Over time any organization, be it a state, a corporation or club can become a victim of policies and procedures that cannot get changed because entrenched interests block any movement away from the status quo. Pennsylvania and its municipalities are prime examples of such a situation.

The list of perpetual, perennial unsolved problems is long including archaic alcoholic beverage control, antiquated and confusing property assessment laws, costly prevailing wage laws, the absence of Right to Work, excessive deference to public sector unions including Act 111 and the right to strike for teachers and public transit workers, ruinously expensive pension plans, high corporate taxes and extraordinary reliance on government led and subsidized economic development to name a few big ones.  

Year after year, these hindrances to freedom and economic vitality go unaddressed.  Indeed, they are essentially accepted as part of the landscape that cannot and will not be altered by the state's government.  As a result, the Commonwealth treads water, constantly trying to find second and third best solutions that are not really solutions. More money for development, more money for education, gaming, lotteries, etc., to no avail. None of these efforts can offset the negative effects of the real problems the state is unable to confront head on. 

While hope may spring eternal, realistically there appears to be little hope for significant improvements in the fundamentals for a very long time.