Media

Oh, SNAP! Welfare Cheats Sentenced

• March 15, 2012

Weeks ago we published our take on welfare cheats and made the case for reinstating the asset test in order to rid the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance…

Media

Education

Principled, Punchy Pols Are Popular Pols

• Charles Mitchell
• March 15, 2012

I’ve written previously in this space about Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has garnered enormous popularity while governing courageously.  Today, with a new Quinnipiac poll about Gov.

Media

Criminal Justice Reform

Saving Rather than Spending in Corrections

• March 14, 2012

Last week, PCN’s Call In Program featured a great discussion with PA Corrections Sec. John Wetzel. The Secretary is committed to both saving money and improving safety by making sure…

Media

Regulation

House Passes Corporate Welfare Reform

• Elizabeth Stelle
• March 14, 2012

This week the Pennsylvania House passed RACP (pronounced RCAP) reform by a wide margin of 184 to 9. RACP – the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program – is a political…

Media

Taxes & Economy

Fighting Fiction with Fracking Facts

• March 13, 2012

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking to Tea Party Patriots of Central Pa on environmental aspects of natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania and new Marcellus Shale regulations and…

Media

Government Accountability

National Popular Vote: Radical Shift in Elections

• Nathan Benefield
• March 13, 2012

Yesterday, the House Republic Policy Committee held a hearing on National Popular Vote (NPV). If passed, Pennsylvania would join a compact of states agreeing to award their electoral votes…

Media

Education

Does School Choice Harm Public Schools?

• March 12, 2012

This is a common question among school choice skeptics about whether school choice drains funding from public schools. According to new research by The Friedman Foundation for Educational…

Media

Criminal Justice Reform

Chart of the Day: Corrections Spending

• March 12, 2012

Today’s chart highlights the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ skyrocketing spending since 1980. This unsustainable growth is part of the four-alarm fire that threatens Pennsylvania’s fiscal house. For more…

Media

War on Welfare Fraud Raging

• March 12, 2012

Look out welfare swindlers, there’s a new sheriff in town and he aims to take you off the street and protect taxpayer money.  And that’s not just tough talk; he’s…

Media

Budget numbers often depend on whose numbers they are

• March 11, 2012

Media Hit

The Price of Battle

• March 11, 2012

Media Hit

PLCB Smells Like Teen Spirit

• March 9, 2012

Smell that, PLCB?  No, it’s not what the Rock’s been cookin’ or teen spirit, it’s the sweet smell of freedom wafting from places like Seattle today where Washington state begins the…

Media

Education

Does Underfunding Pensions “Help the Kids”?

• Nathan Benefield
• March 9, 2012

A letter I recently submitted to the Allentown Morning Call on state education subsidies and pension funding: The Morning Call’s article on state subsidies to school districts has…

Media

Public Union Democracy

Big Bucks for Government Union Bosses

• Priya Brannick
• March 8, 2012

Union bosses frequently criticize corporate CEOs and government leaders for supposedly taking home hefty pay at workers’ expense. Just this week, protesters picketed House Majority Whip Stan Saylor’s office…

Media

Of Mice, Barbie and Prevailing Wage

• March 8, 2012

In March of 1961, the Soviet Union shot a dog, some mice and a guinea pig into space.  Meanwhile, back in the U.S., nine black students from Mississippi…

Media

Criminal Justice Reform

Nurses’ Union Opposes Corrections Reform

• March 7, 2012

At yesterday’s House Appropriations Committee, Department of Corrections Sec. John Wetzel explained his roadmap to reducing corrections spending, now the third-largest department in the General Fund Budget. What was…

Media

Sounding spending alarm

• March 7, 2012

Media Hit

Public Union Democracy

Construction Workers Picket Rep. Saylor

• Priya Brannick
• March 6, 2012

No sooner did we release research documenting the iron grip of Pennsylvania’s labor unions on the commonwealth’s taxpayers than they obliged us with a case-in-point on union bullying tactics.

Media

Taxes & Economy

Who Wants to Pay More for Electricity?

• March 6, 2012

A new study by the Manhattan Institute confirms that forcing states to purchase renewable energy hurts taxpayers. Pennsylvania is one of the 29 states (as well as the…

Media

Public Union Democracy

How Unions Put the Squeeze on Pennsylvanians

• Priya Brannick
• March 5, 2012

We’ve talked before about how passing meaningful reform on anything from school choice to prevailing wage has been stymied not by a Democrat vs. Republican fight in Pennsylvania’s legislature, but…

Media

Taxes & Economy

Utility Rates Drop Again Thanks to Marcellus Drilling

• March 5, 2012

Natural gas drilling is continuing to provide significant savings for Pennsylvania families across the state through lower electricity and natural gas prices. Last week, PPL Electric Utilities, servicing eastern…

Media