Category: Guest Authors

Trump Voter Guided By Conscience

Trump Voter Guided By Conscience

By Joseph B. Dychala

There is only one God, Who gives and sustains my life. There is only one country that provides for my Liberty.

I am Blessed with family who love me unconditionally, friends who care for me, I am part of a community that affords me necessary labor as well as desired leisure.

I am the individual, a single yet significant member of the civil society, as such I take my responsibilities very seriously. I am an educated citizen, informed on the issues, knowledgeable of history and current events, I always vote my conscience. I believe in the virtue of the soap box, the ballot box, the jury box and the cartridge box.

I adhere to a Biblical worldview, embody a conservative lifestyle and subscribe to a capitalist philosophy. I make no apologies. I seek no recompense. I ask only for opportunity. I reject fully the perverse notion government can give to me that which I have not earned at the expense of taking away from someone else who has worked hard for it. I revere the Constitution and respect those who have established it. I obey laws that are just and practice civil disobedience when necessary.

I understand and sincerely appreciate the sacrifices that a relative few have made to allow so many to live in such a great, free and prosperous nation. I pray that whenever called upon I may be granted the wisdom to identify, the courage to face and the fortitude to challenge tyranny in any and all forms.

I desire, nay demand: a secured border, a universal language and a common culture.

Trump Voter Guided By ConscienceThere are tens of millions like me. We will not sit down, We will not shut up. We will not stand idle while the very roots and fabric of our culture and our heritage are being ripped up and torn apart. I am a patriot. I am an American.

I am supporting Trump/Pence on Nov. 8.

Mr. Dychala is a resident of Aston, Pa.

Trump Voter Guided By Conscience

Frankenpension Means Failure

Frankenpension Means Failure

By Leo Knepper

A House and Senate conference committee in the Pennsylvania Legislature is taking another shot at  pension reform. In keeping with the Halloween spirit, they have resurrected their hybrid pension proposal one more time in an attempt to achieve “pension reform” by decree.

Unfortunately, this over-engineered proposal with many exempted employee groups will likely offer insignificant savings when measured in today’s dollars and by itself will do nothing to address the ever-increasing unfunded liability. The “everything will be fine” 30-year scenario touted by some, should be tempered by others who reference the risk of plan insolvency occurring over the next 15 to 20 years.

Frankenpension Means FailureIn fact, CAP continues to seek a single example in the US private-sector where such a similar plan design arrangement exists.
As we’ve noted on multiple occasions, the hybrid plan does not offer any meaningful protection for taxpayers particularly since the defined-benefit plan can always be retroactively increased. The House has been trying to sell this bad plan design since 2014. Every iteration since that time has gotten progressively worse. The “new and improved” stacked hybrid plan is no exception.

In an attempt to placate conservatives, the conference committee proposal will likely include a defined contribution option for new employees. On the surface, the inclusion of a defined contribution plan would seem to be a positive development. However, it does create a problem. As Rep. John McGinnis noted to Capitolwire (paywall):

“With multiple plans, one will do better than the others and in the future the members in the plans that are not performing as well will pressure elected officials for redress and will likely get it.”

As noted, this proposal does not address the $60+ billion in unfunded pension liabilities that currently saddle taxpayers. Furthermore, it is unlikely that the “reforms” in the pension proposal will include changes to how funds are managed and the annual expected rate of return assumption. Pennsylvania’s pension plans assume a 7.5 percent annual rate of return (PSERS adjusted their expectations to 7.25 percent starting in July). In an attempt to meet this optimistic goal, the pension plans use active fund managers instead of investing in index funds or other passive management strategies. Using active fund managers costs taxpayers $750 million per year. Last year that cost resulted in a 0.4 percent return for PSERS and a 1.29 percent return for SERS.

Underwhelming returns on investments and chronic underfunding of the pension plans and benefit improvements by politicians have created a mess for taxpayers in the form of massive unfunded liabilities. The pension reform proposals being bandied about do nothing to address those problems, nor do they adequately protect taxpayers. Instead, the conference committee’s Rube Goldberg reform proposal gives politicians the ability to tell voters that they “did something.” Pennsylvania’s current and future taxpayers who will be tasked with bailing out the system deserve real reform; not smoke and mirrors.

For those policymakers seeking a straightforward comprehensive solution to our ongoing pension woes, you should go no further than to read our recent blog post which highlights a recent op-ed authored by actuary Richard C. Dreyfuss.

