Taxes & Economy

“Promised Land” Bombs at Box Office

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • January 8, 2013

“Promised Land,” Tinseltown’s recent take on natural gas drilling, opened in theaters across the nation this past weekend. Despite a cast of heavy hitters, including Matt Damon, the film grossed…

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Regulation

Lottery Deal = Guarantees not Gamble

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • January 7, 2013

Lottery profits fund programs for senior citizens—but demand for these services is growing faster than Lottery revenue.  The private lottery management agreement recently bid out by the…

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Public Union Democracy

Government Union Cronies Collude Against Seniors

  • Nathan Benefield
  • January 3, 2013

Here’s a letter to the editor I wrote identifying the connections between special interest groups who oppose a lottery contract, and their motives for undermining a deal that would generate…

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Regulation

PA Tax Loophole Funds Frackaphobic Film

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Priya Brannick
  • January 3, 2013

There’s a memorable line in Promised Land, the new Matt Damon movie opening Friday about a gas drilling company buying land rights in a declining farming community. One…

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Filing a Religious Objection to your Fair Share Fee

  • January 2, 2013

Once you become a non-union fee payer, you will receive an annual letter every December with supporting documents from your union explaining how it calculates fair share fees. You may…

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Regulation

Shocking Shelf Charade Shakes Sultans of Syrah

  • January 2, 2013

Is the fix in for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s “in-house” government wine program?  Do one-legged ducks swim in circles? Of course, and intrepid Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter Kari Andren has…

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Regulation

Lottery Privatization Process = Full Term Pregnancy

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • December 28, 2012

Nine months is a long time…trust me, I’m seven months pregnant. So why are critics arguing the lottery bidding process has been hurried? Far from being secretive…

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Taxes & Economy

Pa.’s Economic Glass Half Full?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • December 27, 2012

Will Bunch’s column in the Philadelphia Daily News last week takes a very negative view of Pennsylvania’s economic climate, based on the premise that the state unemployment rate is higher…

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Education

Busting Charter School Funding Myths

  • Priya Brannick
  • December 27, 2012

Charter schools are under fire again this month, following renewed criticism from Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner on how the schools spend and save their funding.

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