Tax Hikes are Coming !

President Ronald Reagan is known to have said, "Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, candidate for Governor in Pennsylvania, is heeding those words by proposing a 5% tax on natural gas production from the Marcellus Shale.

This move comes as no surprise. The government can never take in enough revenue, i.e. your hard-earned tax dollars, and whenever there is an opportunity for economic growth and job creation, big government liberals are there with their hands in your pocket ensuring they can use your success to grow government.

Another timely example of taxes run amok is Obamacare, which Congresswoman Schwartz supported. Contained within this "healthcare reform" are 21 new taxes totaling more than $1 billion. These numbers are bad enough on their own, but when you add in the fact that across the country at least 258 employers have announced they will cut employee hours, jobs or benefits all in an effort to avoid Obamacare costs, things begin to look worse. Here in Pennsylvania, health insurance premiums are expected to rise 28% according to a report by the Society of Actuaries. So much for more affordable and more accessible.
Obamacare has become the cause rather than the cure for too many of our health care and economic ills. It can only get worse.

That has certainly been the case with pension reform. That can has been kicked down the road so far that we may run out of road and have to build moreā€¦but transportation funding is a whole other story. Currently, Pennsylvania’s two pension funds are said to have an unfunded liability of about $45 billion.

That liability is expected to increase to more than $65 billion within the next few years. Just so we’re clear, taxpayers are on the hook for both numbers.
Parties and partisans on both sides of this issue have made bad decisions.

Something has to be done to salvage our Commonwealth for our children and their children. We have to leave that more than a mountain of debt and a bunch of empty excuses.

I’m Jennifer Stefano. Follow me on twitter @stefanospeaks or at www.jenniferstefano.com.