Pa.'s McGinty, Toomey joust over who's softest on corporations

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and his Democratic challenger Katie McGinty are tangling over the use of corn ethanol in motor fuel and the five-year-old Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The attacks Monday by Toomey and McGinty in Pennsylvania’s neck-and-neck race are part of a larger campaign theme in which they’re accusing the other of favoring big corporations over regular people.

Toomey’s targeting corn ethanol as corporate welfare that harms Pennsylvania. McGinty’s supports it as a renewable fuel.

Meanwhile, McGinty’s accusing Toomey of trying to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a favor to banks. Toomey says the bureau isn’t necessary.

Last week, the bureau fined Wells Fargo $100 million for allegedly opening millions of unauthorized customer accounts while Toomey’s blaming a Philadelphia oil refinery’s financial woes on ethanol blending costs.