In another victory for voter ID, last week a Pennsylvania district court rejected a challenge to stop the state’s new voter ID law from going into effect before the upcoming presidential election. Now the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Viviette Applewhite, the lead plaintiff in the case who claimed that she …
People seemingly voting after they’ve been dead for years. Drug kingpins buying votes from poor people to sway elections. Non-citizens being bussed to the polls and coached on how to vote. Stories of voting fraud are shocking, and states have been taking action to make sure that elections are secure. …
With all the gloomy economic news coming out of late, one bright spot flew under the radar last week: the United States is poised to be the proverbial center of the energy universe. A recent study by Harvard Research Fellow Leonardo Maugeri found that the United States’ incredible shale reserves represent “the …
Last month, the Pennsylvania State Senate passed a landmark bill to allow children in the bottom 5 percent of schools to receive scholarships to attend a private school of their choice. The bill also lifts the cap on the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program—which provides tax credits to corporations that …
Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee may have ravaged northeastern Pennsylvania with floodwaters, but displaced people have found aid and comfort in the relief provided by private charities and businesses. A recent New York Times story described affected people’s disillusionment with the federal government’s ability to dispense disaster relief aid …
This morning we wrote about hurricanes, and then Washington, D.C., had an earthquake. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides information about what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. FEMA also provides an index with contact information on state agencies. As residents of the East Coast found out …
State governments across the nation are looking for ways to tighten their belts in the face of declining tax revenues and growing budget shortfalls. In Pennsylvania, legislators have offered a measure that would, they claim, dramatically reduce the state’s construction costs on public works projects by bringing contractors’ wages in …
Families and students in the nation’s capital won big over the weekend, as Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) secured language to reauthorize and expand the acclaimed D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program as part of the long-term continuing resolution. This week, legislators not too far north in Pennsylvania have the …
In the latest efforts to promote school choice for the nation’s children, Pennsylvania state Senators Anthony Williams (D–Philadelphia) and Jeffrey Piccola (R–Dauphin and York) have introduced a plan to provide opportunity scholarships for low-income Pennsylvania students to attend a school of their choice. Said Senator Piccola: We know we have …
