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
“A Republic, If You Can Keep It!”
A famous Pennsylvanian was once asked what kind of government the Framers of the U. S. Constitution had given the American people. His reply was, “A republic, if you can…
Commentary
Read More: “A Republic, If You Can Keep It!”Taxes & Economy
Reflections on the Battle of Ideas
As nearly 500 Pennsylvanians gather in Harrisburg on April 15-16 to be part of the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, it is an appropriate time to reflect on the…
Commentary
Read More: Reflections on the Battle of IdeasTaxes & Economy
Meet the New Pennsylvania: Same as the Old Pennsylvania
April 15 marks the first Tax Day on which Pennsylvanians will fully feel the impact of the roughly $1 billion tax increase passed in December 2003 by the General Assembly…
Commentary
Read More: Meet the New Pennsylvania: Same as the Old PennsylvaniaState Budget
Spending Limits: If Gov. Rendell Doesnt Like Them, They Must Be a Good Idea
Well, that didn’t take long. Within a week of Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader David “Chip” Brightbill’s announcement that he would introduce a bill and/or constitutional amendment to bring state government…
Commentary
Read More: Spending Limits: If Gov. Rendell Doesnt Like Them, They Must Be a Good IdeaTaxes & Economy
An Overdue Diet for an Overweight Government
Working Pennsylvanians received wage or salary increases averaging just slightly more than 6 percent over the last two years—yet state government spending during the first half of the Rendell Administration…
Commentary
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Air Quality False Alarm: An Analysis of the Natural Resource Defense Councils Heat Advisory Report
This report shows that air pollution will decline in the future, regardless of whether there is global warming, and that NRDC exaggerates likely future temperature increases in any case. Section…
Report
Read More: Air Quality False Alarm: An Analysis of the Natural Resource Defense Councils Heat Advisory ReportEducation
School Choice Works!
A Quick Guide to the Scholarly Literature on School Choice During a recent round of visits with print journalists, I spoke to a newspaper editor who told me that she…
Commentary
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NutraSweet Candidates
In the summer of 1999, then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton launched a “listening tour” throughout New York State to vet a potential candidacy for the U.S. Senate. Some variation…
Commentary
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For Pennsylvania Taxpayers, It’s Not Easy Being “Green”
When it comes to being “green,” Kermit the Frog has nothing on Gov. Ed Rendell and the Pennsylvania House Republicans. The two sides are promoting dueling environmental plans, both of…
Commentary
Read More: For Pennsylvania Taxpayers, It’s Not Easy Being “Green”Taxes & Economy
Taking Us BackBut Not to Prosperity
Few people are against preserving and protecting Pennsylvania’s farmland and open space. And fortunately for us, between 86 and 94 percent of our state is undeveloped, depending on who you…
Commentary
Read More: Taking Us BackBut Not to ProsperityRegulation
Internet Taxes
A number of bills in the General Assembly represent the essential first step in extending the Commonwealth’s sales tax to out-of-state purchases—including those made over the Internet—through the national initiative…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Internet TaxesState Budget
Total Cost of Pennsylvania Government: 2005 and Beyond
The total cost of state and local government in Pennsylvania is projected to exceed $102 billion in FY 2004-05, and will likely reach more than $115 billion by the 2008-09…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Total Cost of Pennsylvania Government: 2005 and BeyondTaxes & Economy
House Democrats Star in “Groundhog Day”
This week marks Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania—the day that the world’s most famous groundhog emerges from his hole to tell us whether or not we can expect an early…
Commentary
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No “Free Lunch” for Pennsylvania
"Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own," the Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman once remarked. For decades, Pennsylvania's state government has spent billions of taxpayer…
Commentary
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Competition: The Real Solution to Public Transit’s “Crisis”
Pennsylvania's two major public transit agencies--the Philadelphia-based Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and the Pittsburgh-based Port Authority Transit (PAT)--are facing a financial crisis. But it's not due to a lack…
Commentary
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“Strike the Root” of Pennsylvania’s Competitive Disadvantage
Henry David Thoreau once wrote that "For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root"--meaning that when confronted with a problem, most people…
Commentary
Read More: “Strike the Root” of Pennsylvania’s Competitive DisadvantageTaxes & Economy
PA Political Math: Higher Taxes = Taxpayer “Savings”
A recent news release from Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Alan Novak congratulated "Republican leaders and lawmakers ... for stopping Gov. Ed Rendell yet again from raising taxes on hard-working Pennsylvania…
Commentary
Read More: PA Political Math: Higher Taxes = Taxpayer “Savings”Taxes & Economy
A Lack of Economic Freedom Threatens Our Political Freedom
One of the primary purposes of the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions is to protect and preserve citizens' political freedom. The Founders realized that the American experiment could not succeed…
Commentary
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Economic Freedom: Endangered in Pennsylvania
Only 5 states perform worse than Pennsylvania in a national ranking of "economic freedom," according to a new study released today (in association with Forbes magazine) by the San Francisco-based…
Commentary
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Time to cook Pennsylvania’s “lame-duck” session
It is fundamental to democracy that voters have information--about candidates, about issues, about proposed solutions to problems. It also is fundamental that voters have information in time to influence the…
Commentary
Read More: Time to cook Pennsylvania’s “lame-duck” sessionGovernment Accountability
Give Taxpayers Same Deal Legislators Get
Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly are set to receive their annual automatic pay increase on December 1. Now keep in mind that our state legislators are already, according to…
Commentary
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