A Heritage Foundation Special Report

When a state taxes something there will be less of it and when it rewards something there will be more of it. Delaware’s tax structure heavily taxes those who are most likely to create sustainable economic growth and new jobs, but rewards businesses like Fisker Automotive who receive generous state aid without creating any jobs.     High tax rates are a factor in a drop in the tax base when those paying the most decide states like Florida or Texas are more appealing.The princ

Despite absorbing some blows, manufacturing in Delaware has survived and it appears that better days are ahead. Over the past two decades Delaware manufacturing employment has plummeted from 48,000 to 26,000, an astounding decline of over 40%. Scanning the landscape, Delaware no longer has an automobile manufacturing industry, the chemical industry is down to one-fourth its former size, pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca is eliminating 550 research positions, and the major ref

10/2/2012   When the Caesar Rodney Institute launched its Transparent Delaware website in March of this year, the intent was to include with the individual state payroll and vendor data, the most recent state pension data. The request for the pension data was denied on the basis of statute 29 Del c 8308 (d). That statute requires that all records relating to pensions and other post-employment benefits “shall be confidential.”   Although this statute is unlikely to withstand a

Over time increases in Delawares state and local government tax burden reduces the growth of total employment in the First State.

Is a $2.4 million grant to CIGNA an appropriate use of state funds?

9/28/2012   As a public service and to boost government transparency, the Caesar Rodney website includes payroll data for every state government employee and all vendor transactions. While recently updating this information through June of 2011, CRI ran into a roadblock with regard to adding pension data for retired state workers.   The general assembly has written a statute into the state code that requires all pension data on individuals to be kept confidential (29 Del C &8

The Caesar Rodney Institute’s analysis of the Universal Recycling bill, SB234 indicates tonnage diverted for the added recycled material will have a potential value of $0.8 million/yr.  Costs to Delaware residents will be $28.6 million/yr. So, each $1 of benefit will cost Delawareans $38 in spending! DSWA landfills have an estimated remaining capacity of 56 million tons and an expected life of thirty years. Thirty years of diverted tonnage will add about 7 months to the expec

Regardless of what happens in coming months in the national economy, Delaware will avoid a double dip.

When I was a kid, my favorite Superman comics featured Bizzaro World, a place where everything was topsy-turvy and kryptonite was good for you. Today, you can find a real-life congressional version of Bizzaro World at the House Agriculture Committee, a place where deficit spending is rarely criticized and corporate welfare is stoutly defended. On Wednesday, the Republican committee chairman, Frank Lucas, successfully blocked a small but bipartisan effort to reduce agricultura