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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
Tax as you go.
Wall Street Journal piece on Nancy Pelosi’s “PayGo” plan, which would prevent tax cuts but wouldn’t restrain spending.
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The Right Minimum Wage: $0
George Will in the Washington Post on why the nostalgia for New Deal era Big Government proposals – such as the minimum wage – are as bad an idea…
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Some big bills are coming due
Clarke Thomas in the Post-Gazette on the big bills (and potential tax increases to fund them) looming for state and local governments in transporation, employee pensions and health care,…
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Bush: Time for a New Course
With Democrats in control in Congress, President Bush has decided to practice fiscal conservatism. In a letter to the Wall Street Journal, he promises to keep spending in check…
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Minimum Wage Impact
Coverage of the new Pennsylvania minimum wage and its impact on local businesses in the Carlisle Sentinel and the News Item. While local businesses feel the pinch and…
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Legislative Reform on Tap?
Regardless of who is elected Speaker of the House (see here), both the Pennsylvania House and Senate have promised to take up reforms to make the legislative process more…
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Will leasing PA Turnpike be a 21st-century taxpayer bargain?
Will leasing PA Turnpike be a 21st-century taxpayer bargain?By MARC LEVYAssociated Press Writer HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP, Dec. 30) – Let the bidding begin. With lots of private money looking…
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Minimum wage: The rising tide that lifts all wages?
Carlisle Sentinel on PA’s higher minimum wage. Alhtough, our study is quoted, the context is not fully given. Our study does indeed claim that jobs will be lost; however,…
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… but lease would bring efficiencies to turnpike
Nate Benefield in today’s Morning Call.
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Editorial: Taxpayers funding legislators’ retirement
DelcoTimes weighs in on the looming pension crisis.
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Pension gap fix may not be easy
Part 4 of Mark Scolforo’s series.
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Federal income tax data
In response to the commenter on my last post here are some numbers on federal income tax receipts: for 2000 and 2004 from the Tax Foundation and 2006…
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The Top 1% Pay 35%
Wall Street Journal article on how much “the rich” pay in taxes.
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Health tab for public Pa. retirees nears $34 billion
AP Story on the liability for health coverage for retired state workers. Preliminary estimates are that state taxpayers will have to contribute $1.125 billion annually to pay off the…
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To lease or not to lease
From Capitolwire.com (subscription): While Gov. Ed Rendell waits for a Dec. 22 deadline for private firms to submit “expressions of interest” to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike, public policy…
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Leasing of turnpike worth consideration
Reading Eagle Editorial ponders a turnpike lease.
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Unless spending can be curbed, real tax relief will remain elusive
Patriot News Editorial notes that addressing the spending side of the equation is the key to property tax relief. They also note that the looming crisis in school…
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Gambling board perks add up to $25M
No wonder the Gaming Control Board is asking for a bigger budget: Brad Bumsted and Andrew Conte expose the waste on perks, in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
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Pension crisis on the horizon
The Scranton Times-Tribune looks at the looming crisis in our state pension systems, and how lawmakers bolstering pension benefits exacerbated this crisis. Also, Mark Scolforo of the AP with…
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Health care costs drive up Port Authority bill
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that 2,600 RETIRED government (Port Authority of Allegheny County) employees get to vote on CURRENT contracts! Giving the effective power of veto to FORMER employees has…
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Leasing the Turnpike
Sunday’s Patriot News looks at the potential terms of a turnpike lease, and the affect potential limits and mandates would have on the price of a lease. Also, check…
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