Category: Pennsylvania

I agree with the Pocono Record that Pennsylvania’s fireworks laws are flawed.  I agree that it makes no sense that we can sell fireworks to residents of New Jersey but not to our own residents.  But where The Record and I strongly disagree is that the solution ought to be to ban fireworks sales to resident and non-resident alike.   I think the solution is to allow Pennslvania residents to buy fireworks as well.   It is not the proper role of the state to look out after my own well being.   I am an adult, and (I’d like to think) a free man, and I am capable of doing that for myself.

As I said, I think there are justifiable circumstances (such as a very dry climate or season) for banning fireworks, but we’re not currently experiencing any of that.   And even in such circumstances, the law should only address launching, and not possession or sale.

Rendell signed the bill that gives immunity to suits against landowners who open their land to hunters.

MADD is pushing for DUI reform in the Keystone State.  MADD long ago went off the rails, and are now the new preachers against demon rum.  I don’t have a lot of specifics on what they are looking to change specifically, but if MADD is involved, we need to keep an eye on things.

From Tony Phyrillas blog, we get a view of a memo that outline’s the Pennsylvania Democrat’s tactic to wear down the Republicans and force them to accept tax hikes to cover Rendell’s bloated 27.3 billion dollar spending plan.

Rendell is proposing another tax shift plan.  Truth be told, I like it better than the last one, but hey, how about we cut spending to fund property tax relief?   There’s plenty of states that get away with a far lower tax burden, that have just as many big cities as Pennsylvania does (think Texas).

Gov. Ed Rendell is advocating a 1 percentage point increase in the state sales tax to deliver more than $1 billion in property tax cuts, his office said Wednesday.Spokesman Chuck Ardo confirmed the governor’s position, which Rendell stated on KDKA Radio host Kevin Miller’s show earlier this week.

In his February budget address, Rendell proposed using about two-thirds of the revenue from a sales tax boost to balance his spending plan. The remainder would have been used to offset property tax cuts.

No, no, you don’t get to use 2/3rds of the increase to fund your pet spending projects.   That either all goes to other tax relief, or you can go to hell.  I am quite sick of having my taxes increased to cover spending increases.

Apparently the PA house wants to add “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” to the state flag, just in case we weren’t sure. You know, if this is what you folks in Harrisburg have time to debate, I’m thinking a part time legislature sounds like a good way to save the state some money.  Oh well, I guess it’s better than spending time raising taxes yet again.

According to the Evening Bulletin:

What’s driving the much-talked-about “looming crisis” is Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposed new spending and the handful of state tax hikes he’s pushing – from a payroll tax on some employers to a gross profits tax on oil and a one percentage point hike in the sales tax. But Republicans and, some say, most Democrats have no appetite for tax increases this year.
So that should solve it, right?

Well, no, because Rendell is bent on getting a permanent funding increase for deficit-strapped mass transit agencies like the Port Authority of Allegheny County and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

Historically, lawmakers from suburban and rural districts don’t approve new sources of transit money without more highway and bridge money. But the price of gasoline virtually precludes a gas tax hike. It leaves lawmakers jittery about Rendell’s oil profits tax – intended to pay for transit – for fear the costs will be passed on to consumers.

Over the long haul, any tax on refiners will be passed on to the consumer, because it will force resources out of our state to other states which don’t have the tax burden.   In addition, this will actually increase our dependence on middle east oil.   Why?  Because the cheapest crude to refine is light sweet crude, a large source of which is middle eastern in origin.  Heavier crudes from, say, Canada or the Gulf Coast, are more expensive to refine.  Rendell’s proposed windfall profits tax will make refining heavier crudes less profitable than it is already, causing the industry to shift to more profitable sources of oil.

I don’t think there’s any problem which our governor thinks some new taxes and new spending won’t cure.  But it’s only going to serve to drive more people out of the Commonwealth.   Hopefully Rendell’s legacy won’t be to turn Pennsylvania into the new Massachusetts, with jobs and population leaving at such a fast rate that they are on track to lose a congressional seat.