Every family, business owner, and taxpayer in Pennsylvania should be able to increase their financial security without undue interference from our state government. Free-market policies that limit taxes, allow entrepreneurs to innovate and create jobs, and offer stability to families will put our state on track to become a national leader. Policies that enact spending limits, cut taxes, and reduce regulations will help Pennsylvania avoid debt and restore sound fiscal planning that will benefit citizens in the years to come.

Taxes & Economy

PennFuture: Just Give Us Your Money Already

  • October 12, 2010

Like Gov. Ed Rendell, PennFuture today held a whining session (were they at the same one?) about the Senate’s “failure” to pass a severance tax on natural…

Media

Read More: PennFuture: Just Give Us Your Money Already

Health Care

Big Gas, Big Fast Food Chains, and Big Government

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 12, 2010

PA Independent reports that the largest drillers in the Marcellus Shale sat in on the Rendell and the Conquistadors’ Columbus Day meeting: Although 75 companies currently operate wells…

Media

Read More: Big Gas, Big Fast Food Chains, and Big Government

Taxes & Economy

What About the Constitution, Governor?

  • October 11, 2010

Recently Nate Benefield explained how Senate Bill 1155, which creates a severance tax on natural gas drilling companies, is unconstitutional. Katrina Currie subsequently updated the story:…

Media

Read More: What About the Constitution, Governor?

State Budget

Spending Revolt Tour: Day 5 Update

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • October 11, 2010

The Spending Revolt National Tour stopped in Scranton on Sunday night for a Town Hall meeting, which was streamed live (and available here and below). The Scranton…

Media

Read More: Spending Revolt Tour: Day 5 Update

Taxes & Economy

Too Much Spending or Not Enough Taxes?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 11, 2010

Chart-master Veronique de Rugy sums up the debate over extending the tax cuts and federal deficits in a simple chart. The dominant blue bar represents the mind-boggling $42 trillion…

Media

Read More: Too Much Spending or Not Enough Taxes?

Government Accountability

More Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying for Higher Taxes

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 11, 2010

I have highlighted the taxpayer funded propaganda in the guise of a “newsletter,” titled the Marcellus Shale Examiner, before. The latest newsletter, which leads with Gov. Rendell’s “We…

Media

Read More: More Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying for Higher Taxes

Taxes & Economy

We are All Fiscal Conservatives Now

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 8, 2010

My remarks at PA Liberty Conference I’ll start with a question I often get…or at least a question that is often proffered to no one in particular, that I…

Media

Read More: We are All Fiscal Conservatives Now

Regulation

Unintended Consequences of the Bulb Ban

  • October 7, 2010

The national phase-out of incandescent light bulbs begins in 2012, and by 2014, incandescents will be history. The popular replacement is the compact-fluorescent light (CFL), but there are very…

Media

Read More: Unintended Consequences of the Bulb Ban

Taxes & Economy

Lawmakers Should Read ALL Commonwealth Foundation Research

  • October 7, 2010

In a recent op-ed, Sen. Scarnati and Sen. Pileggi defended the Senate’s recent actions after a Lincoln Institute column described them as “leftist”. While the Senators cite CF’s research…

Media

Read More: Lawmakers Should Read ALL Commonwealth Foundation Research

Regulation

Pennsylvania Needs True Pension Reform

  • October 7, 2010

The state pension time bomb is taking front stage again in the waning days of the 2009-2010 legislative session. The Senate is revisiting HB 2497—the $27 billion pension deferral…

Press Release

Read More: Pennsylvania Needs True Pension Reform

Taxes & Economy

Spending Revolt Tour: Day 1 Update

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • October 6, 2010

Day one of the Pennsylvania leg of the National Spending Revolt bus tour kicked off this morning in Erie. The weather, appropriately enough, is gloomy and gray—rather fitting, given…

Media

Read More: Spending Revolt Tour: Day 1 Update

Regulation

Senate Must Insist on Real Pension Reform

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 6, 2010

The state pension time bomb is taking front stage again in the waning days of the 2009-2010 legislative session. The Senate is revisiting HB 2497—the $27 billion pension deferral…

Media

Read More: Senate Must Insist on Real Pension Reform

Health Care

ObamaCare will Dramatically Increase Medicaid Costs in PA

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 6, 2010

A reader asked us what kind of effect ObamaCare would have on Medicaid costs in Pennsylvania. We’ve put together some numbers, and it’s not pretty. First of all, even without…

Media

Read More: ObamaCare will Dramatically Increase Medicaid Costs in PA

Taxes & Economy

Immigration Verification and Welfare Fraud

  • Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
  • October 6, 2010

Thank you for allowing the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives, a non-partisan educational institute based in Harrisburg, to submit written testimony concerning HB 1359, which would require proof of…

Testimony

Read More: Immigration Verification and Welfare Fraud

Regulation

Hey Big Spender

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 5, 2010

Yesterday, Gov. Rendell held a press conference to make note that Tom Corbett was overstating the amount of Pennsylvania taxpayer money Rendell was wasting on pork-barrel projects. Examples cited…

Media

Read More: Hey Big Spender

Regulation

The Only Way to Fix Public Pensions

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 4, 2010

The Baltimore Sun editorializes that the only way to fix the pension plan for state workers (in Maryland, though the same would hold true in Pennsylvania) is to move…

Media

Read More: The Only Way to Fix Public Pensions

Taxes & Economy

Cabot Squares Off with DEP

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • October 4, 2010

The pressure is building in Dimock, Pennsylvania, where the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and drilling company Cabot Oil and Gas are squaring off over a proposal to…

Media

Read More: Cabot Squares Off with DEP

Taxes & Economy

Severance Tax at Odds with State Constitution

  • October 1, 2010

Earlier this week, Nate Benefield blogged on the unconstitutional process of the House-passed natural gas severance tax bill (SB 1155). This bill did not originate in the House,…

Media

Read More: Severance Tax at Odds with State Constitution

Regulation

Could Legislation End Church Potlucks?

  • September 30, 2010

States are imposing professional licensing in more and more areas of our daily lives; restricting good intentions, individual entrepreneurship, and now threatening an essential part of church…

Media

Read More: Could Legislation End Church Potlucks?