Grades are in: Ed Rendell flunks out

It’s report card time for the nation’s governors. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania’s favorite son, Gov. Edward G. Rendell, didn’t do so well.

I hope you’re sitting down for this mom and dad. Rendell brought home a big red "F" on his report card. Where did we go wrong? I knew he was spending too much time at Eagles games and not enough time hitting the books.

The Washington, D.C.-based CATO Institute has released a new report grading the nation’s governors on taxes and spending policies. It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who has been following Rendell’s first two years in office to learn that raising the state’s income tax by 33 percent, saddling Pennsylvania residents with a host of other nuisance taxes and funneling money into ratholes like SEPTA and the Philadelphia schools tends to sink economic prospects.

Gov. Rendell was one of only four governors to receive a grade of "F" on the CATO Institute’s "Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors: 2004." The other governors who flunked basic economics are Republican Bob Taft of Ohio, Democrat Bob Holden of Missouri and Democrat James McGreevey of New Jersey.

The CATO Institute is a non-profit public policy research foundation founded in 1977. It has no connection to the Republican Party or the Bush administration. The people behind the study believe that lower taxes, less government spending and minimal government regulations tend to stimulate the economy.

So why did Ed Rendell finish 41 out of 42 governors? (Eight governors were excluded from the study because they just began office). The only governor ranked behind Rendell was McGreevey, who resigned last year.

It appears that Rendell’s plan of siphoning $1 billion a year from working Pennsylvanians to support his massive government spending plan had something to do with his low marks. There’s also those hidden taxes, including higher fees for state inspections and emissions testing. And let’s not forget the $50 tax on workers Rendell pushed through last year, allowing communities to raise their occupational privilege tax from $10 to $52 a year.

And of course, there’s the gambling bill, the worst legislation since Prohibition. Rendell wants to tax Pennsylvania’s elderly even more by bringing slot machines to Pennsylvania so seniors won’t have to go to Atlantic City to lose more of their money.

In return for slots, Rendell said residents might get back a few hundred dollars in property tax relief in three or four years or they might get nothing if seniors don’t gamble away at least $1 billion a year. That’s Rendell’s version of property tax relief. Are you sure an "F" is the lowest grade you can earn?

The CATO study is based on 15 objective measures of fiscal performance. Four governors received "A" grades from Cato: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-California), Gov. Bill Owens (R-Colorado), Gov. Judy Martz (R-Montana) and Gov. Craig Benson (R-New Hampshire). The top-ranked Democrat governors were New Mexico’s Bill Richardson, Washington’s Gary Locke, Maine’s John Baldacci and Tennessee’s Phil Bredensen, all of whom who earned a "B."

Governors who have cut taxes and spending the most received the highest grades, according to according to Stephen Moore and Stephen Slivinski, who wrote the CATO report. Those who have increased spending and taxes the most get the lowest grades.
"Our analysis shows that states that keep tax rates low and restrain spending growth have the best economic performance and thus the best long-term fiscal health," Moore and Slivinski wrote in the report’s executive summary.

The complete CATO report can be downloaded in PDF format free of charge from the institute’s Web site: www.cato.org

Out of 12.3 million residents in Pennsylvania, is "Fast Eddie" Rendell the best we can do? No wonder Pennsylvania ranks near the bottom of just about every quality of life issue that can measured, whether it's health care, transportation, schools, the environment or job creation.

Can Pennsylvania afford four more years of Rendell’s failed tax-and-spend policies? He’s up for reelection in 2006. It might be time to homeschool our boy Eddie.

E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com