Sam Rohrer: Pa. is 'insolvent right now'

From a profile by Chris Brennan of Republican gubernatorial candidate Sam Rohrer in today's edition of the Philadelphia Daily News:

State Rep. Sam Rohrer calls himself a "constitutional Republican," the kind of guy who seems tailor-made for the tea-party angst that has roiled conservative and libertarian voters.

Rohrer, who since 1992 has served nine terms in the state House from Berks County, has courted that movement's cultural and partisan passions as he seeks the Republican nomination for governor.

But Rohrer, the underdog to state Attorney General Tom Corbett in the May 18 primary, is not playing to that crowd with bumper-sticker slogans.

Instead, the man who spent two years managing a radio station and 12 years as marketing director for a company that sold baby products, offers dry analysis of the state's financial woes and ideas on how to fix them.

"We are insolvent right now," Rohrer said, noting that the state brings in about $24 billion a year and spends $28 billion. "I'm really running because I'm concerned about where we're going to be two years from now."

The plain-spoken Rohrer has emerged in the crowded field - two Republicans, four Democrats - as the man most willing to speak his mind. He calls for significant cuts in state spending on welfare, corrections and education.

On welfare, Rohrer says he has anecdotal information that state intake workers are not requiring applicants to prove citizenship.

Read the full story at the newspaper's Web site.