Pennsylvania has the largest full-time state legislatures in the country and one of the most expensive, burning through $300 million taxpayer dollars every year. Are Pennsylvania residents getting their money's worth from the 253 state lawmakers and their nearly 3,000 staffers? Not exactly. If the job of the legislature is to get bills signed into law, then taxpayers deserve a refund. A great big refund!

From a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

With 253 members, Pennsylvania boasts one of the largest full-time legislatures in the nation - and though its members keep busy churning out legislation, few of those bills actually become law.

Of 3,998 bills introduced in the House and Senate during the 2013-14 session, 369 bills became law, or 9.2 percent.

So far in this legislative session, which began in January of last year, just 149 of the 3,265 bills introduced have been enacted, or 4.6 percent, according to the Pennsylvania Legislative Data Processing Center.

Less than 10 percent of bills become law in Pennsylvania. Is that worth $300 million?

Read the full story at the newspaper's website.

The federal government is broke, but federal workers received $439 million on bonuses last year on top of their generous pay and benefit packages. No comment from the Obama White House.


GOP targets salaries, 'offensive' bonuses of federal workers - TheHill.com

Pennsylvania collected $67.1 million less in anticipated tax revenues for the month of October, according to the Department of Revenue.

For the fiscal year that began July 1, tax collection is $282.1 million under projections, a disturbing trend that could lead to a budget deficit by the end of the fiscal year next June 30.

Pennsylvania Revenue Department Releases October Collections

Pennsylvania Governor Corbett Declares Fiscal Emergency in City of Harrisburg

It must have been tough for the folks at Human Events to narrow the list down to 10.

Top 10 Examples of Government Stupidity - HUMAN EVENTS

From a new column by Ken McIntyre at National Review Online:

Census officials continue to grossly exaggerate the numbers of the poor, creating a false picture in the public mind of widespread material deprivation, writes Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Robert Rector in a new paper.

"Most news stories on poverty feature homeless families, people living in crumbling shacks, or lines of the downtrodden eating in soup kitchens," Rector says. "The actual living conditions of America’s poor are far different from these images."

Read the full column at the link below:

Modern Poverty Includes A.C. and an Xbox - By Ken McIntyre - The Corner - National Review Online

It's far worse than Obama and his liberal media allies are telling us.

U.S. funding for future promises lags by trillions - USATODAY.com

Charles Krauthammer explains what's really behind Barack Obama's "sky-is-falling" demand to raise the national debt limit: "Obama would like a $2 trillion debt-limit hike to get him past Election Day 2012."

Read the full column at the link below:

Our Salutary Debt-Ceiling Scare - HUMAN EVENTS

Democrats really are "Limousine Liberals."

So what if 15 million Americans are out of work? So what if 1 in 7 Americans are on food stamps? So what if home foreclosures are at record levels? So what if poverty levels have reached a new high under the Obama regime?

The liberal elites are still riding in style.

A new report by the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity says the Obama Administration has nearly doubled the number of limos for the political class in Washington compared to the last year of the Bush Administration.

From the report:

According to General Services Administration data, the number of limousines in the federal fleet increased from 238 in fiscal 2008, the last year of the George W. Bush administration, to 412 in 2010. Much of the 73 percent increase — 111 of the 174 additional limos — took place in fiscal 2009, more than eight months of which corresponded with Obama's first year in office.

Read the full report "Limousine liberals? Number of government-owned limos has soared under Obama" here.

Uncle Sam's Latest Line of Credit: $1,888,174,000,000.00 Spent Out of $1,900,000,000,000.00 | CNSnews.com

After three years of Obamanomics, the day of reckoning is approaching. There are consequences when you raise the national debt by $4 trillion in less than three years.

Standard & Poor's lowers U.S. debt rating to negative

The reason the national debt is $14 Trillion - and counting - is because you're not paying enough taxes, according to this liberal commentator.

CNBC's Erin Burnett on National Debt: 'The Problem is Our Revenue'

Most of the members of Congress from Pennsylvania earned "F" grades from the National Taxpayers Union for their 2010 votes.

Pa. has few taxpayer friends in Congress - pottsmerc.com

How many different ways can this guy find to waste our money?

On the heels of 'ObamaCare' conservatives target 'ObamaRail' - The Hill's Transportation Report

'The Party of No' is trying to stop Republicans from cutting federal spending.

Top 10 Spending Cuts Thwarted by Democrats - HUMAN EVENTS

Gov. Tom Corbett has put the brakes on a $400 million expansion of Graterford Prison in Montgomery County. The project was approved by Gov. Ed Rendell, but Corbett thinks he can save the state millions by redesigning and re-bidding the work.

"This, by no means, is a failure in design – it's an opportunity for us to improve upon the design," acting Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said. "Before we spend millions of dollars building a new prison, we need to ensure the money is being spent in an appropriate manner and that the prison design is in line with our department's mission."

Read the full release from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections at the link below:

Corbett Administration Redefines Focus of SCI-Graterford Construction Project

A Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to know why Philadelphia will not be sharing the burden of Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed cuts in education funding?

PA State Rep. Scott Petri - Petri Calls for Investigation into School Funding Irregularities