Latest Articles:
(19 Nov)
Government Regulation – Legalizing Greed
By Frank Ryan, Col., USMC Ret.
The most recent spat of corporate, personal and government greed is causing many Americans to demand greater oversight and regulation on our financial markets. Unfortunately for all of us, these demands for greater controls will be met. Unfortunately for all of us, the new regulations will merely set the stage for the next financial debacle.
Until we all understand that you cannot legislate morality, we are all doomed to repeat the disasters of the past.
The ultimate breakdown of personal accountability and responsibility is a result of the breakdown in society's ability to instill a code of ethics that ...
(17 Nov)
Pay to Play?
Non-bid state contracts walk a fine ethical line
by Lowman Henry
Attorney General Tom Corbett's aggressive investigation of the Bonusgate scandal has put a bright spotlight on the fine line that separates legitimate legislative staff work from campaign-related activities. What has not gotten a lot of attention is a similar cozy relationship between campaign contributors, and the awarding of non-bid government contracts from the officials they have helped to elect.
Just as it is not illegal in Pennsylvania for legislative staffers to engage in political activities on their own time, it is likewise not illegal for elected officials to award non-bid contracts to their campaign contributors. It would be illegal for there to be a quid pro quo, or up front promise of a specific contract for a specific campaign contribution. But contributions are frequently made with the usually reasonable expectation that favorable treatment in the form of contracts will occur if the recipient of campaign cash is in fact elected.
Again, there is a fine line separating legal activity from illegal activity. In recent years ...
(20 Oct)
The Voters of November
by Albert Paschall
In October of 1962 President John Kennedy had good reasons to be skeptical of the American Military High Command's judgment. Every day his painful back reminded him of the useless intelligence mission he was on in August 1943 in the South Pacific when his small PT boat was crushed by a Japanese destroyer. Fifteen months earlier the military and the CIA had tried to hoodwink him into backing a failed invasion of Cuban expatriates that were under trained and ill equipped. Due to careless security Castro's Army was waiting to slaughter them on the beaches at the infamous Bay of Pigs.
Just last week North Korea again walked away from talks ...
(13 Oct)
Melt Down
Fall 2008 Keystone
Business Climate Survey
by Lincoln Institute
Read the survey questions and analysis below.
LI Surveys:
Fall 2008
Keystone Business Climate Survey
Melt Down
Keystone Business Climate Survey
produces most pessimistic results ever
The national economic melt-down over the past six months according to a substantial majority of business owners and chief executive officers participating in the Fall 2008 Keystone Business Climate Survey. Fifty percent of those responding said the economy is already in a recession, while another 33% said we are headed toward a recession.
Sixty-five percent of those responding to the survey said ...
Survey Results
(opens in new window)
Survey Analysis
(opens in new window)
Commentary:
Town Hall Commentary
Elections Not Yet Over
Legislative leadership elections will determine agenda for the coming two years
by Lowman Henry
For voters the 2008 elections are over, but for members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly a number of very important votes are still to be cast. In the coming weeks, legislators will be selecting leaders for the new session. The men and women elected to those positions will set the agenda for the coming two years - and frame the debate for the 2010 gubernatorial election.
Leadership elections in the General Assembly are usually viewed as "inside baseball," but in recent years the importance of those positions and public attention paid to them has risen ...
Thinning the Herd: RINOs Lose Big
Abandonment of conservative principles root cause of Republican losses
Now what?
The Republican Party nationally, and in Pennsylvania, lies in tatters today. Having lost the White House to Barack Obama, suffered historic losses in Congressional elections, been almost shut-out in statewide races, and experienced further erosion in the state House there is no doubt the GOP has hit rock bottom.
It is, most significantly, a loss for so-called moderate Republicanism. Party moderates have opined time and again that a more middle-of-the-road Presidential candidate could win Pennsylvania. McCain was touted as that candidate. He lost by ...
Essays on Rebuilding America
Tax the Wealthy - Baffled Again
By Frank Ryan, Col., USMC Ret.
I just don't get it. I truly do not understand.
Over my entire lifetime and in this most recent presidential election cycle, I have heard some lower income taxpayers and many wealthy citizens cheer plans to increase income taxes on the wealthy. The crescendo proclaims that better times will follow to those less fortunate if only the high income people were paying more taxes.
Be it Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, Ted Turner or others staking the claim of helping those less fortunate, the effect of a higher income tax rate is the same. With higher marginal tax rates, any lower income person virtually guarantees they will not have the assets necessary to make a better life for themselves or their families. The more you earn under the tax the wealthy plan, the higher the marginal tax rates thus making it more difficult for the poor to save and to get ahead ...
Energy Independence
Inflate your tires, tune up your car's engine, drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are all reflective of the multitude of potential solutions to our Nation's energy problems. Despite these possible solutions, our leaders have consistently failed over the past 50 years to solve the real problem. Solutions without decisions are not solutions at all.
The problem of energy supply is but one factor in the much more immediate concern of energy independence ...
As I See It
By Ryan Shafik
Communications Director, Lincoln Institute
Corbett's Bind
"This is by no means the last announcement."
Those chilling words were spoken by Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett during last Thursday's press conference revealing indictments against twelve top House Democrat officials and operatives for their involvement in the so-called "Bonusgate" scandal. And given the apparent scope of corruption he is investigating on Capitol Hill, the Attorney General is probably correct.
Such news conferences could become a relatively regular event over the next few weeks. However, the way Corbett handles the investigation and prosecution of the scandal between ...
Rendell's Race Card Trashes Pennsylvanians
Governor Ed Rendell's chances of landing a top position in a future Democratic administration is slowly slipping away as the Hillary Clinton campaign locomotive is being surpassed by the Obama Express. Governor Rendell, hoping to land a top position in DC, endorsed Hillary Clinton shortly after her strong showing in the Nevada caucuses when the polls showed she was likely going capture the Democratic Presidential nomination. However, Rendell's grand plan seems to be unraveling as Barack Obama's recent string of victories has resulted in his pulling ahead of Hillary in the delegate count.
Like any desperate animal backed into a corner, and with his national political future in jeopardy, Rendell has gone on the attack. In the process, he has insulted the people of Pennsylvania and injected the race card into a campaign that has already seen its fair share of race baiting politics.
Rendell's recent statement that "many white conservatives won't vote for a black candidate" is ...
Somedays
By Albert Paschall
Senior Fellow, Lincoln Institute
On the 9th Day
(Wayne County in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains-On the 9th day God woke up and looked around and thought "What am I going to do now? I've painted myself into a corner. How do I get out of here?")
Pennsylvanians are hard at work. Preliminary results from the recent Keystone Business Climate Survey conducted by the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research indicate a weary frustration is growing ...
The $4 a gallon bargain
I've found recently that I've got a lot more in common with Governor Ed Rendell than I thought I had. There's always been hairline, waistline and eyesight but now I have a real reason to feel akin to Pennsylvania's head cheerleader. Like me the Governor is techno-challenged. He doesn't like computers, email or using the Internet.
He recently told a Philadelphia newspaper: "I'm about 10 years behind the technology revolution." He joked that if he needs something off the Internet he calls an old family friend. Aides confess that emails that he must read are printed out for him.
While he usually speaks extemporaneously, something that's caused Senator Obama to cringe more than once ...
