State Budget

The State and Local Government Debt Mess

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 4, 2010

While investment guru Warren Buffett is pulling out of municipal bonds, Gov. Rendell says Buffett doesn’t know what he is talking about, and that there is no problem with…

Media

Read More: The State and Local Government Debt Mess

Regulation

Big Idea: Privatizing City Services

  • June 4, 2010

Sandy Springs, GA, is one of the most efficient cities in the country, as reported in the Tribune Review. Incorporated in 2005, it was the first fully privatized…

Media

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Regulation

Why PA Corporations Don’t Pay Taxes

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 3, 2010

Gov. Rendell and his allies and shills that call on higher taxes for businesses like to claim that 70% of Pennsylvania corporations don’t pay…

Media

Read More: Why PA Corporations Don’t Pay Taxes

Taxes & Economy

Presentation: Lessons of Fiscal Responsibility for Pennsylvania

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 3, 2010

Maurice McTigue, Vice President at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and a former member of the New Zealand Parliament, spoke at a Commonwealth Foundation breakfast yesterday.

Media

Read More: Presentation: Lessons of Fiscal Responsibility for Pennsylvania

Regulation

More Evidence on Privatizing Liquor

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 3, 2010

Don Boudreaux and Julia Williams have an op-ed arguing for privatization of Virginia’s state liquor stores, noting little difference between control and license state in alcohol-related deaths, binge drinking,…

Media

Read More: More Evidence on Privatizing Liquor

Taxes & Economy

How Public-Private Toll Roads are Financed

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 2, 2010

Robert Poole clarifies a number of misconceptions about how toll roads are financed – particularly in the cases of public private partnerships for new projects. This is not a…

Media

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State Budget

Welfare Fraud and Abuse

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 2, 2010

Good afternoon, my name is Elizabeth Stelle, and I am a research associate with the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives, a non-partisan educational institute based in Harrisburg. Thank you…

Testimony

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Government Accountability

Accurate Information About a Part-Time Legislature

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 2, 2010

Senator Daylin Leach opined in the Post-Gazette over the weekend, defending the legislature he serves in (previously as a House member) against the Grand Jury report calling for…

Media

Read More: Accurate Information About a Part-Time Legislature

State Budget

Pennsylvania Deficit Watch: June 2010

  • June 1, 2010

Following May’s tax collections, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue reports that state General Fund revenues are $1.2 billion below estimate for the 2009-10 fiscal year. Tax collections have…

Press Release

Read More: Pennsylvania Deficit Watch: June 2010