PA gov. pushes back on IFO Medicaid report

By   /  May 21, 2013  /  Affordable Care Act, Featured, Federal Government, Health Care, Issues, News, Pennsylvania, State Budgets, State Government, Uncategorized  /  No Comments

HIDDEN COSTS: As much as $515 million in costs and savings of Medicaid expansion were mis-estimated by the IFO, according to the Corbett Administration.

The administration of Gov. Tom Corbett says a report on Medicaid expansion by the state’s Independent Fiscal Office improperly claims as much as $515 million as savings, revenue or underestimated costs to the state.

Read More →

Hotels protected from competition by NYC’s ban of AirBnB

By   /  May 21, 2013  /  WatchBlog  /  No Comments

PROTECTIONISM IN THE BIG APPLE: Outlawing sites like AirBnB means travelers to New York have fewer options - and that's good news for the city's pricey hotels, like The Plaza.

By Eric Boehm | PA Independent
HARRISBURG – Traditional hotels will continue to benefit from a New York City law that prohibits newfangled online travel sites like Airbnb from operating legally in the Big Apple.
Airbnb – like a number of other sites that have popped up in recent years – allows individuals to rent-out their homes to [...]

Read More →

U.S. government makes journalism a crime

By   /  May 20, 2013  /  WatchBlog  /  No Comments

HARRISBURG – Glenn Greenwald’s analysis of the newest details in the unfolding U.S. Department of Justice “war on journalists” scandal is a must-read.
Seriously, just read it.  There’s nothing I can add to this:
New revelations emerged yesterday in the Washington Post that are perhaps the most extreme yet when it comes to the DOJ’s attacks on press [...]

Read More →

Who wants to be mayor of PA’s broken capital city, and what difference does it make?

By   /  May 20, 2013  /  Featured, Issues, Local Government, Local News, News, Pennsylvania, Politics & Elections, State Government  /  No Comments

BROKE AND BROKEN: Voters in Harrisburg will chose a new mayor this year, with the first key election set for Tuesday.

HARRISBURG – It is hard to believe anyone would want to run the city of Harrisburg.

To say the Pennsylvania capital, hugging the banks of the Susquehanna River, has seen better days is more than an understatement. The city is saddled with more than $300 million in debt and resides under a state receivership that limits the city government’s ability to hurt itself even more.

Read More →

National labor union gave $180K to nonprofit for ‘political activity’ during Oct. 2012

By   /  May 17, 2013  /  Accountability, Issues, News, Pennsylvania  /  No Comments

money-limit

 
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — A nonprofit running ads attacking Gov. Tom Corbett received at least $180,000 last year from a powerful national labor union.
Pennsylvanians for Accountability, a Pittsburgh-based “social welfare nonprofit” is exploiting a loophole in state campaign finance laws to avoid filing reports on donations and expenditures. In addition to their attacks [...]

Read More →