BCT Editorial – 3/11/07

This page was last updated on March 11, 2007.

A drop in the bucket; Editorial; Beaver County Times; March 11, 2007.

Since this is a refresh of previous editorials on the infrastructure topic, I’ll forego a point-by-point critique and refer you to previous critiques for most of my comments. The Times has published at least 10 editorials on this subject since March 2005.

The editorial drones on about “$1.7 billion is a drop in the bucket when it comes to addressing the nation’s deteriorating sewer systems” and chastises Congress for not providing more money.

First, “the nation’s deteriorating sewer systems” are local responsibilities. Congress has no business appropriating federal taxpayer dollars to these projects. If Center Township’s sewer system needed repairs, those of us who use the system should pay for the repairs and no one else.

Second, while the editorial is generous about spending the money, it never says from where it should come. We do have a hint about one source from a previous editorial. While most Pennsylvania policymakers want to target slot machine taxes to reduce property taxes, in “Misplaced” the Times told us those taxes should be spent on infrastructure, some of which isn’t even a commonwealth responsibility.

What is so hard about advocating a system in which people pay their own way instead of trying to pick the pockets of someone else?