Government Accountability
Commonwealth Foundation Launches Website Exposing Governor Shapiro’s Shady Activities
Harrisburg, Pa., October 9, 2023 — Today, the Commonwealth Foundation launched a new webpage dedicated to exposing the myriad of shady actions that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has engaged in…
Read More: Commonwealth Foundation Launches Website Exposing Governor Shapiro’s Shady ActivitiesThe state government is ultimately held accountable to the people through the electoral process—but that should not be the only line of defense against government overreach or waste. Taxpayers deserve a transparent government that works for them. Reforms are needed to reduce corruption and limit the scope of government to its constitutional authority. Additionally, reforms that ensure a transparent budgeting process, a fair electoral process, and a streamlined regulatory process should be pursued to increase the government’s integrity.
Government Accountability
Free Political Speech and Paycheck Protection
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,…
Media
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CF Challenges Gov. Rendell to Explain What’s In the Bill
Harrisburg, PA – Yesterday, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell told Fox News that voters oppose the current health care reform proposal because “the administration and its supporters, myself included, haven’t…
Press Release
Read More: CF Challenges Gov. Rendell to Explain What’s In the BillGovernment Accountability
The Perfidy of Per Diems
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).
Media
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Time for Term Limits Again
Unfortunately, this spirit of civic virtue yielded to self-aggrandizement. Early on, legislators served a few terms in a public office and then returned to private life to live under the…
Commentary
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Book Review: Money, Greed, and God
Jay Richards’ book Money, Greed, and God offers a defense of capitalism from a Christian perspective. Richards goes further, noting that capitalism depends on a virtuous society. A…
Media
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Bonusgate Makes National Headlines
Though it wasn’t one of their top 10 scandals of 2009, Time Magazine has a story today on “bonusgate”, and the subsequent corruption investigation, and its implications on Pennsylvania…
Media
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Onorato’s Economic Plan: Some Good Ideas, Some Bad Ideas
Pennsylvania Governor Candidate Dan Onorato outlined his economic development proposals yesterday. He has some good ideas in there, but a lot of the…
Media
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Democrat Party Finally Condemns Pay Raise
An interesting response to State Senator Dave Argall’s announcement that he would challenge Congressman Tim Holden is that Democrats are going after Argall’s role in the 2005 Pennsylvania pay…
Media
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Intern for Liberty: the IHS Summer Fellow Program
Are a student or do you know a student looking to advance their career while advancing liberty? The Charles G. Koch Summer Fellows Program provides summer internships at over…
Media
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A Constitional Convention of Crazies?
Political consultant Larry Ceisler penned an op-ed denouncing a Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention. (Hat Tip: GrassrootsPA) While there are legitimate concerns about a Con Con, Ceisler addresses none of those,…
Media
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Right-to-Know Law Still on a Learning Curve
Since the new Open-Records law took effect last January, the number of requests for information have skyrocketed; increasing by as much as 130%, according to the Patriot News. The…
Media
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Book Review: Liberal Fascism
I finally got around to finishing Jonah Goldberg’s 2007 tome, Liberal Fascism, a compelling and important read. Goldberg both attempts to make the case that fascism has always been…
Media
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PennsylvaniaVotes.org Year in Review
Below is a handy set of indicators as to how your state legislators performed in 2009, courtesy of PennsylvaniaVotes.org, the Commonwealth’s first and only website that…
Media
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Capitol Cafeteria Another Rendell Sweetheart Contract
While some have pointed to the rodent-poo filled cafeteria at the Pennsylvania state capitol as a failure of the free market (as a private firm…
Media
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More Evidence for Term Limits
State Rep. Bryan Lentz, a Democrat from Delaware County, has provided the latest evidence that term limits are very healthy for representative democracies. First elected to the state House of…
Media
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Pennsylvania Legislative Audit Says Little
A new audit of the Pennsylvania Legislature’s accounts was released earlier this month, and is available via state Rep. Josh Shapiro. The big news on the audit is that…
Media
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CF Blog Roundup
Here are some recent mention of Commonwealth Foundation in state and national blogs. Michelle Malkin uses our research in a post about “slacker mandates” Pennsylvania Guardian links to…
Media
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Tweet Pennsylvania: Latest Updates from PA Lawmakers
The Commonwealth Foundation has a new project page, where you can follow all the Pennsylvania state lawmakers on Twitter, even if you don’t have a Twitter account yourself. Check…
Media
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Qualifications for Governor (HB 2083)
Testimony of Joe Sterns, Director of Communcations, Commonwealth Foundation to the Pennsylvania House State Government CommitteeDecember 14, 2009 Chairwoman Josephs, Chairman Benninghoff, Members of the Committee: The Commonwealth Foundation…
Testimony
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Talking Constitutional Convention
Tim Potts talks about a Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention with Ron Morris on Pittsburgh Business Radio.
Media
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CF Around the Blogs
Here are some of the recent blogs mentioning or citing the Commonwealth Foundation: Students for Liberty comments on our back-and-forth with Gov. Rendell on education spending and performance and…
Media
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