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Education
President and CEO Charles Mitchell on Philadelphia’s Morning Answer with Chris Stigall
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Education
VP Josh Shapiro? Ad Spotlights Governor’s Failed Leadership
Read More: VP Josh Shapiro? Ad Spotlights Governor’s Failed Leadership
Education
Governor Shapiro’s Do-Nothing Record Makes Him a Perfect Fit for Vice President
Read More: Governor Shapiro’s Do-Nothing Record Makes Him a Perfect Fit for Vice President
Education
New Ad Highlights Shapiro’s Historic Ineffectiveness
Read More: New Ad Highlights Shapiro’s Historic Ineffectiveness
Another Poor State Economy Ranking for PA
The Beacon Hill Institute has released their State Competitiveness Report 2007. Pennsylvania ranks 34th out of 50, based on Government and Fiscal Policy, Security, Infrastructure, Human Resources, Technology,…
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Read More: Another Poor State Economy Ranking for PA
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Borrows Today, You Pay the Taxes Tomorrow
FreedomWorks calls for an end to Turnpike Commission borrowing (based on the increasingly unlikely promise of I-80 tolling) and pursuing public-private partnerships in transportation.
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Read More: Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Borrows Today, You Pay the Taxes Tomorrow
Superintendent Contracts
The Altoona Mirror has put together an extensive list of information on superintendent pay and contracts for all 501 school districts (at least the 447 they obtained information from).
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Biggest factor in rising health costs are the doctors themselves
Editorial in Dallas Morning News (by a doctor), details why health care costs to much (in part) – doctors order too many tests. The two reasons for this are…
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Read More: Biggest factor in rising health costs are the doctors themselves
Tax Free Christmas Presents
For those of you still shopping for Christmas gifts – here is a list of gift ideas, based on products that are exempt from the Pennsylvania Sales Tax: Food…
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Pension Payment Update
Update on the coming pension spike from the mid-year briefing report (page 103). Click on image for larger version.
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College affordability
Richard Vedder and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity have a new short report on the cost of college and state spending on higher education. Among the…
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52,000 New K-8 Students, 42,500 New K-8 Teachers.
Education Intelligence Agency Communique on the discrepancy between school enrollment and school hires: The National Education Association today released its annual report, Rankings and Estimates: Rankings of the…
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Read More: 52,000 New K-8 Students, 42,500 New K-8 Teachers.
E-mails show how Dems tied staffers’ bonuses to campaign work
Dennis Roddy and Tracie Mauriello have a detailed account of BonusGate among the House Democrats in the Post-Gazette, including analysis of several incriminating emails they obtained.
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Read More: E-mails show how Dems tied staffers’ bonuses to campaign work
Following Feds letter Gov Rendell says he prefers lease of Turnpike to tolling of PA/I-80
Toll Roads News on the recent communication from the Federal Highway Administration to the PA Turnpike Commission. The last line of the article says it all: “No amount of…
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Read More: Following Feds letter Gov Rendell says he prefers lease of Turnpike to tolling of PA/I-80
Turnpike CEO’s spin on I-80 tolling
Following the return of the PennDOT-PTC bid to toll I-80 (See our news release here), Turnpike CEO Brimmeier is in full spin mode. From the Post-Gazette:…
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GOP gets on The BOX
House Democratic Majority Leader Bill DeWeese spent some time on The BOX Program with Matt last weekend. Now Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and House Republican…
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Read More: GOP gets on The BOX
The Gospel of Paul
Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassell on the lessons of Ron Paul. Take note: “Compassionate conservatism” was a smart move on George W. Bush’s part, maybe even…
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Read More: The Gospel of Paul
REJECTED: Application to Toll I-80
Federal government sends Turnpike proposal to tax I-80 drivers back to the drawing board HARRISBURG, PA — Today, in response to the federal government’s rejection of plans to…
Press Release
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Feds Decline I-80 Toll Application (Told you so)
The FHWA has declined the state’s application to toll I-80. Paul Nussbuam in the Inquirer reports: Pennsylvania is seeking authority to toll I-80 under a federal pilot program…
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Taxpayer money for soccer?
Its looking more likely that taxpayers will buy a new soccer stadium. Paris Hilton Gov. Rendell, who never has enough money to hand out: “It seems to me there…
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Pa. Senate approves “Rendell Lite”
With an easy 44-5 vote, the PA Senate approved spending $650M over 10 years on alternative energy. With this vote, Senate Republicans have drawn a line in the sand:…
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Read More: Pa. Senate approves “Rendell Lite”
The Freshman Earmarkers
I’ve heard of the “freshmen fifteen”, but how about the freshmen $70 million? The six freshmen members of congress who have delivered the most in “earmarks” all hail from PA,…
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Turnpike Bond Attorney defends Turnpike Bonding
The Patriot News ran Tim Carson’s defense of Act 44 today. I pointed out his six inaccurate claims in an earlier blog post, including the hilarious knee-slapper “I…
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Read More: Turnpike Bond Attorney defends Turnpike Bonding
Congressman wants probe of Fumo link to I-80 toll bid
Congressman Peterson has asked the Inspector General at US DOT to look into the Sen. Fumo-Turnpike Commission connection, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Apparently he thinks that when an indicted…
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Read More: Congressman wants probe of Fumo link to I-80 toll bid
A Health-Insurance Solution
Merrill Matthews in the Wall Street Journal on John Shadegg’s Congressional proposal to allow individuals to purchase health insurance from any state. He uses the example of New Jersey…
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Read More: A Health-Insurance Solution