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

PA Senators Effectively Support Job-Killing Cap & Trade

  • June 14, 2010

Last week, the United States Senate voted on legislation that would have stopped the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, 53 Senators, including Pennsylvania’s Casey and Specter, voted…

Media

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Government Accountability

Budget Ideas for PA from Other States

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 14, 2010

The April 2010 edition of the Inside ALEC newsletter has a number of ideas Pennsylvania lawmakers should look at to balance the state budget, and for long-term fiscal reform.

Media

Read More: Budget Ideas for PA from Other States

Regulation

Babies Buying Beer?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 11, 2010

Those who profit from Pennsylvania’s current liquor distribution monopoly have an ongoing campaign to stop liquor store privatization. One ad shows a man at a gas pump looking at cases…

Media

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State Budget

Severance Tax Wish List

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 11, 2010

Legislators are justifying the enactment of a natural gas severance tax by claiming the revenue will go towards environmental impacts. In reality, the environment is just one of a host…

Media

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Regulation

Green Jobs and the Broken Window Fallacy

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 11, 2010

On behalf of the Commonwealth Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan public policy research and educational institute based in Harrisburg, we would like to thank Chairman Saylor and the members of the…

Testimony

Read More: Green Jobs and the Broken Window Fallacy

Public Union Democracy

Are Government Workers Underpaid?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 11, 2010

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a new report showing state and local government workers earn far more than their private sector counterparts. The Wall Street Journal…

Media

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Regulation

Ethics of Tobacco Advisory Committee Goes Up in Smoke

  • June 10, 2010

Several groups have requested investigation of, or filed ethics complaints against, members of the FDA’s new Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC). Identified in March 2010, the TPSAC’s…

Media

Read More: Ethics of Tobacco Advisory Committee Goes Up in Smoke

State Budget

National Groups Weigh in on Pennsylvania Tax Hike

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 10, 2010

The National Taxpayers Union send a recent letter to Pennsylvania lawmakers on proposed tax hikes to balance the PA state budget.  John Stephenson, NTU…

Media

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Regulation

Tobacco Tax Fact Check (Part Two)

  • June 10, 2010

This is the second half of a two part blog, fact checking tmyths about tobacco taxes.  This blog focuses on what the some call a good tax model –…

Media

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State Budget

Lay Off the Private Sector with Public Sector Layoffs

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • June 10, 2010

Gov. Rendell is threatening once again to lay off state government employees if the General Assembly refuses to go along with his spend-more, tax-more budget proposals. But should the public…

Commentary

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Regulation

Why Taxing Natural Gas Won’t Solve PA Budget Woes

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 9, 2010

Here is a letter I sent in to the Scranton Times Tribune (a slightly edited version was printed today) on the proposed natural gas severance tax and the Pennsylvania…

Media

Read More: Why Taxing Natural Gas Won’t Solve PA Budget Woes

Regulation

The $52 Billion Pension Deferral Plan

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 9, 2010

Legislation that would implement Gov. Rendell’s deferral of payment on state pension obligations is under debate in Pennsylvania House. HB 2497 would limit the annual increased in the…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Leaky Reporting by the Post-Gazette

  • June 8, 2010

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week cast an uncritical eye — in fact, you could call it cheerleading — upon a project touted as part of Allegheny County’s…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Pennsylvania’s Natural Gas Boom

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • June 8, 2010

The Marcellus Shale formation is believed to be the largest unconventional natural gas reservoir in America, and its exploration has been coined a modern-day gold rush. More than a mile…

Fact Sheet

Read More: Pennsylvania’s Natural Gas Boom

Taxes & Economy

The Overton Window

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 8, 2010

The Overton Window – the title of Glenn Beck’s new book, a work of fiction which borrows from the idea- is a concept that help drives the work of…

Media

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State Budget

Rendell Ends Taxpayer Funded Legacy Project

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 7, 2010

Reported here earlier, the Rendell administration had been paying a public relations guru to research the “successes” of Rendell’s policies, to be used to lobby for higher taxes. Today.

Media

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Regulation

Video: Fiscal Lessons for Pennsylvania

  • Nathan Benefield
  • June 7, 2010

In a new video, Maurice McTigue, Vice President at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and a former member of the New Zealand Parliament, speaks about how…

Media

Read More: Video: Fiscal Lessons for Pennsylvania

Taxes & Economy

Obama: More Green for Green Energy

  • June 4, 2010

Recently when speaking about greening the nation’s energy supply in Pittsburgh, President Obama remarked: [A]nd it means rolling back billions of dollars in tax breaks to oil…

Media

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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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