Education

Is the PSSA Too Easy?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 12, 2009

The Allegheny Institute takes issue with the latest round of Pennsylvania test results – specifically the 8th grade reading PSSA. They note that not only does the 8th grade…

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Blog Roundup

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 12, 2009

Here are some recent citations, links, or mentions of the Commonwealth Foundation from Pennsylvania bloggers: PA WaterCooler notes the odds of getting laid off in the public vs. private…

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Health Care

Lebanon Health Care Town Hall Anything but Un-American

  • August 11, 2009

I attended the Patient’s First rally in conjunction to with Arlen Specter’s today’s town hall rally at Harrisburg Area Community College in Lebanon today.  The vast majority of the crowd  (inside…

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State Budget

Putting Rendell’s Layoffs in Perspective

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 11, 2009

Yesterday, Gov. Rendell announced layoffs for 255 state workers at a press conference, and said more might be coming if lawmakers don’t pass a budget to Rendell’s liking. But…

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Health Care

Effect of ObamaCare on Pennsylvania

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 11, 2009

The Heritage Foundation has a new analysis from the Lewin Group on the impact in Pennsylvania on private health care coverage, the uninsured, and physicians and hospitals of the…

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Health Care

Rendell Declares Autism Mandate a Failure

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 10, 2009

In 2008, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed, and Gov. Rendell signed, a new mandate that private insurers would have to cover autism services. At the time, we said the new…

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Education

School District Consolidation Shows Few Benefits

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 10, 2009

Last week, the Senate Education Committee held a hearing on proposed school district consolidation. The Allegheny Institute testified, noting that there is little evidence to suggest that consolidation (as…

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State Budget

Cash for Clunkers Falls Prey to Laws of Economics

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 10, 2009

Congress’s  ill-named “cash for clunkers” program has, like so many programs before it, failed to defy the laws of economics. As typically happens when government subsidizes something – the…

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