Latest Content
Prosperity
Pennsylvanians Are in Dire Need of Tax Reform
Originally published by RealClearPennsylvania. Today is Tax Day. Each year, April 15th reminds us of the costliness of government spending – and why lawmakers must reduce this financial burden on…
Read More: Pennsylvanians Are in Dire Need of Tax Reform
Education
Josh Shapiro Keeps Betraying Poor Pennsylvania Children
Read More: Josh Shapiro Keeps Betraying Poor Pennsylvania Children
Rural Pennsylvanians Deserve School Choice, Too
Read More: Rural Pennsylvanians Deserve School Choice, Too
Government Accountability
Josh Shapiro’s Taxpayer-Funded Self-Promotional Horror Show
Read More: Josh Shapiro’s Taxpayer-Funded Self-Promotional Horror ShowTaxes & Economy
Act 72: The Culprit Escapes Again
As Gov. Rendell campaigns across the commonwealth to encourage school board members to opt-in to Act 72—the Homeowners Property Tax Relief Act—the real culprit (and beneficiary) of ever-increasing school property…
Commentary
Read More: Act 72: The Culprit Escapes AgainTaxes & Economy
When Growing Green Means Going Red
When it comes to “Growing Green,” Gov. Ed Rendell and the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania General Assembly believe that taxpayers should go further into the red. After spending several months promoting dueling…
Commentary
Read More: When Growing Green Means Going RedTaxes & Economy
“A Republic, If You Can Keep It!”
A famous Pennsylvanian was once asked what kind of government the Framers of the U. S. Constitution had given the American people. His reply was, “A republic, if you can…
Commentary
Read More: “A Republic, If You Can Keep It!”Taxes & Economy
Reflections on the Battle of Ideas
As nearly 500 Pennsylvanians gather in Harrisburg on April 15-16 to be part of the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, it is an appropriate time to reflect on the…
Commentary
Read More: Reflections on the Battle of IdeasTaxes & Economy
Meet the New Pennsylvania: Same as the Old Pennsylvania
April 15 marks the first Tax Day on which Pennsylvanians will fully feel the impact of the roughly $1 billion tax increase passed in December 2003 by the General Assembly…
Commentary
Read More: Meet the New Pennsylvania: Same as the Old PennsylvaniaEducation
The Union Behind the Curtain
California’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is giving his 49 colleagues across the country a quick tutorial in political courage. And Gov. Ed Rendell would be wise to sit up in class…
Commentary
Read More: The Union Behind the CurtainState Budget
Spending Limits: If Gov. Rendell Doesnt Like Them, They Must Be a Good Idea
Well, that didn’t take long. Within a week of Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader David “Chip” Brightbill’s announcement that he would introduce a bill and/or constitutional amendment to bring state government…
Commentary
Read More: Spending Limits: If Gov. Rendell Doesnt Like Them, They Must Be a Good IdeaPublic Union Democracy
The Teachers Menace: Compulsory Unionism
“I want to urge devotion to the fundamental of human liberty—to the principles of voluntarism. No lasting gain has ever come from compulsion. … [T]he workers of America adhere to…
Commentary
Read More: The Teachers Menace: Compulsory UnionismTaxes & Economy
An Overdue Diet for an Overweight Government
Working Pennsylvanians received wage or salary increases averaging just slightly more than 6 percent over the last two years—yet state government spending during the first half of the Rendell Administration…
Commentary
Read More: An Overdue Diet for an Overweight GovernmentEducation
School Choice Works!
A Quick Guide to the Scholarly Literature on School Choice During a recent round of visits with print journalists, I spoke to a newspaper editor who told me that she…
Commentary
Read More: School Choice Works!Education
The Somerset Nine: Pennsylvanias Magnificent Seven
What does it take for school board members to be fiscally responsible with taxpayers’ money? For the nine members of the Somerset Area School District (SASD) board of directors, the…
Commentary
Read More: The Somerset Nine: Pennsylvanias Magnificent SevenTaxes & Economy
NutraSweet Candidates
In the summer of 1999, then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton launched a “listening tour” throughout New York State to vet a potential candidacy for the U.S. Senate. Some variation…
Commentary
Read More: NutraSweet CandidatesEnergy
For Pennsylvania Taxpayers, It’s Not Easy Being “Green”
When it comes to being “green,” Kermit the Frog has nothing on Gov. Ed Rendell and the Pennsylvania House Republicans. The two sides are promoting dueling environmental plans, both of…
Commentary
Read More: For Pennsylvania Taxpayers, It’s Not Easy Being “Green”Taxes & Economy
Taking Us BackBut Not to Prosperity
Few people are against preserving and protecting Pennsylvania’s farmland and open space. And fortunately for us, between 86 and 94 percent of our state is undeveloped, depending on who you…
Commentary
Read More: Taking Us BackBut Not to ProsperityWelfare
“From Poverty to Self-Sufficiency”
Matt Brouillette talked about true charity care for our poor at the Community Action Association of Pennsylvania's annual convention in Harrisburg.
Commentary
Read More: “From Poverty to Self-Sufficiency”Taxes & Economy
House Democrats Star in “Groundhog Day”
This week marks Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania—the day that the world’s most famous groundhog emerges from his hole to tell us whether or not we can expect an early…
Commentary
Read More: House Democrats Star in “Groundhog Day”Taxes & Economy
No “Free Lunch” for Pennsylvania
"Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own," the Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman once remarked. For decades, Pennsylvania's state government has spent billions of taxpayer…
Commentary
Read More: No “Free Lunch” for PennsylvaniaTaxes & Economy
Competition: The Real Solution to Public Transit’s “Crisis”
Pennsylvania's two major public transit agencies--the Philadelphia-based Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and the Pittsburgh-based Port Authority Transit (PAT)--are facing a financial crisis. But it's not due to a lack…
Commentary
Read More: Competition: The Real Solution to Public Transit’s “Crisis”Taxes & Economy
“Strike the Root” of Pennsylvania’s Competitive Disadvantage
Henry David Thoreau once wrote that "For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root"--meaning that when confronted with a problem, most people…
Commentary
Read More: “Strike the Root” of Pennsylvania’s Competitive DisadvantageTaxes & Economy
PA Political Math: Higher Taxes = Taxpayer “Savings”
A recent news release from Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Alan Novak congratulated "Republican leaders and lawmakers ... for stopping Gov. Ed Rendell yet again from raising taxes on hard-working Pennsylvania…
Commentary
Read More: PA Political Math: Higher Taxes = Taxpayer “Savings”Taxes & Economy
A Lack of Economic Freedom Threatens Our Political Freedom
One of the primary purposes of the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions is to protect and preserve citizens' political freedom. The Founders realized that the American experiment could not succeed…
Commentary
Read More: A Lack of Economic Freedom Threatens Our Political Freedom