Ed wigs out over Corbett tax stand

IT'S NO SECRET that former Gov. Ed Rendell disagrees with Gov. Corbett on how to tax natural-gas drillers in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania.

But people at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center's fifth anniversary fundraiser Friday afternoon were surprised to see just how far Rendell would go to make that point.

Rendell, sporting what can only be called a "Moe" wig in the style of the one-time Three Stooges actor, explained that PBPC Director Sharon Ward did a presentation in December 2008 on state revenue. It included pictures of governors from six states. Rendell was one of them.

The presentation asked "What do these governors have that Ed Rendell doesn't?"

The answer was what Ward calls "robust taxes on natural gas." But Ward added that the answer could also be hair, a comment that Rendell on Friday called "a gratuitous shot."

The governors, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, then-West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin and then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin did indeed all have hair.

Rendell? Not so much.

Rendell, who failed to get his proposal for a natural-gas excise tax through the General Assembly, said Friday that it would have produced more than $2 billion in additional taxes for Pennsylvania that could have been used to fund education and other state issues.

Rendell urged the crowd to work on the General Assembly to sway the votes of members there.

He offered a quick tutorial in democracy, asking the crowd to vote on whether he should continue the speech while wearing the wig. The crowd voted overwhelmingly for him to take it off.