BCT Editorial – 7/3/08

This page was last updated on July 6, 2008.

Wait a year; Editorial; Beaver County Times; July 3, 2008.

The editorial subtitle is “Budget will get state through next 12 months.”

Let’s look at a few excerpts from the editorial.

“Like all budgets, the 2008-09 fiscal plan has a little something for everyone. Neither side got all it wanted, but neither side went away empty-handed. And from the taxpayers’ point of view, the good news is that it doesn’t increase any broad-based taxes or fees.”

Note the editorial appears to believe a “fiscal plan [that] has a little something for everyone” is a good thing. Translation: The executive and legislative branches of the PA government divided up the taxpayer “carcass” and got their cut of our earnings. Also note the use of “broad-based” in the last sentence. Translation: The budget includes tax and fee increases. Again that appears to be good news for the Times.

“In fact, they were able to increase overall spending by 3.8 percent.” Here the Times apparently gives a “thumbs up” to increased spending, proving my point in other critiques that Times whining about fiscal responsibility or fiscal profligacy is nothing more than crocodile tears.

The editorial noted, “That fiscal flexibility allowed the five sides — Rendell, House Democrats, House Republicans, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans to tap a number of one-time sources to come up with $500 million to plug holes in the budget.” When did funding budget increases with “one-time sources” of tax/fee revenue become “flexibility?” Of course, the spending funded by the “one-time sources” won’t disappear. Eventually the spending be funded via tax/fee increases.