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Fairness
New Analysis Reveals Striking Partisanship of Government Union Spending
Government unions spent more than $33 million on political causes and only 5.2 percent of PAC contributions went to non-Democratic candidates. Harrisburg, Pa., April 16, 2025 — Government unions…
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Prosperity
Independent Fiscal Office Exposes Shapiro’s Overinflated Revenue Projections
Read More: Independent Fiscal Office Exposes Shapiro’s Overinflated Revenue Projections
Education
Senate Republicans School Shapiro Administration, Stand up for Students and Taxpayers
Read More: Senate Republicans School Shapiro Administration, Stand up for Students and Taxpayers
Commonwealth Foundation Announces Promotion of Elizabeth Stelle to Vice President of Policy
Read More: Commonwealth Foundation Announces Promotion of Elizabeth Stelle to Vice President of Policy
State bonus investigation a step ahead of shredders
Post-Gazette article on how the Attorney General’s investigation into Bonusgate is prevent House Democrats from recycling paper.
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New oil refineries needed
A commentary in the Washington Times notes that “A recent report shows the energy bill being negotiated between the House and the Senate would dramatically increase energy (including gasoline)…
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Turnpike Commission’s version of MiniTru
Turnpike Commission Vice-Chair and bond attorney Tim Carson in the Morning Call offers a rebuttal to the Brouillette-Gilroy Commentary. Carson’s editorial is as accurate as an Enron…
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The Tragedy of the Commons
John Stossel on the lost lesson of Thanksgiving: When the Pilgrims first settled the Plymouth Colony, they organized their farm economy along communal lines. The goal was to…
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Turnpike temerity: Stop the games!
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorial on the Turnpike Commission’s shenanigans.
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The Most Important Election of Our Time
What happens when there is a tie for election? Run off? Coin Flip? Supreme Court case? Duel to the death? Rock Paper Scissors? In the case of the Wormleysburg Assessors…
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Videos and Pictures from Speaker Franklin Awards Dinner
Videos from the Speaker Franklin Awards Dinner on YouTube View the Photos on Flickr…
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A new effort on open-records bill
Bill DeWeese is planning to push an amendment to the House open records bill, which would strengthen it, making it like the Senate bill, but applying to the…
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SEC investigation into Brimmeier?
Here is a letter to SEC regional director Daniel Hawkes from Sen. Jake Corman, and the response from the SEC director. Corman questions whether or not Pennsylvania Turnpike…
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Toll criticisms mount; Better solutions exist
Editorial from the Williamsport SunGazette. No, we didn’t write it for them. 🙂 “When it comes to problem-solving, the I-80 toll proposal is the same old Pennsylvania government solution…
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Pa. puts a heavy stake on I-80 tolls
Good summary of the I-80 tolling situation and the concerns regarding federal approval – including noting that mass transit would get $150 million less if I-80 is not tolled…
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EBay sellers pushed to get auctioneer licenses
In an absurd extension of state power, the Board of Auctioneer Examiners in the State Department is trying to shut down EBay sellers (those selling on behalf on others). See…
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State Small Business Climate Ranking
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council released its state rankings on Policy Environment for Entrepreneurship. Pennsylvania ranks a middling 24th (1 is best). The rankings incorporate several taxes, government…
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Where do judges come from?
Paul Jacob on Townhall.com on “merit selection” of judges in Missouri. So, just who makes up the Appellate Judicial Commission? How are they chosen? Good questions. The…
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Colossal Waste of Tax Dollars for Useless Education Study
Allegheny Institute Policy Brief on the “costing out study”. To further illustrate the wrongheadedness of the study, consider its recommendation for two Southwestern Pennsylvania school districts that…
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More Resources on Costing Out Studies
Courtroom Alchemy – Education Next: We reviewed results from professional judgment studies in eight states released from 2001 to 2003. All eight studies were conducted by…
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State’s Debt Totals More Than $105 Billion
Evening Bulletin article on our brief analysis of state debt.
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Leave commenting on PA Politics to me, Sandra Day O’Connor
Sandra Day O’Connor disses Russ Diamond in today’s Wall Street Journal, along with calling for appointing judges and government-run campaigns: These three reforms [I’ll discuss below] will help,…
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Commonwealth Foundation honors Scaife’s contributions
Story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about the 2007 Speaker Franklin Awards Dinner.
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Costing Out Study – Quick Numbers
I haven’t had a chance to look at the “costing out study” yet, which said we need spend $12,067 per-pupil to achieve an “adequate education” but here is the key…
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Thursday at 9 PM – Speaker Franklin Awards Dinner on PCN
PCN will air the Speaker Franklin Awards dinner – including speakers John Stossel, Ed Feulner, and Award recipient Richard Mellon Scaife – Thursday night at 9 pm. Future airings are…
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