Please take action now.

Frankenpension Means Failure

Happy Birthday William Penn

Happy Birthday William Penn

By Leo Knepper

On Oct. 14, 1644, Pennsylvania’s founder William Penn was born in London, England. Penn had a rebellious streak and was a man who was ahead of his time. Ivan Martin’s introduction to Penn’s book No Cross, No Crown provides a brief account of his life. By limiting himself to the highlights, Martin manages to condense Penn’s life to a mere seventeen pages.  Happy Birthday William Penn

Despite being born into an aristocratic family, Penn was kicked out of Oxford at the age of 17. At the age of 24, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Penn was imprisoned for his writings, which attacked the doctrines of the Church of England. The Bishop of London ordered Penn’s indefinite imprisonment until he recanted his previous statements in writing. Instead, he used the supply of paper and ink to write No Cross, No Crown. Penn spent eight months in the Tower before he was released; without recanting. Essentially, Penn spent eight months in an unheated cell in solitary confinement for his religious beliefs. One of his more famous quotes neatly encapsulates his personal philosophy, “Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.”

Penn’s numerous encounters with the courts and persecution by English authorities inspired many of the innovations he included in Pennsylvania’s first Constitution. Penn used the Constitution to limit the power of government, a novel idea at the time. He was the progenitor for many of the liberties enumerated in the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights including a free press, trial by jury, religious tolerance, and the amendment process itself. Penn also insisted on low taxes. His focus on freedom and free enterprise led to an explosion of growth for Penn’s Woods.

William Penn’s guiding principles and dedication to his “Holy Experiment” paid dividends for Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers and American’s today.

Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Happy Birthday William Penn

Left Rigged Game With Strawman Labels

Left Rigged Game With Strawman Labels

By John Haenn

Does anyone even know what conservatism is anymore?  It’s this little idea that’s been grossly and probably purposely undersold to the American public since the days of Reagan.

Conservatism is the idea that given a strong country, strong economy and freedom, that people can fend for themselves.  This gets countered as conservatives wanting people to be poor and starve to death.  Thank goodness that we have all of these government programs to keep these people barely alive, barely eating, barely having shelter.

Conservatism is the idea that an intact country is a country that has a border.  It’s a country that has laws that allow people to immigrate in both directions legally through a process.  This gets countered as conservatives wanting America to be closed to the world, a racist and harsh America that looks down on peoples all over the world.

Conservatism is the idea that a smaller government is a better government.  This goes completely ignored, because while we are all holding onto our conservative values, the left is selling the idea that jobs, food, housing and happiness all come from the government.  They do a damn fine job selling this to the American public.

The American public is bought and paid for.  And it’s our fault.

For 20 years, we’ve done nothing to expand our base.  We don’t educate blacks and minorities about how better off they’d be living in a country that embraces conservative principles.  We don’t control the conversation at all.  We’re not doing any talking.  We’ve allowed ourselves to be demonized to the point where it will take a generation to undo the damage, and even that may not be enough.  We may simply be done.

A.  Did we feel we had safety in numbers?
B.  Did we feel that we’d win elections on principle, because the good guys always win?
C.  Did we think that since our ideas are good that people would just jump on board?
D.  Did we assume that blacks and minorities are unreachable?
E.  All of the above.

Answer, E.

Left Rigged Game With Strawman LabelsBut while we’ve slept, the left has undone everything that we accomplished under Reagan.  And they’ve done more.  They’ve infiltrated our party with left leaning Republicans who on some issues will side with the big government liberals every time.  Think of it like a casino.  We win some battles, but the game is rigged towards the Democrats.  This holds true regardless of who controls which chamber or both chambers.  In reality, we have 1 political party; The Elite.

Our Elite Overlords.
The elite whom decide our Freedoms.
The elite whom decide our Success.
The elite whom decide our very Survival.

From cradle to grave, this Elite Party controls every part of our lives, from birth, education, family, health and death.

What do we do?  As I said, we may simply be done.  Welcome to Rock Bottom, nation.  The national debt is unthinkable.  Total unemployment is 30 percent and probably higher.  There’s no manufacturing.  No innovation.  No invention and no drive.  We’ve run out of time.  Reagan’s City On A Hill is going dark.

