Media

Education

Is Preschool for All a Good Idea?

• Nathan Benefield
• October 9, 2009

Chester Finn of the Fordham Foundation has a good article in the latest Education Next on the movement for “preschool for all.” Finn is generally supportive of government…

Media

Health Care

My Message to Congress on Health Care Reform

• Nathan Benefield
• October 9, 2009

I just uploaded my video message to Congress on health care reform.  This is part of a project of the National Taxpayers Union, who is preparing DVDs…

Media

Local real estate taxes could rise to make up for underfunded state pension plans

• October 8, 2009

Media Hit

State Budget

100 Days Without a Budget and We’re Still Alive!

• Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
• October 8, 2009

The budget impasse has been analogized and analyzed to death in the past couple months. It’s rich fodder for politico pundits and reporters. Some have compared it to a…

Media

State Budget

PA Budget Deal Means Pledge-Breaking

• Elizabeth Stelle
• October 8, 2009

Today GrassrootsPA features the five Pennsylvania lawmakers who signed, then violated, Americans For Tax Reform’s pledge to “oppose and vote against any and all efforts to raise taxes“.

Media

Government Accountability

Shrink or Grow the Size of Legislature

• Nathan Benefield
• October 8, 2009

NCSL’s blog, The Thicket, has a post up about debating reducing or growing the size of the legislature. Pennsylvania serves on the shrinking size, as that is an oft-cited…

Media

A Budget Thought

• October 8, 2009

Media Hit

State Budget

PA House Votes to De-fund ACORN

• Nathan Benefield
• October 7, 2009

In addition to concurring with the tax hikes previously approved by the Senate, the Pennsylvania House voted earlier today 157-42 in favor of an amendment to HB 1407…

Media

Who’s Blogging About Us

• Nathan Benefield
• October 7, 2009

Here are some recent blogs mentions Commonwealth Foundation work: Open Market, The Truth about PLAs, and The Truth About EFCA all comment on the…

Media

Education

Conservative College Professors: An Endangered Species

• October 7, 2009

Robert Maranto, a former professor of political science at Villanova, recently published a new book through AEI Press, The Politically Correct University, which highlights the scarcity of conservative and…

Media

Regulation

More Info on What WAMS are in PA Budget

• Elizabeth Stelle, Nathan Benefield
• October 7, 2009

The news service Capitolwire (subscription) has new information about the debate on WAMs in the budget, including a secret memo – disclaimed by all sides – explaining which…

Media

Taxes & Economy

Dollar’s Dramatic Free Fall – Coming Soon!

• October 7, 2009

The title might be too much to stomach for some, but such is the tone of Fred Kingery’s commentary, published by the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City…

Media

Re-examining public welfare spending

• October 7, 2009

Media Hit

State Budget

House Democrats Help Identify More WAMs

• Nathan Benefield
• October 6, 2009

PA House Democrat leader Todd Eachus and Appropriations Chair Dwight Evans sent a letter to Gov. Rendell decrying the inclusion of $12 million in WAMs in the latest Senate…

Media

Government Accountability

The ACORN Hangs From Many Branches

• October 6, 2009

The U.S. House Republican Committee on Oversight and Government Reform recently released an in depth investigative report on the activities of the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, more…

Media

State Budget

The Totally Different Pennsylvania Budget Deal

• Nathan Benefield
• October 6, 2009

Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Senate decided they were going to go their own way on the state budget, angered at House Democrat’s…

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State Budget

Realities of Severance Tax

• October 6, 2009

On Friday, the Pennsylvania House passed a tax bill with numerous tax hikes (and a few cuts).

Media

It’s Time To Re-examine Public Welfare Spending

• October 6, 2009

Media Hit

Anger at impasse brings budget ideas

• October 6, 2009

Media Hit

Regulation

Arnold Kling’s Diagnosis of the Financial Crisis

• October 6, 2009

In his paper titled NOT WHAT THEY HAD IN MIND: A History of Policies that Produced the Financial Crisis of 2008, Arnold Kling provides historical context and analysis to…

Media

State Budget

The Best And Worst Ways To Eliminate A Budget Deficit

• Matthew Brouillette
• October 5, 2009

John Nothdurft of The Heartland Institute wrote this last February…  Anybody listening in Harrisburg? Legislatures in at least 39 states will have to take steps by the end of…

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