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.

Education

PSBA takes issue with my referendum commentary

  • March 26, 2006

Equal time was given to Tim Allwein of the PA School Boards Association to offer a rebutal to my commentary in last Sunday’s Patriot-News. Fair game. It should…

Media

Read More: PSBA takes issue with my referendum commentary

Regulation

State lawmakers look to boost their pensions

  • March 26, 2006

Alison Hawkes in the Herald-Standard on the pension COLA debate. Side-Note: We’re not sure where, when, or why we started being called a “libertarian” think tank (although I think…

Media

Read More: State lawmakers look to boost their pensions

Regulation

Raise repealed, but not retired

  • March 26, 2006

Philadelphia Inquirer highlights the benefits for retiring lawmakers, most of whom took the “unvouchered expenses” which boosted their pension payouts.

Media

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Regulation

Buying ‘Burgh Votes

  • March 25, 2006

“Rendell: Plan ready to build new arena” in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Media

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Regulation

Pension Editorials

  • March 24, 2006

The Valley Independent believes that the “Pension battle should be instructive,” while the Reading Eagle suggests that the “State pension plan needs to be revised.”…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Abuse of Eminent Domain

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 23, 2006

Harrisburg Airport continues its quest to use eminent domain to take over a nearby competitor, according to the Patriot News. The Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority (SARAA) is trying…

Media

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Regulation

Public Pensions and Risky Hedge Funds

  • March 22, 2006

The Massachusetts Secretary of State is voicing criticism in the Boston Globe over the amount of pension money going into risky hedge funds. This is noteworthy because Pennsylvania State…

Media

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Health Care

Health benefit costs

  • March 21, 2006

Th Bucks County Courier Times looks at the healthcare benefits crisis… Good health comes at hefty cost to taxpayers “Biting the bullet’ at public systems Public…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Gov. Rendell and PA’s Business Climate: Rhetoric Doesnt Match Reality

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 20, 2006

As election time draws nearer, Gov. Ed Rendell is issuing a flurry of press releases to convince voters that his administration has improved Pennsylvania’s competitiveness and economic growth. To that…

Commentary

Read More: Gov. Rendell and PA’s Business Climate: Rhetoric Doesnt Match Reality

Taxes & Economy

Minimum wage push continues

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 17, 2006

From The Morning Call Online: “Kate Philips, Rendell’s spokeswoman, said the administration is grateful the bill emerged from the committee, but that $6.25 ”barely keeps us competitive” with…

Media

Read More: Minimum wage push continues

Regulation

Insult to injury

  • March 17, 2006

State weighs COLA raise in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Who Pays for the Minimum Wage?

  • March 16, 2006

From Michigan’s Mackinac Center…. “When a business experiences increasing inventories, raising prices is the last thing it should do to resolve the problem. The same principle applies to labor.

Media

Read More: Who Pays for the Minimum Wage?

Taxes & Economy

Hey, Big Spender

  • March 16, 2006

Peggy Noonan in today’s Wall Street Journal on President Bush’s bankrupt fiscal policies and his notion of “compassionate conservatism” Noonan: “That’s not what I understood him to mean. If…

Media

Read More: Hey, Big Spender

Taxes & Economy

Close the Loopholes

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 15, 2006

Few issues get politicians more exercised than the issue of tax “loopholes” – provisions in the tax code that allow affected taxpayers to reduce the amount of money they must…

Commentary

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Regulation

State kept funding agency in audit dispute

  • March 14, 2006

State Rep. Mike Veon and State Sen. Gerald LaValle’s BIG slush fund gets scrutiny from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. While the Veon/LaValle scandal may be an extreme example of how…

Media

Read More: State kept funding agency in audit dispute

Regulation

Cities start adding up retiree benefit costs

  • March 13, 2006

An article from the Pittsburgh Business Times on the coming government retiree benefits crisis. Governments at all levels are only beginning to understand how big of a financial crisis…

Media

Read More: Cities start adding up retiree benefit costs