State Budget
Pennsylvanians Are in Dire Need of Tax Reform
Originally published by RealClearPennsylvania. Today is Tax Day. Each year, April 15th reminds us of the costliness of government spending – and why lawmakers must reduce this financial burden on…
Read More: Pennsylvanians Are in Dire Need of Tax ReformHigh 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.
Taxes & Economy
Stimulus: Saving Jobs or Delaying Recovery?
President Obama’s hollow promises are so glaringly visible these days that he has to chalk every compounding problem to the previous administration. One of his promises, though, involved colossal levels…
Media
Read More: Stimulus: Saving Jobs or Delaying Recovery?Taxes & Economy
Electricity Competition: One Month Later . . .
With January electric bills in the hands of rate payers there is a host of discussion about the successes and short comings of electricity deregulation. Unlike Rep. George and…
Media
Read More: Electricity Competition: One Month Later . . .Taxes & Economy
Federal Aid to States Creates Pervese Incentives, Undermines Federalism
The Mercatus Center has a new policy report on the perverse incentives of the stimulus – i.e. that it drives state governments to spend more. Click here for…
Media
Read More: Federal Aid to States Creates Pervese Incentives, Undermines FederalismTaxes & Economy
Natural Gas Tax Just Another Slush Fund
Letter in the Scranton Times-Tribune Editor: Those calling for a state tax on natural gas extraction – including Gov. Ed Rendell and The Times-Tribune – use poor logic…
Media
Read More: Natural Gas Tax Just Another Slush FundTaxes & Economy
State of the Union Summaries
I missed the entire State of the Union Addresses, as I went to bed before it started (no, I’m not that old, but I had an early morning drive for…
Media
Read More: State of the Union SummariesTaxes & Economy
Five Alternatives to Tolling I-80
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) continues its push for federal approval to toll Interstate-80, claiming that without it bridges will collapse, highways will crumble, and dogs and cats will start…
Commentary
Read More: Five Alternatives to Tolling I-80Taxes & Economy
Stimulus: The Sequel
The Center for Freedom and Prosperity has a great new video, analyzing 1)Whether the 2009 stimulus created jobs, and 2) Why politicians are craving another stimulus. My only…
Media
Read More: Stimulus: The SequelRegulation
“Net Neutrality” Threatens Internet Innovation
Recently, The Commonwealth Foundation joined the Internet Freedom Coalition, a coalition of organizations standing against “network neutrality” initiatives. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a new plan that…
Media
Read More: “Net Neutrality” Threatens Internet InnovationGovernment Accountability
More on Corporations and Free Speech
Following the Supreme Court ruling that our First Amendment right to free speech applied to corporations’ speech regarding candidates for federal office – a ruling started when the FEC…
Media
Read More: More on Corporations and Free SpeechTaxes & Economy
“Fewer Jobs Lost” is Not a Positive Trend
The Post-Gazette has a story on Pennsylvania’s economy in which both Mark Price of Keystone Research Center and the reporter both repeat the illogical idea that we are losing…
Media
Read More: “Fewer Jobs Lost” is Not a Positive TrendTaxes & Economy
Is Casey Pandering?
I attended a recent gathering at the Keystone Research Center, where Senator Bob Casey spoke of the wonders of the stimulus. He emphasized that only the stimulus could have saved…
Media
Read More: Is Casey Pandering?State Budget
Pennsylvania Unemployment Fund is $2 Billion in the Hole
Propublica.org has a great, and terrifying, tracker of states’ unemployment insurance funds. Pennsylvania fund is in woeful shape, with $125 million balance, and owing $2.05 billion in money borrowed…
Media
Read More: Pennsylvania Unemployment Fund is $2 Billion in the HoleGovernment Accountability
CF Challenges Gov. Rendell to Explain What’s In the Bill
Harrisburg, PA – Yesterday, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell told Fox News that voters oppose the current health care reform proposal because “the administration and its supporters, myself included, haven’t…
Press Release
Read More: CF Challenges Gov. Rendell to Explain What’s In the BillTaxes & Economy
Brief History of the Great Depression
Investor’s Business Daily has an excerpt from Thomas Sowell’s new book Intellectuals and Society, which outlines the policies which cause the great depression. For instance, Sowell notes that…
Media
Read More: Brief History of the Great DepressionTaxes & Economy
Another Year, Same Old Story: Pennsylvanians Vote with Their Feet
The latest United Van Lines Migration study found, once again, that Pennsylvania is losing residents to other states, on the whole, ranking 5th highest among “outbound states.” Pennsylvania has…
Media
Read More: Another Year, Same Old Story: Pennsylvanians Vote with Their FeetState Budget
Example of Why There’s No Money to Fix Bridges
As I pointed out in a recent post, much of Pennsylvania’s transportation funding goes not to fix decaying infrastructure, but to beautification and other…
Media
Read More: Example of Why There’s No Money to Fix BridgesHealth Care
What Happened in Massachusetts
The Cato Institute released a policy report today examining the effect of Massachusetts’ health care reform – whose individual mandate and subsidies for insurance are seen as a model…
Media
Read More: What Happened in MassachusettsTaxes & Economy
PA Mayors Facing Budget Crunch – Whose Fault Is It?
Pennsylvania mayors have voiced their frustrations with public sector unions forcing counties to pay higher wages even as they face budget constraints. Inevitably, that has led to higher taxes,…
Media
Read More: PA Mayors Facing Budget Crunch – Whose Fault Is It?Education
Mann-Made Global Warming?
Climategate was born in late November 2009 with the release of more than a thousand emails and other documents from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia…
Commentary
Read More: Mann-Made Global Warming?Public Union Democracy
Five Alternatives to Tolling I-80
A recent Pocono Record article calls the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s proposal to toll I-80 “a riddle with no easy answers” (HT GrassrootsPA). However, there are alternatives to that…
Media
Read More: Five Alternatives to Tolling I-80Government Accountability
Book Review: Money, Greed, and God
Jay Richards’ book Money, Greed, and God offers a defense of capitalism from a Christian perspective. Richards goes further, noting that capitalism depends on a virtuous society. A…
Media
Read More: Book Review: Money, Greed, and God