BCT Editorial – 3/13/08

This page was last updated on March 15, 2008.

Promises, promises; Editorial; Beaver County Times; March 13, 2008.

This editorial subtitle is “District’s field of dreams went down with Veon’s ouster from office.”

Let’s look at some excerpts from the beginning and end of the editorial.

“Promises made to the Rochester Area School District show what is wrong with depending on the clout of a state lawmaker to pay for a project instead of it being funded because of its worth.

“This situation would never have come about if funding had been based on the importance of the project instead of Veon’s importance in Harrisburg.

“What Veon did was not out of the ordinary. Lawmakers routinely use so-called walking around money to fund local projects of dubious value — and it’s wrong. State tax dollars should be spent on programs that benefit the people of Pennsylvania, not advance political careers.”

As in “Changing times” from November 16, 2006, this editorial misses the point. You’ll note the editorial focuses on a project’s alleged “value” or “worth” without ever mentioning for whom the project has “value” or “worth” or who should pay for such projects.

Rochester wanted renovated sports facilities but local taxpayers didn’t want to pay for them out of their own pockets. Instead, they wanted you and me to pay for them. The president of the Rochester teacher union even referred to the funding by you and me as “free dollars,” not just once but twice. If the renovations are so important to the people of the Rochester school district, why don’t they pay for the improvements themselves? As I wrote the aforementioned letter critique, “I want to be clear I have nothing against the Rochester football team. I believe sports participation is a great activity. That said, if the residents of a school district want to field sports teams or provide other extracurricular activities, those residents should find a way to fund these activities themselves. It’s simply wrong to force taxpayers across the commonwealth to fund things you want.”

To me, the bottom line is this saying I learned as a child. “If you want something done right, do it [and pay for it] yourself.”