Media

Governor’s Proposed Budget Means Cuts for Education & Welfare

• February 7, 2012

Media Hit

Corbett’s budget mostly holds line on school spending

• February 7, 2012

Media Hit

Education

Budget Cuts Do Not Equal Tuition Hikes

• Elizabeth Stelle
• February 7, 2012

Last year we highlighted waste in public higher education, such as Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s golf simulator with 52 different golf courses and Penn State’s decision to construct new…

Media

State Budget

Stop the Fiscal Inferno!

• February 7, 2012

Burn, baby, burn, it’s a fiscal inferno! Okay, perhaps that’s not exactly how the old disco song goes, but that’s certainly how some politicians are singing it in Harrisburg.

Media

Taxes & Economy

Stop the Job-Killing Marcellus Tax!!!

• February 7, 2012

A job-killing Marcellus Shale tax is being rammed through the legislature right now! With great speed and little transparency, House Bill 1950 was turned into a job-killing tax, littered with…

Media

Will Gov. Corbett cut public education in budget again?

• February 7, 2012

Media Hit

Pennsylvania to Vote on Permitting Counties to Tax Natural Gas

• February 7, 2012

Media Hit

Taxes & Economy

Job-Killing Marcellus Energy TAX Emerges

• February 6, 2012

A new TAX on Marcellus Shale appears on the horizon. Below is a summary of the behind-closed-doors deal struck by a handful of legislators and staff, according to a memo…

Media

Welfare

Even Big Government Advocates Understand the Welfare Trap

• Elizabeth Stelle
• February 6, 2012

Big government lobbyists and CF don’t agree on much with welfare, but funnily enough, even they acknowledge that Pennsylvania’s welfare system keeps people in poverty. It [a food…

Media

Taxes & Economy

Largest Growth in Pennsylvania Private Sector Jobs Since 1999

• Nathan Benefield
• February 3, 2012

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has updated their employment data by state through the end of 2011 (subject to revision). Looking at December job data (“not seasonally adjusted”) over…

Media

Inmates collect unemployment from behind bars

• February 3, 2012

Media Hit

Criminal Justice Reform

Is State Corrections Spending Sustainable?

• February 2, 2012

The chart below shows the unsustainable growth in Pennsylvania state corrections spending and inmate population. The criminal justice system’s goal shouldn’t be to simply lock up as many people…

Media

Welfare

Yes, Welfare is for Poor People

• Nathan Benefield
• February 2, 2012

The Department of Public Welfare announced its plan to impose an asset test for food stamp recipients. The proposal would limit food stamps to most households with under $5,500…

Media

Education

Happy Digital Learning Day

• Priya Brannick
• February 1, 2012

Today is national Digital Learning Day, during which groups across the country will commemorate how technology is changing education for the better. So what exactly IS digital learning? Digital…

Media

Experts disagree on impact of gambling revenue on school tax bills

• February 1, 2012

Media Hit

Criminal Justice Reform

Criminal Justice Reforms to Reduce Spending & Crime

• February 1, 2012

Change is on the horizon for Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections – now the third-largest state agency in the General Fund budget – which along with state debt, pensions…

Media

Regulation

Corporate Welfare Not Needed to Get a Cracker

• Nathan Benefield
• January 31, 2012

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Pennsylvania lawmakers are pushing a special tax deal to attract a “cracker” plant to the state. The proposed Shell cracker—which breaks down natural gas…

Media

Education

Not a Joke: Learn from Louisiana

• Charles Mitchell
• January 31, 2012

Here in Pennsylvania, we like to think we’re better than states like Louisiana.  Those folks used to have slaves, but our founder was a Quaker.  They’re poor, but we’re rich. …

Media

Taxes & Economy

The “Facts” on Food Stamps

• Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
• January 31, 2012

City Paper contributor Daniel Denvir tries to diminish the impact of our Philadelphia Inquirer column on food stamps by offering “facts” in rebuttal. Unfortunately, most of these “facts”…

Media

Pennsylvania needs to curb food stamp abuse

• January 31, 2012

Media Hit

Taxes & Economy

Debunking Severance Tax Rhetoric

• January 30, 2012

Here’s my letter to the editor in the Public Opinion responding to Matthew Major’s fact-deficient editorial on drilling: Matthew Major’s editorial on corporate welfare and best drilling policies…

Media