State Budget
‘Shrinkflation’ ignores the true problem: deficit spending
Originally published at the Allentown Morning Call President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey deflect blame for high inflation away from the true cause: their own policies. They…
Read More: ‘Shrinkflation’ ignores the true problem: deficit spendingHigh taxes make for a slow-growing economy. And communities feel the pinch of high taxes as more and more native Pennsylvanians leave the Keystone State to prosper elsewhere. To remain economically competitive, Pennsylvania must lower state taxes and ensure businesses have the opportunity to succeed. Lower taxes will incentivize more individuals to call Pennsylvania their home, ultimately spurring our statewide economy forward.
Taxes & Economy
Minimum Wage Politics, Bad Economic Policy
It wasn’t a corporate executive who said, “Right now Pennsylvania businesses carry a very high tax burden compared to states we compete with. We’re [a] very heavily taxed business state….
Commentary
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Reform Government’s Claim on Your Domain
Pennsylvanians never really own their homes—they only “rent” them from the government. Don’t believe me? Just stop paying your school and county property taxes and you’ll find out who actually…
Commentary
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The Effects of the Proposed Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Increase
In recent years, the movement to enact “living wages” or increases in the minimum wage has been active in states and cities across the country. Advocates of these wage hikes…
Report
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Singin’ Those Car Wash Blues
Setting aside the traditional economic arguments against increasing the state’s minimum wage rate, what impact would a proposal currently in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have on employees in a…
Commentary
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Protecting Private Property from Eminent Domain Abuse
Chairman Clymer, Rep. Yewcic and members of the House State Government Committee, good afternoon. My name is Matthew Brouillette and I am president & CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation for…
Commentary
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Government Clock Keeps on Tickin
We’re #1. That’s what the Pennsylvania Economy League discovered this month after comparing the overall cost of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to its counterparts in other states. The report on…
Commentary
Read More: Government Clock Keeps on TickinEducation
Throwing a Party for the Educational Status Quo
The National Education Association recently concluded its annual convention in Los Angeles, gathering 8,000 delegates in celebration of the status quo in public education. When attendees weren’t offering a vigorous…
Commentary
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Pennsylvanias Great Rail Disasters Continue
Dozens of cities around the country, including Pennsylvania cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, are building, planning, or considering new or expanded rail systems. But is rail really the best…
Commentary
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Only We, the People, Can Restore the Spirit of 1776
The history of the world is a story about mankind’s struggle to be free. Millions upon millions of people have died over the age-old question about which form of tyrannical…
Commentary
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Rail Disasters 2005
This paper reviews ridership and other transit data published by the Federal Transit Administration from 1982 through 2003, plus 2004 ridership data published by the American Public Transportation Association, to…
Report
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Preferred Drug Lists (PDLs)
Governor Ed Rendell has proposed a Medicaid “Preferred Drug List” (PDL) as a means to address Pennsylvania’s welfare spending problem. PDLs limit the availability of drugs to Medicaid recipients and…
Fact Sheet
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Time to Act (not 72) on Pennsylvanias School Tax Crisis
The Homeowner Tax Relief Act of 2004 (Act 72) failed long before nearly 80 percent of Pennsylvania’s school boards even had the opportunity to reject it. Despite Gov. Ed Rendell’s…
Commentary
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A Horsepower Boost to PAs Economic Engine
When it comes to state officials spending their tax dollars, Pennsylvanians want some restraint. That is the clear message contained in a recent statewide survey of citizens by Susquehanna…
Commentary
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Undereducated Today, Outsourced Tomorrow?
The outsourcing of jobs to lower-wage countries was a hot topic throughout the campaign of 2004, but it is not clear what the president of the United States can do…
Commentary
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Growing Redder Too
It’s safe to say that nearly every Pennsylvanian wants to “improve the quality of life in Pennsylvania … create new jobs, revitalize our communities and sustain our families.” And according…
Commentary
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Growing Greener II
While Pennsylvanians obviously want an environmentally safe and economically prosperous state, the $625 million debt plan known as “Growing Greener II” guarantees neither.
Fact Sheet
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Limited Government, Unlimited Opportunity
Remarks from Matthew J. Brouillette’s unveiling of the Commonwealth Foundation’s “Unlimited Opportunity Blueprint” at the Tuesday Club’s Breakfast Lyceum on January 11, 2005. For seventeen years, the Commonwealth…
Commentary
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Tax Cuts & Economic Growth
The paramount economic lesson of the past several decades is that tax cuts stimulate growth and increased government spending chokes it off. DIDN’T PENNSYLVANIA TRY THE TAX-CUT APPROACH IN THE…
Fact Sheet
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Tax Cuts Cost Government Nothing
Many citizens suspect that their elected representatives and bureaucrats live in an entirely different world than they do. Further confirming their suspicions, evidence has emerged once again in Harrisburg that…
Commentary
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Act 72: The Culprit Escapes Again
As Gov. Rendell campaigns across the commonwealth to encourage school board members to opt-in to Act 72—the Homeowners Property Tax Relief Act—the real culprit (and beneficiary) of ever-increasing school property…
Commentary
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When Growing Green Means Going Red
When it comes to “Growing Green,” Gov. Ed Rendell and the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania General Assembly believe that taxpayers should go further into the red. After spending several months promoting dueling…
Commentary
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