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Taxes & Economy

Federal Stimulus Rebate Calculator

• Nathan Benefield
• April 29, 2008

Since federal “stimulus” tax rebates will start going out electronically this week (and checks will be mailed in the next few weeks), I thought I’d repost this calculator for…

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Education

Tails. You’re Fired!

• Nathan Benefield
• April 28, 2008

Most everyone know that public school teachers get paid, tranfered, hired and fired in accordance with union-developed rules of seniority. But what happens when that seniority is equal? Answer:…

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Taxes & Economy

PA Leadership Conference Round-up

• Nathan Benefield
• April 28, 2008

The PA Leadership Conference this past weekend was a great success. Of the keynote speakers, I thought Michael’s Steele gave the best (and funniest) spech (the videos will be…

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Taxes & Economy

Pittsburgh-area man arrested for complaining about government

• Nathan Benefield
• April 28, 2008

A Bridgeville man was arrested for harassment for doing too much complaining to, and about, his government officials. “In section 2709 of the Pennsylvania crimes code, dealing with…

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Taxes & Economy

The Truth About Oil and Gasoline

• Nathan Benefield
• April 25, 2008

API has produced a nifty primer on oil, gasoline, and other energy sources. Among the interesting graphs: where does each dollar spent on gasoline go (pg 9 in the…

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Taxes & Economy

State and Local Business Tax Report

• Nathan Benefield
• April 25, 2008

The Council On State Taxation has released their 2008 summary of state and local business taxes, with the national picture, state-specific and industry-specific data. Click here for the summary…

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Education

President Bush Praises EITC

• Nathan Benefield
• April 24, 2008

From the REACH Foundation: President Bush spoke about the need to make a good education for every child a national priority. The President then highlighted Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit…

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Education

The Economics of College

• Nathan Benefield
• April 24, 2008

Thomas Sowell has a three part (so far) series on Townhall.com on the economics of college: Part 1 covers the perverse incentives of taxpayer subsidies for college,Part…

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Education

School Choice Saves

• April 24, 2008

What percentage of the $22 Billion taxpayers spent on public schools went to Pennsylvania cyber schools? A.

Press Release

Government Accountability

Show Me the Spending, PA

• Nathan Benefield
• April 24, 2008

Sen. Browne has introduced legislation that would create a free, online database of state spending (contracts and grants over $25,000) along with details about individual line items in the…

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Taxes & Economy

Election Reflection from Democracy Rising

• Nathan Benefield
• April 23, 2008

Tim Potts over at Democracry Rising has an analysis of the election that features a roundup of results, (Grassroots PA has the full rundown), but also raises the…

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Taxes & Economy

Tax Freedom Day: The Music Video

• Nathan Benefield
• April 23, 2008

Here is a something a bit lighter for anyone with an election day hangover: Tax Freedom Day: The Music Video The national Tax Freedom Day is today, as calculated…

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Government Accountability

One of these people is going to be president

• Nathan Benefield
• April 22, 2008

Jonathan Garthwaite points out that the three leading presidential candidates all made their last attempt to reach out to the “common man” in advance of today’s PA primary by…

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Education

The teachers’ union still hates school choice

• Nathan Benefield
• April 22, 2008

The head of the PSEA, the largest teacher union in the state, takes me to task for in a letter to the editor for proposing “private school vouchers” as…

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Health Care

Q& A on State Health Care Reform

• Nathan Benefield
• April 21, 2008

The NCPA has a new report on State Health Care Reform: Key Questions and Answers, highlighting many of the key policy questions, including “Does universal health coverage lower health…

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Taxes & Economy

The Truth about Milton Friedman

• Nathan Benefield
• April 21, 2008

David Henderson has a detailed reponse on the Cato-at-liberty blog to a New York Times article on the economic legacy of Milton Friedman. The Times piece presented the…

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Government Accountability

The Keystone Primary Stakes

• Nathan Benefield
• April 21, 2008

Michael Barone has a interesting column in the Wall Street Journal about the Pennsylvania primary, with a good, quick synopisis of Pennsylvania’s political history.

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Taxes & Economy

Flat Tax vs. Fair Tax

• Nathan Benefield
• April 21, 2008

Below is a video from the Center from Freedom and Prosperity on proposals for an overall of the tax system. We covered both the flat tax and fair…

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South Carolina’s Contender

• Nathan Benefield
• April 21, 2008

The Wall Street Journal had a piece on Saturday on the the Vice-Presidential prospects of Mark Sanford. I point it out not because my phone is ringing off the…

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Education

Wisconsin votes to protect cyber schools

• Nathan Benefield
• April 20, 2008

As we had noted previously that cyber schools in Wisconsin are also facing attack (primarily from the teachers unions), I thought I would pass along this story Pennsylvania…

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Education

Which special interest is closest to state capitols?

• Nathan Benefield
• April 20, 2008

Education school Jay Greene launched a new blog on education policy with post on the proximity of teacher unions to state capitols. If you stand on…

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