Tax Cuts and the PA Economy

Altoona Mirror has a story on proposals to cut the Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax. I had a couple other comments that didn't make it into the print edition, and another thought to the story.

1) If the Rendell administration is concerned about a possible recession, then they should cut taxes to encourage economic growth. See Matt Brouillette's testimony here.

2) The Rendell adminstration has been pretty enthusiastic about the PA economy - taking credit for slow growth and the "most jobs ever." Even though Pennsylvania's economy has been growing at half the US rate, and fares poorly in state economic rankings, Governor Rendell claims his policies are working to grow the economy. Now he cites fears of recession - but blaims national trends (and president Bush). This is the "have your cake and eat it to" of Rendell rhetoric.

3)One commentator notes that a "bleak revenue outlook" (I presume this means an increase in tax revenue less than the Governor wants to spend, but I am becoming a cynic) could affect education and Medicaid. No would suggests, except us, that the billions the state spends in corporate welfare, which isn't working to create jobs, should be eliminated