Media

Government Accountability

BP-Funded PennFuture Attacks the Messenger

• Nathan Benefield
• July 13, 2010

PennFuture’s Jan Jarrett launches a tirade against the Commonwealth Foundation’s exposé of PennFuture’s lobbying. For starters, she repeatedly labels it a “smear campaign” (and even includes…

Media

Government Accountability

Pennsylvania’s Million Dollar Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying Failure

• July 13, 2010

From 1998-2002, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania spent no money on lobbying the federal government (although independent agencies – the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the Higher Education Assistance Agency –…

Media

Regulation

Pet Projects Lap Up Funds

• July 13, 2010

State Legislators awarding funds to pet projects flies in the faces of Pennsylvanians who want their state to eliminate a deficit before tapping revenue for pet projects. Capitolwire (subscription)…

Media

State Feeds Addiction by Creating A New Bureaucracy

• July 12, 2010

Pennsylvania will soon be introduced to a new state bureaucracy. As lawmakers were finishing up the state budget, legislation was overwhelmingly approved and later signed by the Governor, to…

Media

Government Fraud Continues in LIHEAP

• July 12, 2010

Pennsylvania is rather familiar with welfare fraud, and apparently, we haven’t learned our lesson yet. The latest example of welfare fraud stems from the Low Income Home Energy…

Media

Report: Colleges key to local, state economy

• July 12, 2010

Media Hit

New state agencies in the works

• July 12, 2010

Media Hit

Pa. set to put wine in easier reach

• July 12, 2010

Media Hit

Regulation

Is. Rep. Turzai a Drug Pusher?

• Nathan Benefield
• July 12, 2010

In another over-the-top criticism of liquor store privatization, Don Wert of Pennsylvanians Concerned about Alcohol Problems attacked Rep. Mike Turzai’s proposal to license private stores to sell wine and…

Media

Pa. needs better balancing act

• July 11, 2010

Media Hit

Pennsylvania pension bill’s aid slight next year

• July 10, 2010

Media Hit

Taxes & Economy

Tom Corbett is Right on Unemployment

• Nathan Benefield
• July 10, 2010

Yesterday, PA Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Corbett made remarks about how unemployment benefits result in higher higher unemployment, recorded by Scott Detrow, and picked up on by Capitol Ideas,…

Media

Charters vs. Private School Choice

• July 10, 2010

Martha Woodall, in her recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, notes that Philadelphia parents are craving more school choice options. In a new Pew Charitable Trusts study, 62%…

Media

Government Accountability

Gubernatorial Candidates Criticize RCAP

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 9, 2010

In a somewhat welcome surprise, both candidates for governor (Onorato and Corbett) criticized Rendell’s RCAP projects in the budget amounting to some $300 million dollars. The political legacy projects are the…

Media

Real Reform Needed

• July 9, 2010

Media Hit

Taxes & Economy

The Benefits of Lower Tobacco Taxes

• July 9, 2010

Gov. Rendell hailed the budget, as he signed it into law on Tuesday. However, Rendell isn’t all smiles– the Governor lamented the fact that lawmakers failed to increase…

Media

Education

Unethical Philly Superintendent Leeching Taxpayers Dry

• July 9, 2010

Last school year, taxpayers gave Philadelphia School District Superintendent Arlene Ackerman $65,000 (in addition to her salary of $325,000, which could be close to $500,000 next year). But…

Media

Money for mystery company

• July 8, 2010

Media Hit

Gov. Rendell says $20M for Specter, Murtha projects is imperative

• July 8, 2010

Media Hit

Government Accountability

Pennsylvania Leads in Spending Taxpayer Money to Lobby Congress

• Nathan Benefield
• July 8, 2010

A new analysis from Open Secrets finds that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (i.e., our state government) led all states in spending taxpayer money on federal lobbying in the first…

Media

Government Accountability

PennFuture’s Hypocritcal, Unethical, and Possibly Illegal Lobbying

• July 8, 2010

Harrisburg, PA – The Commonwealth Foundation today released a report on the activities and claims of PennFuture (a.k.a. Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future), the organization founded by current Pennsylvania Secretary…

Press Release