Prosperity

New Year, New Taxes in Pennsylvania

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • January 15, 2025

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…

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High 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

Abuse of Eminent Domain

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 23, 2006

Harrisburg Airport continues its quest to use eminent domain to take over a nearby competitor, according to the Patriot News. The Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority (SARAA) is trying…

Media

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Health Care

Health benefit costs

  • March 21, 2006

Th Bucks County Courier Times looks at the healthcare benefits crisis… Good health comes at hefty cost to taxpayers “Biting the bullet’ at public systems Public…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Gov. Rendell and PA’s Business Climate: Rhetoric Doesnt Match Reality

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 20, 2006

As election time draws nearer, Gov. Ed Rendell is issuing a flurry of press releases to convince voters that his administration has improved Pennsylvania’s competitiveness and economic growth. To that…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Minimum wage push continues

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 17, 2006

From The Morning Call Online: “Kate Philips, Rendell’s spokeswoman, said the administration is grateful the bill emerged from the committee, but that $6.25 ”barely keeps us competitive” with…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Who Pays for the Minimum Wage?

  • March 16, 2006

From Michigan’s Mackinac Center…. “When a business experiences increasing inventories, raising prices is the last thing it should do to resolve the problem. The same principle applies to labor.

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Taxes & Economy

Hey, Big Spender

  • March 16, 2006

Peggy Noonan in today’s Wall Street Journal on President Bush’s bankrupt fiscal policies and his notion of “compassionate conservatism” Noonan: “That’s not what I understood him to mean. If…

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Taxes & Economy

Close the Loopholes

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 15, 2006

Few issues get politicians more exercised than the issue of tax “loopholes” – provisions in the tax code that allow affected taxpayers to reduce the amount of money they must…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Raising Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Will Result in Job Loss

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 9, 2006

News release from Employment Policies Institute on PA minimum wage. Raising Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Will Result in Job Loss for Low-SkilledEarned Income Tax Credit a Better Way…

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Taxes & Economy

What do you do when the facts aren’t on your side?

  • March 8, 2006

Well, if you are Bill George, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, you hurl insults and yell them loudly. It works really well…so he thinks. This clip is from today’s…

Media

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State Budget

Say you want a revolution?

  • March 7, 2006

Editorial from the Chambersburg Public Opinion on how our Supreme Court judges are spending YOUR money.

Media

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Public Union Democracy

Gettin’ out while the gettin’s good

  • March 7, 2006

The Hempfield Area School District is expecting nearly 90 employees (mostly teachers) to retire this year, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. This is a district where the average salary…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Seductive snake oil

  • March 6, 2006

Interesting commentary that goes to show you that the battle for free-markets is happening all over the world…including Israel. And the opponents of freedom are the same… ______________Seductive…

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Taxes & Economy

State Revenue Boom Paves Way for Tax Cuts

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 3, 2006

An analysis by the Cato Institute of tax revenue and rates for all 50 states ranks Pennsylvania as a “state in need of tax cuts.” This is based on…

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State Budget

The Rendell Budget: Would Your Family Spend Money Like This?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 1, 2006

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had a good tax year – that is, in government collection terms. General Fund revenues will exceed expectations this year by a projected $353 million. But…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Minimum Wage Reality…

  • February 22, 2006

From: John F. BrinsonSent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 2:19 PMTo: PA General AssemblySubject: Minimum wage———————————————————– Dear Friends in the Pennsylvania Legislature: An increase in the minimum…

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State Budget

The Myth of Spending Cuts for the Poor, Tax Cuts for the Rich

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 16, 2006

Fascinating analysis by the Heritage Foundation on how the Bush administration – attacked by critics for “cutting spending for the poor while cutting taxes for the rich” – has…

Media

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