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.
Taxes & Economy
Five Ways to Lower Gasoline Prices
Video from the Heritage Foundation:…
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Health Care Affordability Debated
Today’s health care hearing, at which Commonwealth Foundation Senior Fellow Rick Dreyfuss testified, will be airing on PCN tonight; check here for future airings. The York Dispatch also did…
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Federal Stimulus Rebate Calculator
Since federal “stimulus” tax rebates will start going out electronically this week (and checks will be mailed in the next few weeks), I thought I’d repost this calculator for…
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PA Leadership Conference Round-up
The PA Leadership Conference this past weekend was a great success. Of the keynote speakers, I thought Michael’s Steele gave the best (and funniest) spech (the videos will be…
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Pittsburgh-area man arrested for complaining about government
A Bridgeville man was arrested for harassment for doing too much complaining to, and about, his government officials. “In section 2709 of the Pennsylvania crimes code, dealing with…
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The Truth About Oil and Gasoline
API has produced a nifty primer on oil, gasoline, and other energy sources. Among the interesting graphs: where does each dollar spent on gasoline go (pg 9 in the…
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State and Local Business Tax Report
The Council On State Taxation has released their 2008 summary of state and local business taxes, with the national picture, state-specific and industry-specific data. Click here for the summary…
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Show Me the Spending, PA
Sen. Browne has introduced legislation that would create a free, online database of state spending (contracts and grants over $25,000) along with details about individual line items in the…
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Election Reflection from Democracy Rising
Tim Potts over at Democracry Rising has an analysis of the election that features a roundup of results, (Grassroots PA has the full rundown), but also raises the…
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Tax Freedom Day: The Music Video
Here is a something a bit lighter for anyone with an election day hangover: Tax Freedom Day: The Music Video The national Tax Freedom Day is today, as calculated…
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Q& A on State Health Care Reform
The NCPA has a new report on State Health Care Reform: Key Questions and Answers, highlighting many of the key policy questions, including “Does universal health coverage lower health…
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The Truth about Milton Friedman
David Henderson has a detailed reponse on the Cato-at-liberty blog to a New York Times article on the economic legacy of Milton Friedman. The Times piece presented the…
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Flat Tax vs. Fair Tax
Below is a video from the Center from Freedom and Prosperity on proposals for an overall of the tax system. We covered both the flat tax and fair…
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Health Savings Sabotage
The Wall Street Journal has a column on a bill that passed the US House that would undermine Health Savings Accounts (also see the SPN blog on this…
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The Health Insurance Mafia
Here is a great editorial in the Wall Street Journal on how the health insurance industry acts like the Mafia: Most discussions about the rising…
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Getting Better, Not Bitter, in Pennsylvania
WebMemo from the Heritage Foundation about whether Pennsylvanians should be “bitter” over all the jobs “lost”. I would point readers to my commentary on Prospering in Pennsylvania, but…
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Turnpike Lease Bids Due April 30
Governor Rendell has announced that bids for leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be due at or near the end of April. He also announced many of the terms…
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Candidate Surveys
Here are some candidate surveys for state legislative candidates: PA Right to Work Stop Teacher Strikes Democracy Rising Project Vote Smart…
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Taxpayer Cost of Family Fragmentation
A new report on the taxpayer cost of family breakdown (i.e. divorce and family breakdown), putting the cost to PA taxpayers at over $2 billion annually. Click…
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Time for a Spending Diet
As Pennsylvania taxpayers breath a collective sigh of relief after completing their 2007 tax returns, another tax day is looming. But this is a day to celebrate. It’s Tax Freedom…
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What are “purely conservative principles”?
Michael Smerconish comments on the “blueing” of the Philadelphia suburbs (HT: Grassroots PA). Smerconish dismisses the idea that residents are fleeing Philadelphia for the suburbs, noting that…
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