ENOLA — After more than a week of being criticized for suggesting that some Pennsylvanians would rather collect unemployment checks than go to work, Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett appeared eager to change the subject Tuesday when asked about the increasing likelihood of Congress extending federal jobless benefits.

"It's a done deal. Let's move on. Let's go find the jobs. Let's be positive about this. Let's go out and build an economy that finds the jobs (so) that we don't need unemployment compensation," he said.

Corbett was asked about the Senate's 60-40 vote to break a Republican filibuster, clearing the way for passage of a Democratic bill, after he appeared before about 75 college students.

Corbett, the state attorney general, has said in recent days that he supported a Republican bill to offset the cost of the benefits extension by cutting other federal spending.

Corbett declined to comment Tuesday on the Democratic bill's reliance on borrowing to finance the extended benefits.

"I'm not going to say good, bad, indifferent. It's done," he said.

A campaign spokesman for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato charged that Corbett's endorsement of the GOP extension conflicted with the July 9 comments that drew flak from Democratic leaders and newspaper editorialists.

"He only said that after three days of getting beat up for saying he's against it," said the spokesman, Brian Herman.

Corbett ignited an emotional debate when he questioned the work ethic of Pennsylvanians who are receiving unemployment checks at a time when the unemployed vastly outnumber available jobs. In May, on average, there were nearly five unemployed Americans for every job opening, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

"The jobs are there," he said. "But if we keep extending unemployment, people are just going to sit there."

Corbett has since said he misspoke and that he believes most jobless Pennsylvanians are eager to find work, but the criticism continues — especially from Onorato, who is Allegheny County's elected chief executive.

The Senate bill would extend unemployment benefits averaging $309 a week that kick in once the six months of state benefits is exhausted. The retroactive benefits are expected to help about 200,000 Pennsylvanians who lost their benefits when the last federal extension expired, according to the state Labor and Industry Department.

On Thursday, the Onorato campaign put up a special website inviting people to "tell Tom he's wrong" by signing a petition protesting Corbett's comments. More than 1,500 people had signed by Tuesday, Herman said.

On Monday, Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell said Corbett's comments were insensitive to unemployed people and showed that he is "totally out of touch with what ordinary people ... deal with every day."

At the college event Tuesday, Dara Smith, a single mother from Sunbury, said she agreed with Corbett's comments but was more interested in finding out what he proposes to encourage employers to hire young parents.