If this report is accurate, Gov. Tom Wolf said he doesn't care if some Pennsylvania residents lose their homes because they have to pay higher taxes to support his agenda.
Gov. Wolf talks funding, education with school, local officials at Pocono Mtn. West Jr. High
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Friday, May 29, 2015
Poll: PA Gov. Wolf’s Approval Rating Stands at 40%
Liberal Democrat Tom Wolf has been in office for about five months but many Pennsylvanians are already experiencing voter remorse.
PA-Gov: PPP Poll: Wolf’s Approval Rating Stands at 40%
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Report: Welfare Spending Out of Control in Pennsylvania
From The Commonwealth Foundation:
Out of Control
Gov. Tom Wolf's plans to raise taxes to boost education spending are well known, but his increases in welfare spending are less apparent and even more burdensome for taxpayers. The Department of Human Services already spends twice as much as the Department of Education and accounts for a stunning 39 percent of General Fund spending. Wolf plans to send DHS an additional $691 million next year, putting further strain on an alreadyRead more at the link below:
bursting state budget.
But there is an alternative:According to a study released today by the Commonwealth Foundation,responsible steps can be taken to slow the dramatic growth of welfare spending and avoid annual budget crises.
"Paying for Gov. Wolf’s new welfare spending plans, which follow years of increases, will force lawmakers to make the hard choice between diverting resources from other programs or raising taxes even higher," commented Elizabeth Stelle, director of policy analysis for the Commonwealth Foundation. "The DHS budget has grown nearly twice as fast as state GDP and state personal income since fiscal year 2000-01. This trend has held
true regardless of the party in power."
Out of Control
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Friday, May 22, 2015
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Guest Column: Pa. Business Leaders Reject Gov. Wolf's Tax Plans
By Lowman S. Henry
The governor of Pennsylvania decided to use his perceived electoral mandate to take on one of the biggest issues that has confronted and confounded the commonwealth for decades: property tax reform. So he advanced a plan that would raise sales and personal income taxes in exchange for a cut in property taxes.
Sound familiar? The year was 1989 and the governor was Robert P. Casey whose tax reform plan was put on a statewide ballot referendum and was soundly defeated by voters. Fast forward to 2015 and Gov. Tom Wolf has placed on the table a property tax reform plan that strongly resembles the doomed Casey proposal. Except the Wolf plan doesn’t even include the dollar for dollar reductions required of the Casey effort.
As despised as property taxes are, and polling consistently finds the levy to be the most disliked, finding an acceptable alternative remains elusive. The Wolf plan appears to have little support in the General Assembly; in fact House Republicans have passed their own proposal. But it too fails to totally eliminate school property taxes leaving the door open for millage rates to simply increase again over time.
An indication of how unpopular the Wolf tax reform plan is can be found in the recent Keystone Business Climate Survey of business owners and chief executive officers conducted by the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research. Nearly 70 percent of the business leaders said the Wolf property tax shift would result in only a temporary drop in property taxes which would then go back up.
Another 14 percent predicted his plan would actually lead to property tax increases; only 15 percent expect to see property taxes decline under the Wolf proposal.
Not only does the poll demonstrate disapproval of the Wolf property tax plan, but the survey found the biggest six-month decline in business climate optimism since the onset of the Great Recession in 2008. In fact, in the 20 year history of the poll only during that recession and in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks has business climate optimism dropped so far so fast.
Last September, for the first time since George W. Bush was re-elected in 2004, more business leaders said the state’s economic climate had improved that felt it had gotten worse. The indicator rose into positive territory by just 1 percent, but it capped a steady move in a positive direction. All of that has changed. The number of owners/CEOs saying business conditions have improved over the past six months has fallen to just 13 percent, while the number saying business conditions have gotten worse has nearly doubled since last fall.
The only variable to change during that six month period was the election of Gov. Tom Wolf. Republican Gov. Tom Corbett left office with a 52 percent job approval rating. Gov. Tom Wolf’s first job approval test yielded just 15 percent approval with 69 percent of the state’s business leaders saying they disapprove of the job he is doing.
Driving the dour mood among the people who actually run businesses — big and small — is a general disapproval of Gov. Wolf’s budget proposals. A total of 78 percent disapprove of his proposed budget.
