Day of Reckoning in Pa.

As our front page proclaims, today is “C-Day” in Harrisburg.

New Gov. Tom Corbett will deliver his much-anticipated first budget address. It’s not going to be pretty.

Corbett has been extraordinarily tight-lipped about his budget plans, which are expected to be aligned with his campaign pledge not to raise any taxes.

The state is staring into the abyss of a deficit expected to be in excess of $4 billion. Corbett is adamant he will not turn to taxpayers for more tax revenue.

That leaves one option: Cuts. They likely will be across the board. And they will be painful.

Maybe the best depiction of just how austere the Corbett spending blueprint will be came from new budget Secretary Charles Zogby. “The day of reckoning has arrived,” Zogby told reporters last week.

Ironically, Zogby served under two governors, Tom Ridge and Mark Schweiker, as education secretary. Education is one of the areas that likely will see severe cuts.
Education is one of the areas that likely will see severe cuts.

Rendell built an eight-year legacy of increasing education spending.
That likely will be short-circuited by Corbett.

Perhaps it’s fitting that Corbett is delivering his address on Fat Tuesday. For eight years, the commonwealth has reveled in the spending policies of Ed Rendell.

That all likely will end with Corbett’s speech this morning in Harrisburg.

Tomorrow the state dons sack cloth and ashes as we look to atone for eight years of out-of-control spending.

Day of reckoning? Party for a few more hours, Pennsylvania, Then brace yourself.

The end (of such spending) is near.

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