The Wall Street Journal has an article on who gets federal energy subsidies, based on a EIA report. The WSJ focuses most of the attention on electricity subsidies; as their headline notes the difference in subsidy per megawatthour - Wind ($23.37) v. Gas (25 Cents). The discrepancy between ethanol and gasoline is equally disparate and fascinating, and given the role of ethanol in the global food

Governor Rendell held a press conference to announce the "winning bid" on the Pennsylvania Turnpike lease will likely be presented next Monday. Rendell also stated: Bids were within 10% of each other, so bidders will have until Friday to submit final, revised bids. The sole determining factor among the bids will be price – given that all bidders are "qualified" and that the stipulations are the

The Heritage Foundation's Foundry blog summarizes the flaws of the federal mortgage bailout bill. The CNNMoney article linked to also provides a good synopsis of what the bill would do (and not do: namely, help the economy).

The PA Office of the Budget released their actuarial report on retiree health care liabilities, revealing that the estimated unfunded liablity as of July 1, 2008 is $8.8 billion (under GASB 45 requirements). This would require a $720 million contribution next to begin paying down over, I presume, 30 years (escalating in future years as it is calculated as a percentage of payroll) - though the

Here is a letter to the editor I sent to the York Daily Record on health care reform: I am responding to a May 4 op-ed by Rep. Eugene DePasquale, in which he defends PA ABC, a proposed expansion of taxpayer-subsidized, government-controlled health insurance. While Mr. DePasquale's intentions are honorable, his justification is not sound. He cites an estimate that uncompensated care for the

The Cato Journal has an article looking at the effects of state taxes and economic growth. Their finding, which should not surprise our readers, is that high marginal tax rates significantly reduce economic growth. The analysis looks at data from 1964-2004 and controls for original state per-capita income, tax regressivity, and region (somewhat surprisingly, states in the West had an advantage

Here is an interesting read on the science of smoking and smoking bans, with plenty of additional resources listed in the end, written by Joe Jackson (yes, that Joe Jackson) available through the Heartland Institute.

Apparently Turnpike Commission CEO Joe Brimmeier was surprised to learn from the Pittsuburgh Post-Gazette that he had submitted a bid on to operate the Turnpike. Well, it's not a real bid (he got to "lease" it without having to compete with other potential operators), but an effective "bid" through Act 44 which will require the Commission to pay the state only $450 million per year if the

I discuss Cyber Schools on this week's Lincoln Radio Journal with Lowman Henry of the Lincoln Institute. Our recent policy brief on cyber schools is here. I am also appearing on The BOX this week, discussing the broader school choice options in PA. I will be drawing from The Dollars and Sense of School Choice, and from SchoolChoiceSaves.org

The American magazine has an exposé on sport stadium subsidies, by Dennis Coates, reaching the conclusion that they do not result in broad economic growth: My own research, conducted with economist Brad Humphreys (who is now at the University of Alberta), has used perhaps the most extensive data, incorporating yearly observations on per capita personal income, employment, and wages in each of

Ed Rendell is up to his old demogoguery on his energy proposal. This time he claims he will reduce everyone's energy costs, and there will be a or 'total meltdown' if he can't spend $850 million dollars in the next three years. Basically, he wants to pay people to buy solar panels and energy efficient appliances (which will lowertheir electricity bills), and give handouts to his favorite

Georgia enacted a few of the health care reforms we have been touting. From the SPN Blog: Georgia eliminates a major tax inequity by allowing individuals to deduct 100% of their insurance premiums from their state income taxes. (If only the federal government would follow our lead!) Additionally, small businesses with less than 50 employees will now be able to fund a Health Reimbursement

Pat Toomey lowers the hammer in the Wall Street Journal on the Republican establishment-types, who just want to win elections, regardless of policy, vision, or principles (note: this is no less true for establishment Democrats, though they have often strayed from a different set of principles). Let us take a moment to consider how these liberal Republicans are serving the GOP today. Mr. Specter,

Here is the video of Matt Brouillette's appearance on last week's Smart Talk Program on WITF discussing a lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Patriot News reports on the Harrisburg Parking Authority's 3-2 vote last night to contract with a private company to lease nine city parking garages, two public lots and 1,200 metered spaces. Final say from City Council won't come until July. Could Pennsylvania be on the cusp of breaking new ground? Well, as pointed out recently, 41 out of 46 government parking "authorities" in the US are

The Commonwealth Foundation's video Frontlines of Liberty won a 2008 Telly Award. GK Visual gets the credit for producing the video (along with all our videos) but you can't find actors good-looking enough to portray our staff anywhere in Hollywood.

The Club For Growth has been keeping track of news on potential VP candidates, and this post on SC Mark Sanford stood out. Again, not because John McCain won't stop calling me for my advice, but because the Wall Street Journal (and I) were so gushy in appraising Sanford's record.What stood out was the mention that "Time Magazine called Sanford one of America's 'worst' governors." Now I don't give

Education Next story shows how little the general public knows about school spending. For instance, survey respondents were asked to estimate how much their school district spends, per pupil. The average estimate: $4,231. The real average: $10,353. Respondents also underestimated average teacher pay by $14,000/year. (EIA Communique and Fordham Foundation's Flypaper have previously discussed

Great editorial on how "Big Farm" companies dominate "Big Oil" as a special interest, having both "record profits" and government subsidies for ethanol in the wake of a global food crisis. NRO Online has an article on ethanol mandates and subsidies, and why they are bad public policy. And Insider Online adds Don’t Forget the Other Reasons Ethanol Is a Bad Idea.

As the PA Senate is expected to vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment today, I'd thought I'd remind readers that we discussed this proposal with both supporters and opponents on a recent program of The BOX. As a humorous aside, the discussion over whether same-sex couples (gay or not) should have the "right" to marry always reminds of this discussion from Life of Brian over whether men