There is one thing about our economy that everyone seems to agree about–things are looking up, but don’t be too optimistic.President Barack Obama is calling it “stability, not security” in his current rounds of economic talks. Recent Wall Street Journal headlines echo this “glass half full, glass half empty” assessment, noting that while housing is […]
The Edward H. Arnold Institute for Policy Studies
Congress Needs To Stop Subsidies To Sugar Farmers
The steamboat conveying Andrew Jackson up the Ohio River toward his tumultuous 1829 inauguration had brooms lashed to its bow, symbolizing Old Hickory’s vow to clean up Washington. But sweeping out Washington’s Augean stables, like painting the Golden Gate Bridge, is steady work, so steady it never ends. Neither do the policies that cosset sugar […]
A New Day for U.S. Manufacturing Thanks To Natural Gas
AMERICA, WHICH NEVER LOST ITS HIGH-TECH DOMINANCE, IS NOW SEEING A JOBS BOOM IN NATURAL GAS Remember the 1980s? It was to be the decade of Japanese dominance. A post-Jimmy Carter America would be unable to compete with the efficient Japanese jobs machine. Aging technology, lazy management and high-cost labor would ensure America’s rapid demise […]
We Didn’t Vote to Surrender Our Sovereignty
At first I thought the IRS scandal was leaked to distract from the Benghazi scandal. But that didn’t make sense because the IRS scandal is a more obvious abuse of power than the White House lying about the murder of four Americans in Libya. Before I had resolved which scandal was distracting from which, we […]
Leading Pennsylvania College in Disarray
An all too familiar scene was enacted on the campus of Swarthmore College during a meeting on May 4th to discuss demands by student activists for the college to divest itself of its investments in companies that dealt in fossil fuels. As a speaker was beginning a presentation to show how many millions of dollars […]
Liability Costs Weaken Our Global Competitive Stance
American businesses have the highest liability costs in the world by a mile, according to a study from the Institute for Legal Reform (ILR). The good news is that the results of a poll, also commissioned by ILR show, people blame the excess costs on the ones who benefit the most from an out-of-control legal […]
Another Rite of Spring in Washington, New Energy Tax Proposals
Signs of spring in Pennsylvania are all around us. It is a season of change and growth. However, these signs of change have been ignored in Washington, where the metaphorical windows stay locked and thoughts remain unchanged. Many politicians continue to make inaccurate blanket statements about the energy industry. They say the industry needs to […]
Today’s Epidemic and the Need for Workers Compensation Reform
Governor Corbett shined a light on a very serious issue affecting businesses across the state of Pennsylvania. In a recent interview with PAMatters.com, Governor Corbett commented that many of the unemployed are unemployable because they cannot pass a drug test. Governor Corbett is already feeling the backlash from this honest statement, but the reality is […]
The “Social Impacts” of Liquor Privatization
The roster of testifiers at the Pennsylvania Senate Law and Justice Committee hearing on liquor privatization seems intended to generate ill-will towards privatization because of perceived negative “social impacts.” Testifiers will inevitably tug at heart-strings and assert that selling off our Soviet-style liquor system will bring nothing but ruination, despite a plethora of data saying […]
Sometimes All Politics Aren’t Local
Sometimes All Politics Aren’t Local As the President of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance and a former Pennsylvania State Senator, I have witnessed firsthand the unintended consequences of government policies. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the area of energy policy. The Obama Administration, through the efforts of the EPA, has mercilessly attacked the […]