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
Building excise fees will not mean property-tax relief
Read Grant Gulibon’s commentary in the latest News Item.
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Building Excise Fees are Not Property Tax Relief
Henry David Thoreau said, “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” In Pennsylvania, that “evil” is the school property…
Commentary
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PUC: Free market is OK
As reported in the Central Penn Business Journal, the Public Utility Commission will not stop a new taxicab company from competing with existing companies. It always heartwarming when a…
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Tax hike referendum sinks like a stone
The Bristol Township School District signed on to Act 72, the property tax shift proposal that 80% of school districts rejected. To my knowledge Bristol was the only district out…
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‘Live Free or Move’
Jobs are flocking to low-tax states for a reason. Commentary in today’s Wall Street Journal says, “new data is out and it shows that the states that embraced supply-side…
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Tax no fix for rising gas prices
Read Matthew Brouillette’s commentary in Friday’s Pittsburgh Business Times.
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For Now, Gasoline Is Our Only Cheap Fuel
Cato Commentary by Jerry Taylor: “Mandating a switch given current technology would increase, not decrease, pump prices.”…
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Property Tax Relief through School Choice
Pennsylvanians deserve property tax reform and relief—not a shift and a sham. But the only way to relieve all homeowners while not burdening other taxpayers is to reduce public school…
Commentary
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Gov. Rendell’s Plan to raise gas prices and subsidize Big Ethanol
Gas prices are high. As previously noted in this blog, part of the reason for high prices is the mandated use of ethanol fuels – forcing refineries to retool.
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State Quashes Economic Freedom
The Pennsylvania State Department’s Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs release their list of disciplinary actions yesterday. Among the egregious violations were: auctioning without an auctioneers license, cutting hair…
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The Governments Gas Problem
Government’s energy policies and regulations have been leading us down the wrong road for years, yet the only solution Governor Ed Rendell and plenty of Republicans like Sen. Arlen Specter…
Commentary
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The Gas-Tax Hustle
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. I’ll have my own take on “The Government’s Gas Problem” on Monday. Check out the main article at www.CommonwealthFoundation.org then!…
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How to Soak the Rich (the George Bush Way)
Good piece in the Wall Street Journal on the effects of tax cuts.
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Property tax proposal has lots of loopholes
Good coverage by Christina Gostomski (and John Micek) of the Allentown Morning Call on the faux taxpayer protections in the bill moving to the House today.
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State’s tax-reduction debate is about the wrong thing
Good timing for the Allentown Morning Call to run my op-ed on our property tax relief scholarship act. As the counter to yesterday’s passage of Act 72 warmed…
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Scholarships as tax relief
Read Matt Brouillette’s commentary in today’s York Dispatch.
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Taxing Oil
A “windfall” tax on “big oil” will only reduce the supply of oil and increase the cost of gasoline, writes Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Colin McKnickle. It is a shame,…
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The Key to Property Tax Relief
The failure to pass a property tax “relief” plan in Harrisburg has everything to do with politics—politicians can’t agree on whose ox to gore. Current proposals require some taxpayers to…
Commentary
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Free Enterprise and Taxpayer Protection Act
An issue the Commonwealth Foundation has weighed in on, government “enterprises” that compete with private businesses. Read more about it here. Below is the Capitolwire.com story on yesterday’s hearing…
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Minimum wage, maximum folly
Walter Williams in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
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Why a windfall tax is bad policy
Should the federal government create a new tax on profits only for oil companies, as Governor Rendell suggests? This “windfall tax” esentially ensures a limit on the amount of…
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