There is no doubt that many of departing Gov. Tom Corbett’s policies were rooted in ideology rather than the welfare of the commonwealth and that they have contributed mightily to a looming deficit of about $1.85 billion.

But this unfolding mess, like most, has many architects.

Foremost on the governor’s list is his stubborn and foolish refusal to impose a fair extraction tax on natural gas, akin to those in every other gas-producing state. The local impact “fee,” fundamentally a flat tax on each new well, has produced a fraction of what a modest severance levy would produce.

Now, there is growing sentiment in the Legislature for such a tax, including among some Republican leaders. But it can’t be imposed retroactively and, because market conditions have driven down the price of gas, any new tax will produce less than it would have during the early days of Mr. Corbett’s administration.

Likewise, the governor’s ideological aversion to the Affordable Care Act prompted a wrong-headed decision not to participate in the federally funded expansion of Medicaid. That cost the state several hundred million dollars in new federal money in 2014 alone — money that could have created thousands of new jobs and spun off other economic activity, all of which also generates money for the state Treasury.

The governor also employed failed ideology by cutting corporate taxes under the belief that doing so would create new jobs and economic activity. It further diminished revenue, while failing to close gaping corporate tax loopholes that decrease revenue and ensure that the tax burden is not fairly distributed.

In the end, the Corbett administration joins a list of others across the country proving that governments can’t simply tax-cut their way to prosperity.

Democrats dancing on the one-term administration’s grave, however, should ponder their own role in the impending deficit. They steadfastly have rejected the sweeping pension reform proposed by the governor, and Gov.-elect Tom Wolf has not proposed a solution for the system’s runaway costs.

The scope of the deficit is such that it has to be attacked from both sides of the ledger through pension reform that saves substantial money, coupled with fair natural gas taxation and corporate tax reform that increases revenue. Neither party can claim innocence for creation of the deficit, particularly since both helped pass the bogus current budget and both must participate in rectifying it.