BCT Editorial – 1/16/06

This page was last updated on January 16, 2006.

Salutes & Boots; Editorial; Beaver County Times; January 16, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Boot: To congressional Republicans for suddenly getting religion when it comes to a ban on privately funded congressional trips. The AP reports Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., said GOP leaders were ‘seriously considering’ the need to eliminate all privately financed travel. Of course, they’re not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. They’re contemplating this move only because of the heat being generated by the scandal revolving around convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It would have been more impressive - and worth a salute - if they had done this when they took control of Congress in 1994.”

[RWC] This is a “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” situation for Republicans in the eyes of the Times. There’s no question reform of lobbying rules and reporting is long overdue. What’s a hoot is the Times picks on Republicans and ignores Democrats. For the vast majority of the 60+ years from 1933 to 1995, Democrats controlled both houses of Congress and did nothing. They also controlled the Senate for most of 2001 and 2002 and did nothing. Even when Democrats weren’t in control they didn’t squeal about the lobbying rules. Care to guess why?

“Salute: To the Rendell administration for its plans to provide $6 million to colleges and universities across the state to hire more research faculty and help convert their ideas into new products and services. The AP reports the funding will come from the state’s Keystone Innovation Zone program. Half the money will be set aside for grants that will provide seed money to create or improve programs that help move university research to the marketplace. The rest will go toward hiring more than a dozen new researchers statewide. These schools are valuable assets. This program can only enhance their value.”

[RWC] The last thing colleges and universities need is more taxpayer dollars. The influx of taxpayer dollars is a prime contributor to the high price of education.