Stay tuned for more information about how we plan to have an even greater impact on the public policy debate in Pennsylvania in early 2010.

In the meantime, we’ll continue to provide occasional programs that you can download and/or listen to right here on theBOXprogram.com.

This week on THE BOX, Matt will discuss what’s in the state budget from “walking around money” to wasteful spending, and what’s out of the budget, including greater educational opportunities for children.

This week, Matt will chat will pension expert Rick Dreyfuss about how we got in this situation and how much more the taxpayers will have to pay into the retirement accounts of the state’s teachers, judges, state workers, and legislators. They will also discuss the reforms Pennsylvania needs in order to limit future taxpayer liabilities.

The ongoing budget impasse and the attendant secrecy of negotiations have many asking, What has happened to reform?

This week, Matt will explore what has happened to the commitment to change the way business is done in Harrisburg.

Leaders of the Senate and House Democrats have a budget agreement to spend nearly $28 Billion. The deal includes $200 Million in taxes from expanded gambling. Yet promises from slots machines have already fallen short for the past five years.

This week, Matt talks with Rep. Bill DeWeese about the budget and his efforts to expand table games, Michael Geer of the Pennsylvania Family Institute about his opposition to them, and with Rick Dreyfuss about the pension “deform” in Philly.

Congress wants to raise the cost of EVERYTHING. Well, they won’t say that, but the so-called “Cap & Trade” legislation that passed the House and will be considered by the Senate this fall will do just that.

This week, Matt talks with Rolf Hanson of the Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania about the impact of this legislation. Gene Barr of the PA Chamber of Business & Industry discusses a General Assembly proposal, HB 80, which would further increase energy costs to consumers, while Brian Turk of Alpha Natural Resources shares how onerous and expensive the regulatory process already is even before these bills become law. Then Steve Bloom, a lecturer at Messiah College in Management and Business, discusses what we can expect from these kinds of bad ideas in Washington and Harrisburg.

President Obama thinks government intervention can solve our health care insurance problems.  Matt talks to Peter Ferarra, author of “The Obama Health Plan: Rationing, Higher Taxes, and Lower Quality Care” about the realities and myths of ObamaCare and its potential impact in Pennsylvania.  Nate Benefield discusses the findings of a new report written by a research team headed by noted economist and former presidential advisor Dr. Arthur Laffer, entitled, The Prognosis for National Health Insurance: A Pennsylvania Perspective. And Frank Dixon of Lebanon County joins Matt to talk about a new nonprofit health clinic he’s helping launch called Volunteers in Medicine.