Government Accountability

Open the Books on Government Spending

• Elizabeth Stelle
• September 4, 2008

Imagine a website where you could instantly find information about the salary of your legislator or the amount of money your school district spends on textbooks. Think of a database…

Commentary

Taxes & Economy

Texas Is Fed Up With Corn Ethanol

• Nathan Benefield
• August 12, 2008

Texas Governor Rick Perry in the Wall Street Journal on why the EPA needs to suspend the mandate to produce more ethanol – which is, according to Perry and…

Media

Government Accountability

A Call For Reform

• July 17, 2008

HARRISBURG, PA — The Commonwealth Foundation joined Sen. Jeff Piccola, Rep. Eugene DePasquale, and several other lawmakers and reform groups in calling for a Special Session to address important legislative…

Press Release

Taxes & Economy

Electricity Deregulation in Pennsylvania

• Elizabeth Stelle
• June 23, 2008

In 2010, PPL rate caps will expire, which is expected to result in a sudden rise in the price of electricity. Ending government regulation signals an end to artificial…

Media

Taxes & Economy

Getting Better, Not Bitter, in Pennsylvania

• Nathan Benefield
• April 18, 2008

WebMemo from the Heritage Foundation about whether Pennsylvanians should be “bitter” over all the jobs “lost”. I would point readers to my commentary on Prospering in Pennsylvania, but…

Media

Government Accountability

Brouillette to moderate forum on P3s in transportation

• Nathan Benefield
• April 4, 2008

Matthew J. Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation will moderate a forum on public-private partnerships and the potential role they can play in helping Pennsylvania meet its transportation…

Media

Public Union Democracy

Texas v. Ohio

• Nathan Benefield
• March 3, 2008

Wall Street Journal article contrasts the economic fortunes between Texas (good) and Ohio (bad), and explores some of the reasons behind this – namely taxes (Texas=low, Ohio=high and increasing)…

Media

Taxes & Economy

U.S. Map of Religions

• Nathan Benefield
• January 19, 2008

This map of most common religious denomination by county from Mark Perry’s blog is fascinating. Only a smattering of counties have a majority of one religion/denomination (with clushers…

Media

Creating a Free, Searchable Website of State Spending

• Nathan Benefield
• December 21, 2007

Policy Note by our colleagues at theWashington Policy Center on creating a state-level, searchable online database of spending. Examples of online budget databases include Georgia, Texas, and…

Media