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
More waste, no-bid contracts, in PA budget
Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner has a draft of an audit blasting the Rendell adminstration for its technology contracts, specifically with Deloitte, the Patriot News Reports.
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Please, No More Taxes! Video Contest
$4,000 in cash prizes for citizens to help raise awareness of PA’s painful tax burden HARRISBURG, PA — The Commonwealth Foundation today announced its Please, No More Taxes!…
Press Release
Read More: Please, No More Taxes! Video ContestTaxes & Economy
How well has more spending worked up until now?
The Morning Call’s John Micek makes a joke on his blog about the effectiveness of tax cuts in stimulating the economy: Hardcore GOPers, asked for their alternative,…
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With All Due Respect, Mr. Specter
“The country cannot afford not to take action,” Senator Arlen Specter writes in the Washington Post justifying support for the “stimulus” package, mimicking the statement by President Obama “There…
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How Government Created the Financial Crisis
John Taylor in the Wall Street Journal on how Government created the financial crisis: Monetary excesses were the main cause of the boom. The Fed held its…
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Libertarian ideas to stimulate economy
Jeffrey A. Miron has a list of libertarian proposals to stimulate the economy (I would expect most self-described “conservatives” would agree with 8 of the 9 proposals): Repeal the…
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The GOP Has a Dumb Mortgage Idea
In the Wall Street Journal, Ed Glaeser rips the US Senate GOP’s plans to underwrite mortgages and offer an additional tax credit for home-buyers More criticism of this…
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Commonwealth Foundation Launches Please, No More Taxes! Campaign
HARRISBURG, PA — The Commonwealth Foundation today announced the launch of the Please, No More Taxes! campaign, a public education effort aimed at the elimination of wasteful state spending and…
Press Release
Read More: Commonwealth Foundation Launches Please, No More Taxes! CampaignEducation
Special Needs Scholarship Could Replace School for the Deaf
There has been a lot of public outcry against Governor Rendell’s proposal to close the Scranton School for the Deaf, as well as the Scotland School…
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Economists Against Governor Rendell
In his budget address, Governor Rendell cited “conservative” economists who support the stimulus package and his spending proposals, even though they don’t. Here is Rendell: Economists from…
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PA Budget by the Numbers
The 2009-10 budget is $28.97 billion, rather than the $26.6 billion as is being reported. The difference being that it relies on $2.4 billion in one-time federal “stimulus” money. That…
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PA budget address liveblog
I’ll be live blog-tweeting Governor Rendell’s budget address, beginning at 10:30 today you can follow the action here.
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We Can’t Spend Our Way to Prosperity
John Stossel has an op-ed up on the pork-laden “stimulus” package: President Obama has vowed that no earmarks — special appropriations to benefit particular congressmen — will…
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PA Budget Proposals: Cut the Fat, Play Poker
Sen. John Eichelberger unveiled a proposal today to issue a moratorium on “earmarks”, the legislative-controlled WAMs and other items. The proposal also calls for a review of all…
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Try to Reform Health Care
The Senate Republican’s unveiled their caucus’s plan on health care, which is largely the same as they had last year, and thus my criticism of that plan still…
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Pennsylvania Deficit Watch: February 2009
Updates on Pennsylvania’s Revenue Shortfall from the Commonwealth Foundation The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue released the January revenue collections showing state General Fund revenues are $1.08 billion short for the…
Press Release
Read More: Pennsylvania Deficit Watch: February 2009State Budget
Even more reasons to oppose the stimulus
NTU’s blog has a long list (via Tom Coburn) of wasteful spending and bad policy in the federal “stimulus” bill, including: $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen,…
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Pennsylvania’s Revenue Shortfall Climbs
The PA Department of Revenue released the January Revenue Collections this afternoon. We’ll have the full “Deficit Watch” up on the website tomorrow, but here are the quick…
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Overspending Schools Don’t Need More Taxpayer Funding
NYTimes article (registration required) looks at how much of the federal “stimulus” money would go to school spending, particularly for school construction. Critics and supporters alike…
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Should government get bigger, or smaller?
Richard Rahn has a commentary for the Cato Institute on the “optimal size of government”. He takes the premise that we need some level of government (to protect our…
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501 added to Pa. payroll since state hiring freeze
AP story on the 501 employees hired since the hiring freeze, including several over $100,000 (former legislator Dan Surra, for whom a new $95,000 position was created, just missed…
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