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

A Horsepower Boost to PAs Economic Engine

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • June 6, 2005

When it comes to state officials spending their tax dollars, Pennsylvanians want some restraint. That is the clear message contained in a recent statewide survey of citizens by Susquehanna…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Undereducated Today, Outsourced Tomorrow?

  • May 27, 2005

The outsourcing of jobs to lower-wage countries was a hot topic throughout the campaign of 2004, but it is not clear what the president of the United States can do…

Commentary

Read More: Undereducated Today, Outsourced Tomorrow?

Taxes & Economy

Growing Redder Too

  • May 16, 2005

It’s safe to say that nearly every Pennsylvanian wants to “improve the quality of life in Pennsylvania … create new jobs, revitalize our communities and sustain our families.” And according…

Commentary

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Regulation

Growing Greener II

  • May 13, 2005

While Pennsylvanians obviously want an environmentally safe and economically prosperous state, the $625 million debt plan known as “Growing Greener II” guarantees neither.

Fact Sheet

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Taxes & Economy

Limited Government, Unlimited Opportunity

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • May 13, 2005

Remarks from Matthew J. Brouillette’s unveiling of the Commonwealth Foundation’s “Unlimited Opportunity Blueprint” at the Tuesday Club’s Breakfast Lyceum on January 11, 2005. For seventeen years, the Commonwealth…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Tax Cuts & Economic Growth

  • May 11, 2005

The paramount economic lesson of the past several decades is that tax cuts stimulate growth and increased government spending chokes it off. DIDN’T PENNSYLVANIA TRY THE TAX-CUT APPROACH IN THE…

Fact Sheet

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Taxes & Economy

Tax Cuts Cost Government Nothing

  • May 10, 2005

Many citizens suspect that their elected representatives and bureaucrats live in an entirely different world than they do. Further confirming their suspicions, evidence has emerged once again in Harrisburg that…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Act 72: The Culprit Escapes Again

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • May 4, 2005

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

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Taxes & Economy

When Growing Green Means Going Red

  • May 2, 2005

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

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Taxes & Economy

“A Republic, If You Can Keep It!”

  • April 18, 2005

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

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Taxes & Economy

Reflections on the Battle of Ideas

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • April 15, 2005

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

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Taxes & Economy

Meet the New Pennsylvania: Same as the Old Pennsylvania

  • April 14, 2005

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

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Taxes & Economy

An Overdue Diet for an Overweight Government

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 25, 2005

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 Government

Education

School Choice Works!

  • March 17, 2005

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

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Taxes & Economy

NutraSweet Candidates

  • March 8, 2005

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

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Taxes & Economy

Taking Us BackBut Not to Prosperity

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • February 16, 2005

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

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Regulation

Internet Taxes

  • February 10, 2005

A number of bills in the General Assembly represent the essential first step in extending the Commonwealth’s sales tax to out-of-state purchases—including those made over the Internet—through the national initiative…

Fact Sheet

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State Budget

Total Cost of Pennsylvania Government: 2005 and Beyond

  • February 8, 2005

The total cost of state and local government in Pennsylvania is projected to exceed $102 billion in FY 2004-05, and will likely reach more than $115 billion by the 2008-09…

Fact Sheet

Read More: Total Cost of Pennsylvania Government: 2005 and Beyond