Media

Regulation

PLCB’s Sultan of Syrah Surrenders Silently

• January 21, 2013

For those in the public relations business, a state-issued news release dropped on a weekend buttressed by a holiday is the media equivalent of the midnight pay raise.  But that’s…

Media

Pa. to uncap 30-year old oil tax to fix roads

• January 20, 2013

Media Hit

Private group to advocate for privatizing Pennsylvania liquor stores

• January 18, 2013

Media Hit

Corbett set to take another shot at dismantling Pa.’s booze system

• January 18, 2013

Media Hit

Corbett is thinking big on liquor privatization

• January 18, 2013

Media Hit

Taxes & Economy

How Do Pa. Gas Taxes Stack Up?

• Nathan Benefield
• January 17, 2013

In the wake of reports Gov. Corbett will unveil a transportation funding plan that includes increasing the cap on the Oil Company Franchise Tax, the Tax Foundation has put…

Media

Gov. Tom Corbett to renew push for state liquor store privatization

• January 17, 2013

Media Hit

Public Union Democracy

Union Politics Hinder Prosperity

• Priya Brannick
• January 16, 2013

Businessman Jerry Shenk argues in today’s Harrisburg Patriot-News that tough economic realities forced lawmakers to reexamine union privileges in their traditional strongholds of Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana—and that Pennsylvania…

Media

Health Care

Federal Funds Create Perverse Incentives

• Elizabeth Stelle
• January 15, 2013

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, just like there’s no such thing as free money from the federal government. But you wouldn’t know that by reading a recent…

Media

Education

California School Parents Make History

• Priya Brannick
• January 10, 2013

The win didn’t come easy, but parents at Desert Trails Elementary School in Adelanto, Calif. finally prevailed this week in putting the failing school under new charter school management, becoming…

Media

Public Union Democracy

Lottery Agreement Better Than Union Guesstimate

• Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
• January 10, 2013

AFSCME’s counter proposal to the Pennsylvania Lottery private management agreement (PMA) provides no guaranteed revenue for senior services, no new jobs and no protections for taxpayers if profits fall…

Media

Ed Reform Radar: PA Group Launches Website Promoting Full Professional…

• January 10, 2013

Media Hit

Criminal Justice Reform

Milestone Corrections Reform Offers Taxpayer Savings

• January 9, 2013

On the heels of Pennsylvania’s historic decline in prison population—the largest one-year decline in four decades—the Department of Corrections announced today the imminent closure of two older prisons.

Media

Education

What’s Behind Pennsylvania’s D+ on Education?

• Priya Brannick
• January 9, 2013

StudentsFirst, a bipartisan education reform group, released report cards for all 50 states evaluating individual state education laws and policies—and the news wasn’t good for Pennsylvania,…

Media

Public Union Democracy

Union Attacks Won’t Improve Lottery

• Nathan Benefield
• January 9, 2013

AFSCME Council 13, the union representing state lottery employees, released its “Alternatives” to a lottery private management agreement.  However, their document doesn’t represent a serious counter-proposal that would…

Media

Taxes & Economy

“Promised Land” Bombs at Box Office

• Elizabeth Stelle
• January 8, 2013

“Promised Land,” Tinseltown’s recent take on natural gas drilling, opened in theaters across the nation this past weekend. Despite a cast of heavy hitters, including Matt Damon, the film grossed…

Media

Regulation

Lottery Deal = Guarantees not Gamble

• Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
• January 7, 2013

Lottery profits fund programs for senior citizens—but demand for these services is growing faster than Lottery revenue.  The private lottery management agreement recently bid out by the…

Media

Handouts hurt poor, help up a better way

• January 7, 2013

Media Hit

Public Union Democracy

Government Union Cronies Collude Against Seniors

• Nathan Benefield
• January 3, 2013

Here’s a letter to the editor I wrote identifying the connections between special interest groups who oppose a lottery contract, and their motives for undermining a deal that would generate…

Media

Regulation

PA Tax Loophole Funds Frackaphobic Film

• Elizabeth Stelle, Priya Brannick
• January 3, 2013

There’s a memorable line in Promised Land, the new Matt Damon movie opening Friday about a gas drilling company buying land rights in a declining farming community. One…

Media

Filing a Religious Objection to your Fair Share Fee

• January 2, 2013

Once you become a non-union fee payer, you will receive an annual letter every December with supporting documents from your union explaining how it calculates fair share fees. You may…

Media