Prosperity
New Year, New Taxes in Pennsylvania
Originally published at RealClearPennsylvania The new year is always a great opportunity to shed vices like smoking and binge eating. For state and local lawmakers, their guilty pleasure tends…
Read More: New Year, New Taxes in PennsylvaniaHigh taxes make for a slow-growing economy. And communities feel the pinch of high taxes as more and more native Pennsylvanians leave the Keystone State to prosper elsewhere. To remain economically competitive, Pennsylvania must lower state taxes and ensure businesses have the opportunity to succeed. Lower taxes will incentivize more individuals to call Pennsylvania their home, ultimately spurring our statewide economy forward.
State Budget
Tax Foundation Analysis of Rendell’s Tax Proposals
Joe Henchman of the Tax Foundation has put together a Fical Fact looking at Gov. Rendell’s tax increases in the proposed Pennsylvania state budget. Here is the quick overview:…
Media
Read More: Tax Foundation Analysis of Rendell’s Tax ProposalsTaxes & Economy
NTU Congressional Ratings for Pennsylvania
The National Taxpayers Union released their annual Congressional report card (for votes in 2009). Here are the votes they rated. NTU’s rating is based on “every roll call…
Media
Read More: NTU Congressional Ratings for PennsylvaniaTaxes & Economy
Debunking the Green Job Myth
US News and World Report has an excellent piece from AEI’s Kenneth Green debunking the green job myth. Government can create jobs: Green explains how governments cannot create…
Media
Read More: Debunking the Green Job MythTaxes & Economy
Pennsylvania Bottom-of-the Pack in State Competitiveness
A recent report by the Beacon Hill Institute, a free-market think-tank out of Suffolk University in Massachusetts, provided even more dismal news on Pennsylvania’s economic climate. According to the…
Media
Read More: Pennsylvania Bottom-of-the Pack in State CompetitivenessTaxes & Economy
How Do Pennsylvania’s Highways Rank
The Reason Foundation has been analyzing state highway systems since 1984. This month they released their 18th Annual Highway Report. Overall the Commonwealth ranked 38th for the most efficient…
Media
Read More: How Do Pennsylvania’s Highways RankTaxes & Economy
How Dumb is the Jobs Bill?
So the logic behind Stimulus 3, or the so-called “jobs bill” is that the first stimulus (the Bush stimulus of 2008, predicated largely on tax rebates) worked so well the…
Media
Read More: How Dumb is the Jobs Bill?Government Accountability
Whistle-Blower Protection
Good morning. I’m Katrina Currie, a Research Fellow for the Commonwealth Foundation. I am joined by my colleague Elizabeth Bryan. The…
Testimony
Read More: Whistle-Blower ProtectionTaxes & Economy
Rendell Lured to Stimulus Like a Moth to a Flame
The lure of federal stimulus funds is encouraging Pennsylvania to spend more of state taxpayers’ money as well. Here are three examples: The Commonwealth was awarded $35 million through the…
Media
Read More: Rendell Lured to Stimulus Like a Moth to a FlameGovernment Accountability
PA Lawmakers Use Per Diems to Buy Houses
I have often remarked that the exorbitant costs of Pennsylvania legislators’ per diems (see Tribune Review and ABC 27 stories) – that they receive to pay for food…
Media
Read More: PA Lawmakers Use Per Diems to Buy HousesTaxes & Economy
Did the Stimulus Raise Unemployment?
Alan Reynolds takes a nuanced approach to where stimulus funding went, and why it didn’t “create jobs” or increase GDP, and probably increased unemployment: [T]he GDP report clearly…
Media
Read More: Did the Stimulus Raise Unemployment?Regulation
How Rendell’s Cigar Tax Will Hurt Pennsylvania Businesses
For the second year in a row, Gov. Rendell has proposed a tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco, assuming this will have no impact on jobs or the economy. (As…
Media
Read More: How Rendell’s Cigar Tax Will Hurt Pennsylvania BusinessesTaxes & Economy
When Alternative Energy Subsidies End . . .
Jim Panyard from the PA Independent reports on Rep. Scavello’s plan to secure $26 to $54 million in stimulus funding for residents who own Thermal Storage Unit heating systems.
Media
Read More: When Alternative Energy Subsidies End . . .Government Accountability
Where has PA Stimulus Money Gone?
I’ve gotten a couple requests for information on where Pennsylvania’s stimulus money has gone. The Pennsylvania stimulus site is here. …
Media
Read More: Where has PA Stimulus Money Gone?Taxes & Economy
Some Stimulating Numbers
On the one year anniversary of the “stimulus”, OpenMarket.org has some numbers on how well the stimulus has worked: * The unemployment rate has increased since the stimulus bill…
Media
Read More: Some Stimulating NumbersState Budget
The Unemployment Compensation Hole
Yesterday, Secretary of Labor and Industry Sandy Vito testified before the House Appropriations Committee in the usual round of budget hearings. She reported that the unemployment compensation fund is $2.2…
Media
Read More: The Unemployment Compensation HoleState Budget
The True Cost of Unemployment Compensation
Pennsylvania's unemployment compensation fund is bankrupt. Beginning in March 2009, the Keystone State borrowed over $2 billion from the federal government to keep it solvent. Unfortunately, unemployment continues to grow,…
Commentary
Read More: The True Cost of Unemployment CompensationTaxes & Economy
There PennFuture Goes Again!
This morning on Harrisburg’s NPR station WITF (audio), Commonwealth Foundation adjunct scholar Andrew Langer debated Jan Jarrett of PennFuture. Afterward Jarrett slammed us…
Media
Read More: There PennFuture Goes Again!Energy
Business Guide to Electric Choice & Competition
In the late 1990s, Pennsylvania's electricity rates were 15% above the national average, despite the abundance of low-cost coal generation in the Commonwealth. At that time, electricity was sold by…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Business Guide to Electric Choice & CompetitionHealth Care
Virginia Passes Health Care Freedom Act
The Virginia House of Representatives passed SB 417, sending it on to Gov. McDonnell, who is expected to sign it. The legislation would state, in defiance of health…
Media
Read More: Virginia Passes Health Care Freedom ActRegulation
Tracking the Bailout Money
Propublica has a good tool tracking all the money the federal government has given out in both the TARP bailout and the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Media
Read More: Tracking the Bailout MoneyTaxes & Economy
Pennsylvania Turnpike Already Hiring Consultants for I-80 Tolling
Toll Roads News reports that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is seeking bids for consultants for the conversion of the highway to a toll road. The four contracts would each…
Media
Read More: Pennsylvania Turnpike Already Hiring Consultants for I-80 Tolling