News Release:
25 Jun 2009
Linda Gates Elected to Lincoln Board
Dr. Paul Kengor, Colin Hanna, Frank Ryan re-elected to new terms
(West Mifflin, PA) - The Lincoln Institute Board of Directors has elected Linda Lee Gates of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania to a seat on its board. Gates joins Dr. Paul Kengor of Grove City College, Colin Hanna of Let Freedom Ring, USA and Col. Frank Ryan of F.X. Ryan Associates who were re-elected to new terms on the board at the Lincoln Institute's June meeting held at the Westwood Golf Club in West Mifflin, PA.
"I am pleased to welcome ..."
Latest Articles:
(24 Jun)
Wheel of Misfortune
Gamblers, nonprofits eyed as sources for more tax revenue
by Lowman Henry,
Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research
As the economic recession continues to impact state and local budgets elected officials at all levels are seeking new ways to increase revenue. The schemes to fleece more money from the private sector are infinitely more creative and in far greater abundance than are ideas for operating government more efficiently or, heaven forbid, cutting spending.
In recent days two ideas to "enhance revenue" appear to be gaining traction. On the state level the legalization of table games at the commonwealth's casinos is attracting serious consideration from both sides of the aisle. And in Pittsburgh, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is looking for ways to take more money from the pockets of the city's nonprofit organizations.
It is worth remembering that Pennsylvania's foray into legalized gambling began as a means of saving the ailing horse racing industry ...
(19 Jun)
Letter of Resignation
by Frank Ryan
When I heard Joe Biden tell me it was my patriotic responsibility to pay more taxes, I felt like resigning from the Taxpayers Club of America! Wouldn't you love to resign as well?
Imagine this letter to the President ...
(17 June)
Should I pay off my mortgage early?
by Doug Keegan
Recent market volatility seems to have more and more people reevaluating the question, "Should I pay off my mortgage early?" Up until now, conventional wisdom said no. Invest that money in the market, and keep paying interest to the bank to get the tax deduction. Doug Keegan of Harris SBSB is here to dissect both sides of the issue and offer his advice ...
(15 June)
Specter: a fine gold watch
by Albert Paschall
Columnists are probably the earth's most unappreciated people. We research; we write and rarely hear from our fans, always from our critics. Over the last decade I've certainly developed my share of those.
President Kennedy liked to joke that if the London Times had granted Karl Marx's request for a halfpenny a week raise we might have avoided the slavery of communism. But like the Times of a century ago, publishers often don't have any respect for the brilliant opinions written by people like me. They regard us as a necessary nuisance, published to amuse their readers.
That's why I'm going to form a union. That's right, a union that will stand up for the rights of disadvantaged columnists all over this state. Few of us are left handed and I'm going to use that as a niche. That way I'll have a specialty that will be recognized by the Federal government as a disadvantaged group requiring exceptional treatment. I've even come up with a name for it: Left-handed Columnists Read All-Around Pennsylvania. It will catch on quickly with the handle: LECRAAP ...
LI Surveys:
PA Business Climate Mired in Recession
But optimism surfaces that recovery could get underway soon
A third of Pennsylvania businesses are worried they will not be able to survive the recession, and access to credit is not the main reason for their concern. This as the Lincoln Institute's Spring 2008 Keystone Business Climate Survey again found a record number of business leaders saying the state's economy has gotten worse over the past six months ...
Survey Results
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Survey Analysis
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Commentary:
Town Hall Commentary
Break the Cycle
Time to cut spending, not raise taxes
by Lowman Henry
It was a classic example of how bureaucrats and politicians manipulate public opinion to advance their spending agendas. In the days after the Republican-controlled state senate passed a no-tax hike budget, the Rendell Administration began a PR campaign designed to highlight what residents of Penn's woods would lose if that budget is enacted.
Next to mom and apple pie, state parks are considered sacrosanct. So, since the senate cut the budget of the state bureaucracy that administers the parks, Rendell immediately announced that "at least 35 of the 120 state parks" would close. On cue, many media outlets around the state responded with articles and broadcasts ...
