State Budget

Taxing An Infant Industry to Death

  • May 13, 2009

Home to the first oil well in the United States, Pennsylvania has returned to the drilling scene in recent years, looking to tap into an estimated 50 trillion cubic feet…

Commentary

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Taxes & Economy

Obama’s New Business Tax Scheme

  • Nathan Benefield
  • May 4, 2009

President Obama is set to unveil a plan to crack down on cabinet members corporations that, in his view, are avoiding paying their share in taxes.  Basically the plan…

Media

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Education

PHEAA: More Wasteful Spending Exposed

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 5, 2009

On Monday the CEO of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation was fired for excessive travel expenses. Michael Hershock (former head of the PHEAA) spent thousands…

Media

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Government Accountability

Pennsylvania Legislature’s growing girth

  • Nathan Benefield
  • February 9, 2009

Robert Swift has a good article on the “professionalization” of the Pennsylvania legislature, including  breaking down the cost of a legislator:   At $78,314, the annual salary…

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Residents Still “Movin Out” of Pennsylvania

  • Nathan Benefield
  • December 23, 2008

The Census Bureau released the latest annual population estimates.  The trends for Pennsylvania remain much the same: Pennsylvania grew by 0.2% between July 2007 and July 2008 – ranking…

Media

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Education

Why Pennsylvania leads the nation in teacher walkouts

  • Nathan Benefield
  • December 22, 2008

The Wall Street Journal features an article on teacher strikes in Pennsylvania, noting that the Keystone State leads the nation in school employees strikes. The piece cites a…

Media

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Regulation

Cigarette Taxes Encourage Smuggling

  • Nathan Benefield
  • December 5, 2008

A new report from the Mackinac Center (full 99 page report here) estimates the effect of cigarette taxes on smuggling of cigarettes (both “commercial” and “casual” – i.e.

Media

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Taxes & Economy

Free markets are under attack again

  • Nathan Benefield
  • November 12, 2008

Matt Welch has an excellent article on Reason Magazine on the financial bailout and the debate over the role of government and the free market: President George…

Media

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Health Care

Is choosing your health care plan dangerous?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • October 10, 2008

Michael Cannon’s latest commentary on health care reform is a must read: What I saw next was even scarier: The presidential debate, where Barack Obama told me how…

Media

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