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
Government Clock Keeps on Tickin
We’re #1. That’s what the Pennsylvania Economy League discovered this month after comparing the overall cost of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to its counterparts in other states. The report on…
Commentary
Read More: Government Clock Keeps on TickinEducation
Throwing a Party for the Educational Status Quo
The National Education Association recently concluded its annual convention in Los Angeles, gathering 8,000 delegates in celebration of the status quo in public education. When attendees weren’t offering a vigorous…
Commentary
Read More: Throwing a Party for the Educational Status QuoTaxes & Economy
Pennsylvanias Great Rail Disasters Continue
Dozens of cities around the country, including Pennsylvania cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, are building, planning, or considering new or expanded rail systems. But is rail really the best…
Commentary
Read More: Pennsylvanias Great Rail Disasters ContinueTaxes & Economy
Only We, the People, Can Restore the Spirit of 1776
The history of the world is a story about mankind’s struggle to be free. Millions upon millions of people have died over the age-old question about which form of tyrannical…
Commentary
Read More: Only We, the People, Can Restore the Spirit of 1776Taxes & Economy
Rail Disasters 2005
This paper reviews ridership and other transit data published by the Federal Transit Administration from 1982 through 2003, plus 2004 ridership data published by the American Public Transportation Association, to…
Report
Read More: Rail Disasters 2005Health Care
Preferred Drug Lists (PDLs)
Governor Ed Rendell has proposed a Medicaid “Preferred Drug List” (PDL) as a means to address Pennsylvania’s welfare spending problem. PDLs limit the availability of drugs to Medicaid recipients and…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Preferred Drug Lists (PDLs)Taxes & Economy
Time to Act (not 72) on Pennsylvanias School Tax Crisis
The Homeowner Tax Relief Act of 2004 (Act 72) failed long before nearly 80 percent of Pennsylvania’s school boards even had the opportunity to reject it. Despite Gov. Ed Rendell’s…
Commentary
Read More: Time to Act (not 72) on Pennsylvanias School Tax CrisisTaxes & Economy
A Horsepower Boost to PAs Economic Engine
When it comes to state officials spending their tax dollars, Pennsylvanians want some restraint. That is the clear message contained in a recent statewide survey of citizens by Susquehanna…
Commentary
Read More: A Horsepower Boost to PAs Economic EngineTaxes & Economy
Undereducated Today, Outsourced Tomorrow?
The outsourcing of jobs to lower-wage countries was a hot topic throughout the campaign of 2004, but it is not clear what the president of the United States can do…
Commentary
Read More: Undereducated Today, Outsourced Tomorrow?Taxes & Economy
Growing Redder Too
It’s safe to say that nearly every Pennsylvanian wants to “improve the quality of life in Pennsylvania … create new jobs, revitalize our communities and sustain our families.” And according…
Commentary
Read More: Growing Redder TooRegulation
Growing Greener II
While Pennsylvanians obviously want an environmentally safe and economically prosperous state, the $625 million debt plan known as “Growing Greener II” guarantees neither.
Fact Sheet
Read More: Growing Greener IITaxes & Economy
Limited Government, Unlimited Opportunity
Remarks from Matthew J. Brouillette’s unveiling of the Commonwealth Foundation’s “Unlimited Opportunity Blueprint” at the Tuesday Club’s Breakfast Lyceum on January 11, 2005. For seventeen years, the Commonwealth…
Commentary
Read More: Limited Government, Unlimited OpportunityTaxes & Economy
Tax Cuts & Economic Growth
The paramount economic lesson of the past several decades is that tax cuts stimulate growth and increased government spending chokes it off. DIDN’T PENNSYLVANIA TRY THE TAX-CUT APPROACH IN THE…
Fact Sheet
Read More: Tax Cuts & Economic GrowthTaxes & Economy
Tax Cuts Cost Government Nothing
Many citizens suspect that their elected representatives and bureaucrats live in an entirely different world than they do. Further confirming their suspicions, evidence has emerged once again in Harrisburg that…
Commentary
Read More: Tax Cuts Cost Government NothingTaxes & Economy
Act 72: The Culprit Escapes Again
As Gov. Rendell campaigns across the commonwealth to encourage school board members to opt-in to Act 72—the Homeowners Property Tax Relief Act—the real culprit (and beneficiary) of ever-increasing school property…
Commentary
Read More: Act 72: The Culprit Escapes AgainTaxes & Economy
When Growing Green Means Going Red
When it comes to “Growing Green,” Gov. Ed Rendell and the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania General Assembly believe that taxpayers should go further into the red. After spending several months promoting dueling…
Commentary
Read More: When Growing Green Means Going RedTaxes & Economy
“A Republic, If You Can Keep It!”
A famous Pennsylvanian was once asked what kind of government the Framers of the U. S. Constitution had given the American people. His reply was, “A republic, if you can…
Commentary
Read More: “A Republic, If You Can Keep It!”Taxes & Economy
Reflections on the Battle of Ideas
As nearly 500 Pennsylvanians gather in Harrisburg on April 15-16 to be part of the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, it is an appropriate time to reflect on the…
Commentary
Read More: Reflections on the Battle of IdeasTaxes & Economy
Meet the New Pennsylvania: Same as the Old Pennsylvania
April 15 marks the first Tax Day on which Pennsylvanians will fully feel the impact of the roughly $1 billion tax increase passed in December 2003 by the General Assembly…
Commentary
Read More: Meet the New Pennsylvania: Same as the Old PennsylvaniaState Budget
Spending Limits: If Gov. Rendell Doesnt Like Them, They Must Be a Good Idea
Well, that didn’t take long. Within a week of Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader David “Chip” Brightbill’s announcement that he would introduce a bill and/or constitutional amendment to bring state government…
Commentary
Read More: Spending Limits: If Gov. Rendell Doesnt Like Them, They Must Be a Good IdeaTaxes & Economy
An Overdue Diet for an Overweight Government
Working Pennsylvanians received wage or salary increases averaging just slightly more than 6 percent over the last two years—yet state government spending during the first half of the Rendell Administration…
Commentary
Read More: An Overdue Diet for an Overweight Government