send to a friend | print | comment

Knox has solid plans to improve the Pennsylvania budget

It’s not surprising that Tom Knox, the wealthy Philadelphia businessman and Democratic candidate for governor, has stated his concrete ideas to improve Pennsylvania’s budget.

In The Reading Eagle, reporter Mary E. Young covers Knox’s plans for the state’s beleaguered finances. The article has been re-published on Knox’s campaign Web site.

Among Knox’s plans are the collection of about $1.6 billion in past-due taxes, the closing of a loophole that sends approximately $750 million in taxes to Delaware, the elimination of $220 million that is “given to legislators to hand out in their communities,” according to Young, and the expansion of casinos to include table games.

Knox would use the revenue from table games to pay for the interest costs on a $3.5 billion bond from the federal government. The money would be used to train workers and incubate businesses in the Keystone State.

Young’s article highlights plans by a candidate that has remained relatively under-the-radar. The plans are concrete, pragmatic and realistic and perhaps more deliberate, thoughtful and transparent than much of what we have seen from state lawmakers.

As a businessman, Knox takes a practical approach to budget problems. His plans represent real cuts that can be made to the budget without endangering the welfare of the Pennsylvania education system or other state-funded programs. The cuts also focus on aspects of the budget that represent wasteful spending, making them necessary steps to take that are relatively easy to stomach.

August 20, 2009 at 2:26 pm

--Kenneth Elder

Tags: Tom Knox

comments

comments [7] | post a comment