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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
Teacher pension hike could make tax cuts fleeting
Mark Guydish of the Times Leader focuses on how pension increases will outpace any property tax “relief” (i.e., shift) from Gov. Rendell’s historic Act 1 of 2006.
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Ending high school at 10th grade?
A new report calls for ending high school after 10th grade (students could then enter community college or have two years of college prep work, paying teachers a higher starting…
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Dubai firm to sell U.S. ports
Dubai Ports World is selling their US Ports operations to AIG. Here are all the changes planned after a year of the Dubai firm and several years of a…
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The Price is Wrong: Most Americans Significantly Underestimate Health Care Costs
A survey by HealthMarkets shows that prices doctors charge for the same procedure vary dramatically, an dmost consumer have little idea what the service costs.
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The Top 1% . . . of What?
Wall Street Journal article looks at the PR campaign against the “top 1%”. Two points to note: 1) Using tax return as a measure of income misses a lot…
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How to Help the Poor
John Stossel on how rich business leaders can help the poor… Great business creators like Duncan and Turner waste their skills if they just give money away.
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The Education Market Index
The Cato Institute release a report, The Education Market Index, which ranks states on the freedom and choice in their K-12 education markets. Pennsylvania ranks 9th, but only with…
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$150,000 LCB post for retired legislator
Philadelphia Inquirer reports on another public “servant” landing a cushy taxpayer-funded job…and one that was created for him!…
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How do state taxes effect entrepreneurship?
A report by the SBA Office of Advocacy looks at state taxes and the effect on entrepreneurship (measure as the number of sole proprietors). While much of their analysis…
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Bad ruling allowed teacher strikes
Read Simon Campbell’s editorial in Sunday’s Patriot News.
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Colin McNickle on the PNC welfare
In the 1980s and 90s, stories about “welfare queens” using tax dollars to buy Cadillacs led to a major overhaul of welfore in the mid-1990s. Maybe PNC’s role as a…
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School districts’ pension tab to rise
Charles Thompson reports in the Patriot News that school districts’ contributions to the pension system is going to rise by about $94 million next year. That is minor compared…
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In case you missed it …
The Evening Bulletin covered Wednesday’s Speaker Franklin Awards Gala.
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Specter gets GOP back on track
Sports Illustrated reports that Arlen Specter is trying to push the GOP back to the founding father’s principles of government, such as ensuring access to TV coverage of football.
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What about those with spending problems?
The Post-Gazette reports that the hotline for problem gamblers has now opened. The irony of legalizing gambling to (in part) fund services for problem gamblers isn’t lost on me,…
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State of the Unions
Stephen Moore in the Wall Street Journal on the Washington State case on whether workers are entitled to refuse union fees that will be used for political activity. The…
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Rendell: Make an offer for Pa. Turnpike
Yesterday, Governor Rendell announced that the state will be accepting bids for a lease on the Pennsylvania Turnpike through December 22. (See Philadelphia Inquirer story). A lease would require…
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Rendell to weigh turnpike funding
The Patriot News reports that Governor Rendell will announce his views on leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike. We at the Commonwealth Foundation maintain that Public-Private Parternships are the key to…
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Tax relief is illusion, panel says
The Morning Call reports on the phenomenon that is occuring all across Pennsylvania as school boards are forced to consider tax shifting. One member of the Northampton…
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National Health Care? We’re Halfway There
New York Times article highlights that fact that almost half of all Americans are covered by government health care (through Medicare, Medicaid and related program, and government employee’s health…
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Critic: Select house leader openly
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article on the need for transparency in leadership elections.
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