Gino Piroli – 10/4/04

This page was last updated on October 4, 2004.

Church, road were firsts in Greene Township; Gino Piroli; Beaver County Times; October 4, 2004.

Leave it to Mr. Piroli to sneak in some Bush bashing in a column whose focus is supposed to be Greene Township history.

Below is a detailed critique of the relevant portion of the subject column.

“President Bush recently boasted about having $7 billion to construct new schools in Iraq, and in The Times that day, we read that there isn’t money available to build a new Ambridge-Aliquippa bridge or Beaner Hollow Road.”

[RWC] I found nothing to confirm Mr. Piroli’s claim that “President Bush recently boasted about having $7 billion to construct new schools in Iraq.” It’s possible President Bush said it, but I found no quotes. I found numerous references to the importance of rebuilding Iraq’s schools, but no specific cost figures.

Please explain why the federal government should supply funds to build a bridge that begins and ends in Beaver County or repair a 1.2-mile two-lane local road that’s mostly in a single municipality. If the bridge or road spanned two states, you might have an argument for federal funds.

“The Ambridge Area School district is looking for $4 million for a school, and many other municipalities and school districts have had to scale down projects because of financial restraints with no federal money available.”

[RWC] According to the Constitution, the federal government has no role in education. Municipalities and school districts should be able to spend only that which local taxpayers are willing and able to pay for. Dumping local responsibilities on the commonwealth or the feds fosters waste and living beyond our means.

“We could use some of that $200 billion being spent in Iraq or some money recaptured from the tax cuts for the rich.”

[RWC] Let’s get this straight. Mr. Piroli wants the federal government to abdicate a constitutional responsibility – national defense – so it can spend money on things for which the federal government has no responsibility?

Did you wonder where the $200 billion figure came from? The Democrat National Committee made up this figure and Mr. Piroli did his fellow travelers a favor in repeating it. I have no doubt the war financial cost will eventually exceed $200 billion, but it has not yet. By the end of September 2004, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that both military and reconstruction expenditures would reach approximately $120 billion.

Regarding “tax cuts for the rich,” yes they did get cuts because everyone got cuts. What Mr. Piroli didn’t write was that the relative income tax burden of the wealthy actually increased. That is, as a percentage of income taxes paid, the wealthy bear a larger share now than they did before the Bush tax cuts. Why does the socialist solution to every problem include taking money from people who earned it and giving it to people who didn’t?