If we have any hope of saving the country, we must begin first with honestly admitting where we currently are as a people.  The picture is not good.  The outlook is worse.  The kind of urgency needed in the righting of the ship is not often seen in human history, but we have no choice.  This land was chosen as the last best hope of mankind, and as Ronald Reagan once said, “How can we do any less; we’re Americans.”

A young nation turned to George Washington in their darkest hour.  Who will step up this time?  Who will be the voice to mend a torn nation?

Mr. Haenn is a resident of Collingdale, Pa.

Left Rigged Game With Strawman Labels

Pennsylvania Spends, Gets Bad Roads

Pennsylvania Spends, Gets Bad Roads

By Leo Knepper

Lowman Henry, last week, discussed the slow-motion fiscal train wreck that the Pennsylvania Turnpike faces. At the end of August, we noted that Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale was pushing back against his colleagues who were trying to enact a new tax on County drivers. In both instances, readers noted that it was only natural for Pennsylvania to spend so much on road work due to the volume of roadways the state maintained.

It is reasonable to argue that there is a direct relationship between the miles of road and the funds required to maintain those same roads. However, that argument ignores the issue of whether or not the money is spent efficiently. In the case of the Turnpike, some of the funds it sends to PennDOT are used to subsidize mass transit, which are some of the most inefficiently operated systems in the state. Furthermore, people should pay for the services they use. If someone uses mass transit, the ticket price should cover the cost. Likewise, tolls from the Turnpike should fund the Turnpike.

Returning to the original issue of whether or not the taxes being collected to spend on roadwork are being spent efficiently by PennDOT, one way to determine the answer to this question is to look at spending on a per mile basis. According to the Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report, Pennsylvania spends more per mile than 27 other states, $160,477. Regarding overall efficiency, the Report calculated that Pennsylvania’s overall rank was 39th when road conditions and other measures were taken into account.

Taxpayers and drivers shouldn’t expect an improvement in Pennsylvania’s standing next year. The Report relied on 2013 data, meaning it was before the gas tax increase enacted by Governor Corbett. As we noted in 2013, the General Assembly’s failure to reform how transportation dollars were spent would result in even more waste. We fully expect that prediction to be born out in the future.

Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Spends, Gets Bad Roads

Pennsylvania Spends, Gets Bad Roads

PennDOT Killing Pennsylvania Turnpike

PennDOT Killing Pennsylvania Turnpike

By Lowman S. Henry

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is America’s first superhighway. It also has become one of the most expensive roads in the country to travel. If you are in a passenger car driving the entire length of the turnpike from the Delaware River Bridge in the east to Gateway in the west it will cost you $42.30 if you pay cash, $30.32 if you have an E-Z Pass.PennDOT Killing Pennsylvania Turnpike

Traversing the Pennsylvania Turnpike gets more expensive for truck traffic, significantly more expensive. That same east-west trip for the heaviest and largest of trucks costs $1,634.35. As if that isn’t bad enough, recent annual fare hikes are projected to continue into the foreseeable future.

Pennsylvania is known as the Keystone state and for good reason. Geographically we are centrally located for both north-south and east-west traffic destined for some of the nation’s most populous cities. For decades the turnpike has been a key traffic route, but now both freight haulers and passenger cars are seeking out other routes – such as Interstate 81 that, while a bit out of the way for some, charge no tolls.

These facts have not escaped the attention of state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale who recently sounded alarm bells over the turnpike’s fragile fiscal situation. In his audit of turnpike practices DePasquale said: “The plan for the turnpike’s financial future relies on projection calling for a 215 percent increase in toll revenue between 2015 and 2035 and a 44 percent increase in traffic volume through 2044. However, traffic volume has remained relatively flat over the last decade.”

These two projections are inherently contradictory as basic economics dictates that consumers use less of a product as prices rise – especially if prices rise at a much faster rate than the income of the purchaser. Thus, we can expect the past decade’s “relatively flat” traffic volumes to either remain so, or perhaps even decline as such significant toll hikes continue to be implemented.

It would be easy to blame mismanagement and the turnpike commissions’ often criticized hiring and contracting practices for these annual rate hikes. But, in this case the problem has been caused by the state legislature, not by turnpike administration. Act 44 of 2007 requires the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to make payments of $450 million per year to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). PennDOT which spends the money on highway maintenance and on subsidizing mass transit operations. Since the passage of Act 44, $5.2 billion in fare revenue has been diverted from turnpike operations to PennDOT.

