According to the Evening Bulletin:
What’s driving the much-talked-about “looming crisis” is Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposed new spending and the handful of state tax hikes he’s pushing – from a payroll tax on some employers to a gross profits tax on oil and a one percentage point hike in the sales tax. But Republicans and, some say, most Democrats have no appetite for tax increases this year.
So that should solve it, right?Well, no, because Rendell is bent on getting a permanent funding increase for deficit-strapped mass transit agencies like the Port Authority of Allegheny County and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
Historically, lawmakers from suburban and rural districts don’t approve new sources of transit money without more highway and bridge money. But the price of gasoline virtually precludes a gas tax hike. It leaves lawmakers jittery about Rendell’s oil profits tax – intended to pay for transit – for fear the costs will be passed on to consumers.
Over the long haul, any tax on refiners will be passed on to the consumer, because it will force resources out of our state to other states which don’t have the tax burden.  In addition, this will actually increase our dependence on middle east oil.  Why? Because the cheapest crude to refine is light sweet crude, a large source of which is middle eastern in origin. Heavier crudes from, say, Canada or the Gulf Coast, are more expensive to refine. Rendell’s proposed windfall profits tax will make refining heavier crudes less profitable than it is already, causing the industry to shift to more profitable sources of oil.
I don’t think there’s any problem which our governor thinks some new taxes and new spending won’t cure. But it’s only going to serve to drive more people out of the Commonwealth.  Hopefully Rendell’s legacy won’t be to turn Pennsylvania into the new Massachusetts, with jobs and population leaving at such a fast rate that they are on track to lose a congressional seat.