Taxes & Economy

Is Casey Pandering?

  • January 22, 2010

I attended a recent gathering at the Keystone Research Center, where Senator Bob Casey spoke of the wonders of the stimulus. He emphasized that only the stimulus could have saved…

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State Budget

Pennsylvania Unemployment Fund is $2 Billion in the Hole

  • Nathan Benefield
  • January 22, 2010

Propublica.org has a great, and terrifying, tracker of states’ unemployment insurance funds.  Pennsylvania fund is in woeful shape, with $125 million balance, and owing $2.05 billion in money borrowed…

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Government Accountability

Free Political Speech and Paycheck Protection

  • Nathan Benefield
  • January 21, 2010

The US Supreme Court today upheld that the First Amendment protects speech around elections from corporations and unions. The case concerns Citizens United, which produced a film Hillary: The Movie,…

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Government Accountability

The Perfidy of Per Diems

  • Nathan Benefield
  • January 21, 2010

ABC 27 story covers the tens of thousands of dollars lawmakers receive in per diems (i.e. money ostensibly for food and lodging, though lawmakers need not offer any receipts).

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Taxes & Economy

Brief History of the Great Depression

  • Nathan Benefield
  • January 21, 2010

Investor’s Business Daily has an excerpt from Thomas Sowell’s new book Intellectuals and Society, which outlines the policies which cause the great depression. For instance, Sowell notes that…

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Taxes & Economy

Another Year, Same Old Story: Pennsylvanians Vote with Their Feet

  • January 20, 2010

The latest United Van Lines Migration study found, once again, that Pennsylvania is losing residents to other states, on the whole, ranking 5th highest among “outbound states.” Pennsylvania has…

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State Budget

Example of Why There’s No Money to Fix Bridges

  • Nathan Benefield
  • January 20, 2010

As I pointed out in a recent post, much of Pennsylvania’s transportation funding goes not to fix decaying infrastructure, but to beautification and other…

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Health Care

What Happened in Massachusetts

  • January 20, 2010

The Cato Institute released a policy report today examining the effect of Massachusetts’ health care reform – whose individual mandate and subsidies for insurance are seen as a model…

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Taxes & Economy

PA Mayors Facing Budget Crunch – Whose Fault Is It?

  • January 20, 2010

Pennsylvania mayors have voiced their frustrations with public sector unions forcing counties to pay higher wages even as they face budget constraints. Inevitably, that has led to higher taxes,…

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