Act 44 was passed with the unrealistic expectation that Interstate 80 would be converted to a toll road operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. That revenue would offset the mandated subsidy to PennDOT. State officials appealed to both the Bush and Obama administrations for approval of the scheme, but were rejected. As a result the turnpike has been saddled with making annual payments to PennDOT and no source to fund those transfers except annual fare hikes.

The legislative mandate is also having another impact: the turnpike is reducing planned spending on maintenance, improvements and expansion.

An ambitious rebuilding plan that includes expansion of the turnpike to six lanes in many areas has already been reduced by $1 billion over the next ten years. DePasquale pointed out the folly of the situation stating: “You can’t cut back on construction and increase traffic 44 percent, especially while jacking up the toll rates.”

The subsidies to PennDOT are scheduled to end in 2022, but by then the turnpike’s financial situation will dire. Worse, legislators will then have to determine how to fund the insatiable appetite for subsidies required by the state’s money-losing mass transit systems.

This problem should have been addressed two years ago when the legislature passed and Governor Tom Corbett signed into law a defacto 30-cent per gallon increase in gasoline taxes. That would have been the time to end “haphazard funding gimmicks” such as Act 44 and placed both the Pennsylvania Turnpike and PennDOT on solid financial footing.

It didn’t happen then. But it needs to happen now before, as Auditor General DePasquale concluded, the system collapses “and leaves the turnpike and people who rely on public transit systems across the state in a world of hurt.”

(Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal. His e-mail address is lhenry@lincolninstitute.org.)

PennDOT Killing Pennsylvania Turnpike

Wallet Guarding Time Looms

Wallet Guarding Time Looms

By Leo Knepper
In early August we mentioned that the “balanced” budget passed by the General Assembly was falling apart. At present, not one casino applied for the $1 million liquor license authorizing them to sell liquor twenty-four hours a day. Also, the tax that General Assembly levied on electronic cigarettes is going to bankrupt small businesses.

Wallet Guarding Time LoomsWhen the General Assembly returns later this month, the House and Senate will be looking for ways to fill the holes. The smart thing to do would be to cut spending and trim back corporate welfare. For example, does Pennsylvania really need a $4 million tax credit to attract big name performers to second tier cities? Or, $250 million for a race horse development fund?

The taxpayer friendly answer is no.

The average Pennsylvanian does not benefit from the various flavors of crony capitalism baked into state spending. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop the General Assembly from adding new items “economic development” programs without concern for the people paying the bill.

As we learn more about the tax options being considered by the House and Senate, the Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania will pass that information along to you.
Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Cut Cost First, Thank You Joe Gale

Cut Cost First

By Leo Knepper

Last year the CAP PAC made its first major foray into county politics and it just paid dividends for residents of Montgomery County. In his race for Commissioner, Joe Gale ran as an unabashed conservative. Earlier this week Commissioner Gale took a vocal stand for those principles and saved his constituents $3.5 million.

Due to a law passed in 2013, Pennsylvania currently has the highest gasoline taxes in the country. That same law contained a provision allowing counties to enact a $5 registration fee for vehicles. Seeing an easy source of revenue, Gale’s Democratic colleagues were set to extract more money from Montgomery County taxpayers. That plan was derailed when Joe brought media attention to the pending vote. Unlike his Republican predecessor, who would “go along to get along”, Gale went to the public to make sure they were aware of the tax increase.

Cut Cost First, Thank You Joe Gale
Joe Gale actually fights for the citizens.

There is a great deal of similarity between what is happening in Montgomery County, and what typically happens in Harrisburg. Rather than looking at how to save money, elected officials enact a new fee or tax and take the money from their constituents. In this instance, the $5 per vehicle fee would purportedly go to “infrastructure” projects. While infrastructure is arguably one of the few legitimate services government should provide, taxpayers are not getting the most for their money.

As Commissioner Gale points out, and we have been talking about for years, infrastructure and other construction projects are subject to wage controls that force taxpayers to overpay for labor. These wage controls come in two basic types, an artificially calculated “prevailing wage” and project labor agreements (PLA’s). Both of these wage controls benefit organized labor and PLA’s also exclude nonunion contractors from the bidding process.

Eliminating prevailing wage and PLA’s would drastically decrease the cost of public projects and make tax dollars go much further. However, it is politically easier for elected officials to take more money from taxpayers than it is to take on organized labor.