Overall 80 percent say the governor’s proposed state budget will harm the state’s business climate. As a side note, Pennsylvania’s high tax rates and stringent regulatory policies are viewed by the owners/CEOs as the biggest impediments to conducting business in the commonwealth. They now fear that situation is about to get even worse so the state’s job creators are bracing themselves for higher taxes.
Overall the survey results represent a sound and complete repudiation of Gov. Tom Wolf’s first proposed state budget along with the major revisions and tax hikes contained within the proposal. Like Gov. Casey before him, his ambitious tax reform plans are deeply unpopular and may be destined for the same fate.
Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research in Harrisburg and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal. His email address is lhenry@lincolnisntitute.org
The governor of Pennsylvania decided to use his perceived electoral mandate to take on one of the biggest issues that has confronted and confounded the commonwealth for decades: property tax reform. So he advanced a plan that would raise sales and personal income taxes in exchange for a cut in property taxes.
Sound familiar? The year was 1989 and the governor was Robert P. Casey whose tax reform plan was put on a statewide ballot referendum and was soundly defeated by voters. Fast forward to 2015 and Gov. Tom Wolf has placed on the table a property tax reform plan that strongly resembles the doomed Casey proposal. Except the Wolf plan doesn’t even include the dollar for dollar reductions required of the Casey effort.
As despised as property taxes are, and polling consistently finds the levy to be the most disliked, finding an acceptable alternative remains elusive. The Wolf plan appears to have little support in the General Assembly; in fact House Republicans have passed their own proposal. But it too fails to totally eliminate school property taxes leaving the door open for millage rates to simply increase again over time.
An indication of how unpopular the Wolf tax reform plan is can be found in the recent Keystone Business Climate Survey of business owners and chief executive officers conducted by the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research. Nearly 70 percent of the business leaders said the Wolf property tax shift would result in only a temporary drop in property taxes which would then go back up.
Another 14 percent predicted his plan would actually lead to property tax increases; only 15 percent expect to see property taxes decline under the Wolf proposal.
Not only does the poll demonstrate disapproval of the Wolf property tax plan, but the survey found the biggest six-month decline in business climate optimism since the onset of the Great Recession in 2008. In fact, in the 20 year history of the poll only during that recession and in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks has business climate optimism dropped so far so fast.
Last September, for the first time since George W. Bush was re-elected in 2004, more business leaders said the state’s economic climate had improved that felt it had gotten worse. The indicator rose into positive territory by just 1 percent, but it capped a steady move in a positive direction. All of that has changed. The number of owners/CEOs saying business conditions have improved over the past six months has fallen to just 13 percent, while the number saying business conditions have gotten worse has nearly doubled since last fall.
The only variable to change during that six month period was the election of Gov. Tom Wolf. Republican Gov. Tom Corbett left office with a 52 percent job approval rating. Gov. Tom Wolf’s first job approval test yielded just 15 percent approval with 69 percent of the state’s business leaders saying they disapprove of the job he is doing.
Driving the dour mood among the people who actually run businesses — big and small — is a general disapproval of Gov. Wolf’s budget proposals. A total of 78 percent disapprove of his proposed budget.
Overall 80 percent say the governor’s proposed state budget will harm the state’s business climate. As a side note, Pennsylvania’s high tax rates and stringent regulatory policies are viewed by the owners/CEOs as the biggest impediments to conducting business in the commonwealth. They now fear that situation is about to get even worse so the state’s job creators are bracing themselves for higher taxes.
Overall the survey results represent a sound and complete repudiation of Gov. Tom Wolf’s first proposed state budget along with the major revisions and tax hikes contained within the proposal. Like Gov. Casey before him, his ambitious tax reform plans are deeply unpopular and may be destined for the same fate.
Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research in Harrisburg and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal. His email address is lhenry@lincolnisntitute.org
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
11 Fortune 500 CEOs Who Made Less Than the Clintons in 2014
Need further evidence the Democratic Party is the party of the rich?
11 Fortune 500 CEOs Who Made Less Than the Clintons in 2014
11 Fortune 500 CEOs Who Made Less Than the Clintons in 2014
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Friday, May 15, 2015
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Saturday, May 09, 2015
Friday, May 08, 2015
Thursday, May 07, 2015
Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Tuesday, May 05, 2015
Monday, May 04, 2015
Sunday, May 03, 2015
Saturday, May 02, 2015
Friday, May 01, 2015
Pa. AG Kane's chief of staff accused of sexual harassment
Kane's chief of staff accused of sexual harassment
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