Media

Government Accountability

Will Fumo Conviction Deter Public Corruption?

• Nathan Benefield
• July 15, 2009

Alex Charyna mocks Governor Rendell’s ridiculous statement that Sen. Vince Fumo (sentenced to 55 months in prison, or about 12 days for each felony conviction), should only spend…

Media

Health Care

Federal Government, M.D.

• July 15, 2009

President Obama’s $1.5 trillion health care plan would make health insurance a “right” for all Americans. The proposed plan empowers the federal government to ensure that employers provide insurance…

Media

Who is Blogging on CF

• Nathan Benefield
• July 15, 2009

Here are some recent blogs linking to, quoting, or citing the Commonwealth Foundation in the past week: PA WaterCooler links to our post on the Auditor General’s solutions to…

Media

State Budget

Pennsylvania House Democrats Budget, By the Numbers

• Nathan Benefield
• July 15, 2009

As we have done with Gov. Rendell’s proposed budget, the Senate passed budget, and the House GOP proposed budget amendment, here is a breakdown of the proposed…

Media

Time to End Direct Higher Education Subsidies

• July 14, 2009

Harrisburg, PA — The Commonwealth Foundation applauds the Pennsylvania House Democrats’ proposed elimination of higher education funding in the state budget, forcing lawmakers to re-examine the state’s role in funding…

Press Release

Pennsylvania’s Flawed Film Tax Credit

• July 14, 2009

HARRISBURG, PA — The Commonwealth Foundation today released Pennsylvania’s Flawed Film Tax Credit: What the ERA study won’t tell you, a policy brief by economists and adjunct scholars Pavel Yakovlev…

Press Release

Education

Will “State-Related” Universities Get Stimulus Funding, No Stimulus Funding, or No Funding at All?

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 14, 2009

On June 26th the Governor submitted his application for federal stabilization funds, including the following phrase:”The Commonwealth’s “state-related universities” are excluded from all calculations for purposes of the State Fiscal…

Media

State Budget

PA House GOP Budget by the Numbers

• Nathan Benefield
• July 14, 2009

The Pennsylvania House Republicans unveiled their state budget proposal Friday, to be added as an amendment if and when a budget bill is brought to the House floor. As we…

Media

State Budget

PA Budget Craziness

• Nathan Benefield
• July 13, 2009

Alright, I’m still trying to figure out what the Pennsylvania House Democrats did to the state budget proposal today in the Appropriations Committee. But here’s the basics: They took…

Media

Keystone Opportunity Zones Fail to Deliver Economic Prosperity

• July 13, 2009

On Thursday, the Legislative Budget and Finance committee heard testimony evaluating the effectiveness of the Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) program. The KOZ is an “economic revitalization” program that provides…

Media

Rendell’s spokesman called me a “flaming a–hole”

• Matthew Brouillette
• July 13, 2009

Governor Ed Rendell held a news conference today to continue his campaign to raise taxes on working Pennsylvanians. We showed up with our billboards saying “Yes, We Can!”…

Media

A Real Budget Solution!

• July 13, 2009

HARRISBURG, PA — Today, the Commonwealth Foundation unveiled a new proposal to help generate revenue to fill the state budget deficit—selling statuettes of Gov. Ed Rendell. Last week, Gov. Rendell…

Press Release

Education

Rendell Administration Continues to Lie on Education Funding

• Nathan Benefield
• July 13, 2009

Pennsylvania Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak continues the administration’s scare tactics and ininaccurate propaganda claiming that the $27.3 billion PA House budget would force schools to increase property…

Media

Taxes & Economy

Stop the PA Rip-off: End Rate Caps

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 13, 2009

Democratic candidate for Governor Tom Knox just launched a website to promote the extension of electric rate caps. The site, stoptheparipoff.com, ignores the cost of extending rate caps…

Media

State Budget

Gov. Rendell: “State Workers Should Put a Statue of Me on Their Mantles”

• Nathan Benefield
• July 11, 2009

In each of the past seven years, under the leadership of Gov. Rendell, Pennsylvania has failed to pass a state budget by the start of the fiscal year (July 1),…

Media

Education

“Tax You More Bus Tour” Hits Speed Bump

• July 11, 2009

The “Tax You More Bus Tour” is still puttering along in the taxpayer-funded luxury bus – or at least it was scheduled to. The Department of Education twice attempted…

Media

Health Care

Socialized Health-Care Not Paying Off

• July 10, 2009

There have been many claims that medical costs have led to bankruptcies across the United States. As a result, advocates of socialized medicine argue that the mixed public-private health…

Media

CF Applauds House Republicans’ Budget

• July 10, 2009

HARRISBURG, PA — The Commonwealth Foundation today applauded state House Republicans for offering a fiscally responsible state budge proposal.   “The House Republicans’ proposal shows that ‘yes, we can‘ balance…

Press Release

State Budget

Obituary for the Pennsylvania Income Tax Hike

• Nathan Benefield
• July 10, 2009

Rendell’s personal income tax hike plan is dead, declared PA House Republicans yesterday.  Brad Bumsted has the obituary in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Despite not having…

Media

State Budget

PA Auditor General Offers Ways to Balance Budget – Without Tax Hike

• Nathan Benefield
• July 9, 2009

Add one more Democrat to the list of those who don’t think we should raise the state income tax – Auditor General Jack Wagner has release a series of…

Media

State Budget

Balancing the Budget: Another Rendell Lie?

• Nathan Benefield
• July 9, 2009

The Rendell administration has been saying for weeks that the budget passed by the Senate in May (SB 850) is “$1.5 billion out of balance”.   As John Micek…

Media