Staff

Public Union Democracy

Taxpayer Tornado Sweeps Through Kansas, Union Party Swept Away

• Charles Mitchell
• August 8, 2012

What’s one of the few things stranger than a CF staffer reading the Huffington Post? Easy.  A CF staffer reading on the Huffington Post about a great victory for the…

Media

Government Accountability

Reverse Robin Hoods Charged at DPW

• August 8, 2012

Earlier this year when CF took on welfare fraud and abuse within the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, angry e-mails, phone calls and adverse editorial rhetoric came pouring in, calling…

Media

Health Care

State Officials Give Medicaid Expansion a Thumbs Down

• Elizabeth Stelle
• August 7, 2012

Is expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act a good idea for states? According to state budget directors across the country, the answer is a resounding no.  A recent survey conducted by…

Media

Regulation

Liquor Lies Dropping Like Flies

• August 6, 2012

State-run liquor store advocates are watching as their most commonly trumpeted arguments drop like flies in recent weeks. First there’s the debunking of the erroneous claim that government-run liquor…

Media

Education

PSEA Blows Smoke Over Political Spending

• Priya Brannick
• August 6, 2012

School board members at the West Chester Area School District are negotiating a new contract with teachers, and rightly questioning why the district deducts union dues from teachers’ paychecks, when…

Media

Looking for new lifeline: Elimination of state assistance program has some scrambling

• August 6, 2012

Media Hit

Pa. group takes cues from Club

• August 5, 2012

Media Hit

Welfare

Attorney General Chases More Welfare Thieves

• Nathan Benefield
• August 3, 2012

In another example of those employed in the welfare system (allegedly) getting rich off the poor through fraud, Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly has charged two Delaware County DPW employees, Cynthia Lewis and Ivan…

Media

Education

Opportunity Scholarships Now Open for Business in Pennsylvania

• Nathan Benefield
• August 2, 2012

The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development issued new guidelines regarding the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) program. Businesses can begin applying for tax credits on August 8.

Media

Taxes & Economy

Welfare Anti-Fraud Measures Earn Gold Medal

• Nathan Benefield
• August 1, 2012

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare received an award for its recent efforts to curb waste and fraud.  The Council of State Governments gave DPW a 2012 Innovations Award…

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Regulation

Ready for Higher Liquor Prices?

• July 31, 2012

The floodgates have opened on the Lords of Liquor’s most infamous (and erroneous) claim that government-run liquor stores bring in lots of cash for the state. In reality, the PLCB…

Media

Education

Superintendent Shocked Students Splitting Skidding Schools

• July 31, 2012

Across Pennsylvania, newspapers are telling the celebratory story of parents and students formerly stuck in failing and violent public schools who are taking immediate advantage of new opportunity scholarships that…

Media

Regulation

Calling Shenanigans on Liquor Union Bosses

• July 30, 2012

Pennsylvania’s liquor store union bosses have been called out by Dr. Antony Davies, an associate professor at Duquesne University, and James Harrigan, a fellow of the Institute of…

Media

Taxes & Economy

Olympic Lessons for Gold Medal Citizens

• July 30, 2012

When you watch as much Olympics coverage as I do, you can learn a lot: like the size of swimming prodigy Missy Franklin’s feet (13), the weight of the tires…

Media

Taxes & Economy

How Low Can Frackaphobes Go?

• July 30, 2012

Winston Churchill once quipped that, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” If so, then natural gas drilling myths…

Media

Katrina Currie: Let’s finish the job of reforming Pennsylvania’s corrections policies

• July 29, 2012

Topics on this page Pennsylvania…

Media Hit

Welfare

Welfare Reforms Save $173 Million

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 27, 2012

Tucked away in the blizzard of budget bills at the end of June were some significant welfare reforms that not only save money, but empower the poor. Reforms in the…

Media

State Budget

Pennsylvania Welfare Changes will Save an Estimated $173 Million

• Elizabeth Stelle
• July 27, 2012

Act 80 of 2012 amends the Pennsylvania Welfare Code to include several reforms to Department of Public Welfare spending in the 2012-13 state budget. Act 80 will save state taxpayers…

Memo

This cyber school study ignored key details

• July 27, 2012

Media Hit

Katrina Currie | In corrections reform, don’t fire arrows without arrowheads

• July 27, 2012

Media Hit

Education

Cyber Schools Under Unfair Attack

• Priya Brannick
• July 27, 2012

Last week, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on Pennsylvania’s cyber schools advanced some common myths and omitted some critical facts about how these popular schools do academically, and how they are…

Media