Civil War?
No, just a healthy debate
by Lowman Henry
It didn't look good. The party had lost control of the White House and both houses of Congress. In the aftermath of defeat there were many voices raised urging divergent directions. No one seemed to speak for the party as a whole. There was talk the party was headed for permanent minority status.
That sounds like the Republican Party of today, but it was written to describe the Democratic Party just four years ago as it floundered about in the aftermath of George W. Bush's successful re-election campaign. The president had political capital to spend, and it would be spent entrenching the GOP as the dominant national political party for a generation to come.
It didn't turn out that way ...
Essays on Rebuilding America
(28 May)
Ryan's Rules on Free Markets – A Lesson in Freedoms Lost
by Frank Ryan
There are certain rules of law that fall within the purview of man and there are significantly more important truisms of markets that defy the laws of man. Whenever man attempts to interfere with these truisms, chaos ensues. In just 100 days, Barack Obama has managed to violate many free market principles which guide our economy. The stage is being set for ever more volatile economic dislocations in the years ahead.
The tea parties of the past few weeks dramatize the substantial differences between the thought processes of those who think they are in control (our government) and those that are affected by the principles of free markets ...
The Oath – Our Founding Fathers
by Frank Ryan
Having just seen the Department of Homeland Security's advisory relating to right wing extremists and how the word extremist is being used towards anyone not agreeing with the President, I am concerned about the continued deterioration in our personal freedoms as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
Just this week, I was told during a tea party rally by someone opposed to the rallies, that anyone who disagrees with President Obama during an economic emergency as they described it should be detained and labeled a traitor. I was stunned by the anger in the person's voice and their abject intolerance to those who disagree.
Then upon learning of Barack Obama's exhortations that we are an arrogant people and a nation only of citizens, I find myself in a position of having to remind the President that he is responsible to and works for all of the people of the United States. He, as all Presidents before him, is a servant to the people. As prior presidents have protected the rights of dissidents so to is it Obama's responsibility to protect the rights of those who disagree with him.
Our very Bill of Rights and our Constitution are tributes to ...
Making Cents
by Doug Keegan
Credit Card Issuers Boost Rates and Fees
There is no question that the financial system has experienced a tremendous credit crunch. What is this doing to consumers, the users of credit?
This all started last summer and really accelerated into the fall of 2008 as banks and other financial institutions were on the brink of collapse.
Credit card holders, even those with good credit, started seeing their rates and fees going up and their credit limits reduced. This used to happen to people who had missed a payment or had seen their credit scores go down, but now it is happening to people who have good credit. In fact, it recently happened to me ...
Somedays
By Albert Paschall
Senior Fellow, Lincoln Institute
As Valley Forge Turns
by Albert Paschall
Recently on a visit to a remote island, just before departure on a rainy day, my abundant supply of reading material dried up. Refusing to pay ridiculous prices for American magazines I sat back to enjoy some TV. The satellite based system offered few choices that afternoon. It seemed to come down to the hardly cloaked anti-Americanism of BBC, a wrestling match in Italy or America's idiomatic medium: a soap opera.
So the soap won. It was the usual fare ...
My father in law's toys
by Albert Paschall
My father-in-law loves his toys. Big flat screen TV's with tons of speakers, state of the art laptops and a Cadillac DTS that is correct in only one color: bright red. Add a Florida home in the winter and it's the perfect lifestyle.
He earned his toys the hard way. The ones he played with earlier in life were a bit more dangerous.
Getting to know a real warrior is hard. The real ones I've known don't boast. In fact, don't even talk about their service. I've been honored to know heroic veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, El Salvador and Iraq. Army Green Berets and Navy SEALS, front line battle hardened veterans who keep their medals in drawers and only tell their war stories when curious journalists drag the truth out of them.
Don Ryan isn't any different. He served this country for 30 years. From a dog face GI in World War II to the Army Air Corps and the very foundation of the US Air Force in 1947 he flew the tough flights. Losing a co-pilot in bloody combat in Korea he moved on to the beginnings of General Curtis LeMay's Strategic Air Command ...