We applaud Gale’s willingness to stand up for taxpayers. His actions tell us that the CAP PAC made a good investment in his candidacy.

Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Cut Cost First, Thank You Joe Gale

Ghost Teachers Unnecessary Tax Burden

Ghost Teachers Unnecessary Tax Burden

By Leo Knepper

The Commonwealth Foundation undertook the monumental task of acquiring and analyzing teachers’ union contracts from 499 school districts. Their main findings were shocking, but not surprising. Two of items that caught our attention were the prevalence of release time provisions and the “generosity” of healthcare benefits.

Ghost Teachers Unnecessary Tax BurdenRelease time or “ghost teacher” provisions force taxpayers to foot the bill for union activities. Roughly 20 percent of contracts across the state allow for a full release. These teachers don’t set foot in the classroom at all. Instead, they are on the district payroll and can collect a variety of benefits while they work for the union. One of the most expensive benefits that ghost teachers had received, until recently, was a taxpayer funded pension.

On the issue of health insurance benefits, in 99 districts taxpayers foot the entire bill. The workers covered under the teachers’ union contracts don’t pay anything for their premiums. In instances where teachers are required to pay toward their premium costs, they pay far less than the Pennsylvania average of $3,598 per person.

A full summary of the Commonwealth Foundation’s findings can be found on their website; the district-by-district contract details can be found here.

Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Ghost Teachers Unnecessary Tax Burden

Pennsylvania Stable Rating Will Be But Temporary

Pennsylvania Stable Rating Will Be But Temporary

By Leo Knepper

Earlier this week, Moody’s upgraded Pennsylvania’s financial outlook from “negative” to “stable.”

The improvement stems from the Legislature and the Governor avoiding each other just long enough to get a budget passed.

No one in the Capitol is rejoicing, however. The looming public pensions crisis serves as a constant reminder that the Commonwealth’s credit ratings can fall at any moment. Pennsylvania Stable Rating Will Be But Temporary

Sadly, not every lawmaker in the General Assembly understands how precarious and downright dangerous this crisis is. Some lawmakers maintain their ignorance purposefully, while others simply don’t understand the math. Members of both parties, in collusion with public-sector unions and special interest groups, are all that stand in the way of genuine reform-reform that could potentially lift the Commonwealth’s financial outlook from “stable” to “positive.”

In an op-ed published last month in the Philadelphia Inquirer, actuary and business consultant Richard C. Dreyfuss provided a frank and compelling summation of the problem:

“Our $63 billion combined unfunded liability for the Public School Employee’s Retirement System (PSERS) and the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) is the result of underfunding, poor investment returns, and benefit enhancements. It’s measured in today’s dollars and based on a number of assumptions, including an optimistic annual investment return of 7.5 percent.”

He also provided a relatively straightforward, common-sense solution:

“Pension reform will truly be underway when all new [public employees] participate in a stand-alone, defined-contribution plan and we commit to paying off our pension debt over 20 years.”

Simple right? Well, not to House Speaker Mike Turzai.

In an op-ed published earlier this month in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Turzai laid out his reasons for supporting a watered down solution known as the “stacked hybrid bill.” He says the bill would maintain “elements of the current defined benefit system, while instituting the first 401(k) system in state history.”

“Unlike other ‘reform’ proposals, the stacked hybrid approach doesn’t include arbitrage gambles, funding reductions or gimmicky quick fixes. We fully meet our funding obligations to the retirement systems.”

The hybrid plan does not “fully meet” funding obligations. Even if we switched the entire system from a defined-benefit to a defined-contribution retirement plan, that merely stops the bleeding; it won’t do anything to address the massive unfunded liability that has already accumulated. The stacked hybrid plan being promoted by state House leaders doesn’t even stop the bleeding because it maintains a defined benefit component.

This attempt at reform is, itself, a gimmick. Keeping any elements of the defined-benefit plan virtually guarantees that the unfunded liabilities will not only go unencumbered; they will continue to build.

Political courage may be in short supply these days, but numbers don’t lie. Pennsylvania taxpayers need their representatives to protect them from the “fiscal cliff” Turzai and his fellow lawmakers should know is coming.

The only solution is to stop pretending this Band-Aid of a bill is the tourniquet that will stop the bleeding and finally pass meaningful reform. The General Assembly and Governor Wolf must stop ignoring reality and pretending that half-measure reforms will stop the problem.

Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Stable Rating Will Be But Temporary