Taxes & Economy

Shale Gas is Revitalizing Communities

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 28, 2010

Cliff Wehrmen has a new pickup truck, thanks to the booming economy in Williston, North Dakota. In North Dakota, companies are fighting over workers via bidding wars, state unemployment…

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State Budget

Where to Find Ideas to Balance the PA Budget

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 27, 2010

John Micek of the Morning Call has a piece today noting that the two candidates for Governor — Dan Onorato and Tom Corbett — have promised no, or few, new…

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Taxes & Economy

Why Do We Need a Severance Tax?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 27, 2010

Proponents of a natural gas severance tax have been offering several arguments supporting a tax, here are the three main talking points used by tax advocates: 1) Higher taxes will…

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Government Accountability

State to CF: Transparency Denied

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 24, 2010

A couple months ago, we requested the salary information of state employees for our new openPAgov database (if you missed the launch, we currently have Pennsylvania school district…

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Taxes & Economy

Video: Natural Gas and Pennsylvania’s Business Climate

  • September 24, 2010

Here is bonus footage from our upcoming video series, Know the Drill, about the natural gas boom in Pennsylvania. In this clip, Brian Grove, who works for Chesapeake Energy,…

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Taxes & Economy

The Downside to Government Spending

  • September 24, 2010

While federal stimulus funding for turtle tunnels, ant colony research, iPod Touch devices for students, and Blackberry smart phones for smokers might stimulate a few Americans,…

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Health Care

PA Medicaid Enrollment Reaches All-Time High

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • September 23, 2010

One in six Pennsylvanians are now eligible for Medicaid or Medical Assistance, thanks to the economic downturn and generous eligibility standards. The Post-Gazette reports 2.2 million individuals now rely…

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Taxes & Economy

Video: Cost of Natural Gas Drilling in Pennsylvania

  • September 23, 2010

In this video, from a 2009 Commonwealth Foundation luncheon, State Senator Mary Jo White speaks about the costs of drilling in Pennsylvania compared to other similar states. To learn…

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Health Care

Why Obama Can’t “Sell” the Health Care Law

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 23, 2010

The AP writes that President Obama blames himself for not “selling” the health care law — this despite giving dozens of speeches on the issue and spending millions…

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