An Honest Budget Debate - Commonwealth Foundation

Gov. Rendell and many lawmakers continue to push higher taxes in Pennsylvania, using the rhetoric that if we don’t, students won’t learn, seniors will be thrown out of retirement homes, state police won’t be able to arrest child predators like Roman Polanski, and so forth. But in reality, higher taxes have/will be spent on:

Hundreds of millions in waste and fraud in Public Welfare, including outright theft from the programs.
$532,000 in Per Diems for state lawmakers during July and August.
Job in Rendell Administration for Harrisburg Mayor Steven Reed.
$928,000 contract for marketing of (near-bankrupt) prepaid tuition program.
Grants for Big Screen TV’s and Nintendo Wii’s.
Millions for Big Hollywood carve-outs for M. Knight Shyamalan and Zack and Miri make a Porno:
Funding for ACORN.
Loans for energy-efficient appliances to “puppy mills.”
$23 Million in WAMs for Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corp, courtesy Dwight Evans, to hire his friends and buy a night club.
A Hockey Arena in Allentown.
$15 million in Corporate Welfare (again) to keep Harley Davidson from moving.
$10 million in WAMs to BIG which paid money to lawmakers for nothing.
No-work jobs on state payroll for buddies of powerful lawmakers.
$6 million for the G-20 conference.

Now there are those who think that state taxpayers should fund WAMs, buy Nintendo Wiis for seniors, contract with top ad-men, give grants to ACORN, and deny any wasteful spending – and think taxpayers need to pay more for these things.

But that should be the debate…not the false choice they are attempting to present to the public.