Media

Welfare

NYT Blasts Corbett, Misses Facts

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 20, 2012

Recently, the New York Times ran an editorial that willfully neglected to mention the utter failure of more welfare spending to reduce poverty in Pennsylvania. The editorial was long on…

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Taxes & Economy

Happy Cost of Government Day 2012

• July 20, 2012

Today Pennsylvania reached its Cost of Government Day, according to Americans for Tax Reform’s annual report. In other words, it took the average Keystone worker until July 20, or…

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Taxpayers Save

• July 20, 2012

Media Hit

Public Union Democracy

Unions Bankrupt Scranton, Who’s Next?

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 19, 2012

The City of Scranton is broke. It can’t pay its employees and faces a budget deficit of about $16 million this year, thanks to a toxic combination of declining…

Media

Report details the six gravest threats to states’ fiscal stability

• July 19, 2012

Media Hit

Disgusted by Pa. state budget

• July 18, 2012

Media Hit

Regulation

Moody’s Sounds the Four Alarms

• Nathan Benefield
• July 17, 2012

Yesterday, Moody’s Investor Services downgraded Pennsylvania’s bond rating one level. The downgrade implies Pennsylvania bonds are riskier than previously assessed, and it could make it more expensive for the…

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Regulation

Map of the Day: Alcohol-Related Traffic Fatalities

• July 17, 2012

Pennsylvania’s government-run liquor monopoly doesn’t make citizens safer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on alcohol-attributable deaths ranks Pennsylvania middle of the pack in terms of deaths per…

Media

Welfare

State Flexibility Essential to Preserving the Safety Net

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 17, 2012

Last week, I noted a number of states whose governors were refusing the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act because of the costs the expansion would impose. Over…

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Government Accountability

Union Privileges Fuel More Money in Politics

• Nathan Benefield
• July 16, 2012

Turns out not everything is bigger in Texas. The Lone Star State has twice the population of Pennsylvania, yet when it comes to political spending, Pennsylvania’s labor unions can outgun…

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Regulation

Popping Popular Privatization Myths

• July 16, 2012

When short on facts, blow a lot of hot air. That’s the strategy of liquor store union boss Wendell Young IV. Wendell and I were panelists on a recent Delaware County…

Media

Taxes & Economy

Welfare: Don’t Repudiate Resounding Results, Replicate Reform

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 16, 2012

A new move from the Obama administration would waive work requirements under TANF (cash assistance). Requiring recipients to work was a central provision of the highly successful 1996 welfare…

Media

Broken-bottle policy cited as wasteful

• July 16, 2012

Media Hit

State AG, grand jury looking at employment and politics at Turnpike Commission

• July 15, 2012

Media Hit

‘Break it, replace it’ policy costly for LCB

• July 15, 2012

Media Hit

Budget process brought home medals

• July 13, 2012

Media Hit

Health Care

ACA Encourages Young & Healthy to Stay Uninsured

• Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
• July 12, 2012

An AP article claims the Affordable Care Act will lower the cost of insurance for young adults through a host of government interventions such as new mandates, Medicaid…

Media

Public Union Democracy

Union Bosses Fight to Stay Relevant

• Priya Brannick
• July 12, 2012

Labor unions are so livid that the Democratic Party is having its national convention in North Carolina—a right to work state, and the country’s least unionized—that they are staging…

Media

Education

What School Choice Advocates are Saying about Pennsylvania’s “Massive School Choice Victory”

• Nathan Benefield
• July 11, 2012

The fiscal year 2012-13 state budget increases the Educational Improvement Tax Credit by $25 million to $100 million and creates a new $50 million tax credit for Opportunity Scholarships—effectively doubling…

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Education

Auditor Errs On Charter School Funding

• Nathan Benefield
• July 11, 2012

Auditor General Jack Wagner recently release a report criticizing charter school funding.  Unfortunately, the report is riddled with errors. One key flaw is the argument that cyber schools get…

Media

Public Union Democracy

Unions Spent $4 Billion Nationally on Politics Since 2005

• Priya Brannick
• July 10, 2012

Labor unions spend four times more than originally estimated on politics and lobbying, reports the Wall Street Journal, making them a formidable behemoth in state and national elections. In…

Media