Education
Has Penn State “bin Laden” with Speech-Squelching Policies?
Our friends at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) say yes: The announcement late last evening that U.S. forces had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan…
Media
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Property Taxpayer Referendum
Good afternoon. I am Nathan Benefield, Director of Policy Research for the Commonwealth Foundation. We are a nonprofit, independent public policy research and educational institute based in Harrisburg. I would…
Testimony
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Tax on Tag Tough to Take
From the “You can’t make this stuff up file,” nanny state legislators from New York have finally found a way to tax toughness by enacting a punitive tax…
Media
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Understanding the Pennsylvania State Budget
Pennsylvania's total state operating budget for FY 2010-11 is approximately $65.4 billion-or $5,193 for every man, woman and child in the commonwealth. This policy brief looks at the entire state…
Fact Sheet
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Is State Bankruptcy a Solution?
What do New York, California and Illinois have in common? They are in fiscal disarray and may soon be asking for a bailout from Congress. Bailing out these states would…
Media
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What the PHEAA is Going On?
The Patriot News reports that former Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) boss Michael Hershock got $200,000 in a settlement over his 2009 firing. To recap, he was fired…
Media
Read More: What the PHEAA is Going On?Regulation
Joel Klein Gets the Public Pension Problem
Joel Klein has an excellent article on teacher pensions in today’s Wall Street Journal: Whether the investment returns are there or not, defined-benefit pensions require the government to…
Media
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Cigarette Taxes Increase Crime
Our friends at the Mackinac Center have released a study on the smuggling of cigarettes due to high cigarette taxes. While politicians often tout raising taxes as a tool to…
Media
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Unemployment Compensation Time Bomb Set to Explode
Unemployment woes are back in the news. With benefit extensions up for debate, a much bigger unemployment problem is on the horizon. Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation fund is bankrupt, but…
Media
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