member of the union's militant Caucus of Working Educators. "This new normal is Dickensian."

Public colleges and universities across the state also have been subjected to deep funding cuts. Temple University, according to a July story in the Inquirer, has had to cut $113 million from its operating budget over five years.

"Student debt has increased because tuition has had to rise," emails Art Hochner, president of the Temple Association of University Professionals and a professor of human resources management at Fox School of Business. "Employees' wages have not kept pace even with low inflation because the university budget has been squeezed. ... Class sizes have increased as Temple's administration has sought to cut the costs of instruction [and] many administrative positions have been cut or not filled because of the need to cut millions from the budget."

Failing to downsize the prison machine

Pennsylvania incarcerates more than 50,000 people, many from the very same places suffering most from school cuts: Philadelphia's long-marginalized and impo­verished black and Puerto Rican neighborhoods.

The state prison population has exploded in recent decades, more than quintupling from just 8,582 in 1980. Blame for creating this mess lies with officials from both parties who played tough-on-crime political theater, exploiting voter fears for electoral gain. But Gov. Corbett took office signaling that he would reduce the prison population, and appointed John Wetzel, a professed reformer, to head the state's Department of Corrections. It was part of a promising national movement of conservatives who, citing fiscal responsibility and Christian mercy, joined longtime critics of mass incarceration on the civil rights left to call for change.

But despite the much-touted signing of legislation in 2012 ostensibly intended to reduce the state's prison population, real reform has not materialized. Indeed, the Corbett administration has continued the construction of a new, $400 million prison outside of Philadelphia over loud protests.While the prison is touted as a replacement for the aging Graterford facility, skeptical activists believe that it will simply make room for expansion. "In spite of early efforts to portray himself as a prison reformer, Corbett's administration has made no progress in decreasing the number of people in Pennsylvania's prisons," says Sarah Morris, a member of Decarcerate PA.

Attacking women's rights

Corbett lacks Rick Santorum's freaky, right-wing charisma. But like Santorum, a homophobic politician immortalized for millions as a euphemism for anal-sex-liquid by-product, he does excel at insulting women and gay people.

Defending proposed legislation to require women seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound, he suggested that anyone made uncomfortable should "just ... close your eyes."

His obnoxious comments have been coupled with harmful policies.

In 2011, he signed a law that requires abortion clinics to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers. Proponents said the move was about keeping women safe. But it was nakedly an effort to make abortion clinics spend a lot of money on medically unnecessary renovations — and thus make it more difficult for women to access abortion services.

Corbett also barred health plans offered through the state's Obamacare exchange from covering standard abortion procedures. Altogether, Corbett has made it harder than ever for women to access a safe, affordable abortion.

Seventy-eight percent of Pennsylvania counties lack an abortion provider, according to Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates. And even where there are providers, as in Philadelphia, poor women often struggle to pay for an abortion and still don't receive substantive comprehensive sex education in the city's schools.

But Corbett has cynically exploited the plight of poor women driven to seek the modern-day equivalent of back-alley abortions. One pro-Corbett advertisement pictures Wolf next to infamous and rogue West Philly abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, asking, "Will pro-abortion Tom Wolf take us back?"

"Corbett has backed dangerous, out-of-touch policies on women's health," emailed Sari Stevens, executive director of Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates and its PAC.

Comparing gay marriage to incest

Speaking in opposition to gay marriage, Corbett compared such unions to incest. In an interview with Harrisburg's CBS affiliate, Corbett was asked about his legal team's controversial assertion that gay marriage was akin to two 12-year-olds getting married.

"It was an inappropriate analogy," he responded. "I think a much better analogy would have been brother and sister, don't you?" Corbett then smiled as though expecting a high five. The interviewer, clearly shocked, says, "I don't know," nervously laughs, and looks off to the side. "I'm gonna leave the comments to you and your team."

In fairness, he has made some progress on gay rights. Last year, he announced that he would support a bill ban­ning discrimination against gay and transgender people in housing, employment and other matters. (Yes, outside of Philadelphia and some other municipalit­ies, you can still bar someone from a job or housing because they are gay.) And he finally declined to appeal a federal judge's ruling striking down Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage — not because he supports it, but simply because he thought he wouldn't prevail. No thanks to Corbett, gay marriage is now legal in Pennsylvania.

Hurting the poor

Corbett has made it a priority to cut programs that aid the commonwealth's most vulnerable, including eliminating general assistance, a modest monthly payment to assist people with disabilities, recovering addicts and victims of domestic violence. He deeply cut county-run human services funding, ended adultBasic health coverage covering tends of thousands of Pennsylvanians and delayed implementing Obamacare's Medicaid expansion until he could secure federal approval for a watered-down version. He kicked about 71,000 children off Medicaid because their paperwork was out-of-date, according to a Daily News report, and also reduced Medicaid services for beneficiaries, including mean-spirited measures like one that limits denture coverage to once in a lifetime.

Corbett has imposed a new work-search requirement for those seeking Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), requiring applicants to apply for at least three jobs per week while their applications are under review. Unsurprisingly, the rate at which applicants have been rejected has skyrocketed.

Corbett also imposed an "asset test" for those seeking food stamps, requiring them to prove that they don't have a second car to sell or savings they could spend down. According to a 2013 Inquirer article, 4,000 households lost or were denied food stamps because they exceeded the asset limit in its first year. Another 111,000 households were denied benefits after they did not provide sufficient documentation to prove that they were poor enough.

"Families are afraid to even have a bank account because the Department of Public Welfare workers helping people sign up for SNAP ask about it," Mariana Chilton, a professor of health management and policy and director of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities at Drexel University, says in an email. "Its impact has caused many families to avoid banking and thus be isolated from the mainstream financial world, which affects their ability to save money so they can even have enough money to put money down on a safe, affordable place to rent for their families. So it has exacerbated their risk of homelessness."