This page was last updated on April 8, 2011.
Forced; Editorial; Beaver County Times; April 7, 2011.
This is simply the latest in a string of similar editorials over the past 5+ years.
The editorial starts by using Transportation for America (TfA) as a data source saying only it “promotes transportation spending.” If you can’t figure out TfA is just another lefty group from the website home page, reading the site’s “Equity Caucus” page should seal the deal. This doesn’t make the figures cited wrong, but when a “transportation” group says it’s about “economic and social equity in America,” you shouldn’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling either.
As I’ve noted previously, the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) is not exactly an independent observer. I’m not saying the ASCE assessment is incorrect, but we need to keep in mind low grades help the ASCE because low grades mean more civil engineering projects and this benefits ASCE membership. Over the last several years, the Times has used the ASCE at least 33 times as a source for its infrastructure-related editorials, yet I believe you’ll find the Times never mentioned the possibility of a conflict of interest. Among the previous editorials were “Woe are we,” “Sound the alarm” (a companion to “Woe are we”), “Falling down,” “Cutting corners,” “Look ahead,” “Attack of the E. coli,” “Looking ahead,” “Future shock,” “Bitter harvest,” “Failing grade,” “Tough calls,” “Bottoms up,” and “Road to ruin.” At least five of the editorials conjured up images of a “Third World” country.
The editorial finally gets to its point in the last paragraph when it says the solution is “the political will to increase revenue, i.e., taxes.” Note that cutting spending elsewhere isn’t mentioned as an option. As I’ve written before, since Gov. Corbett released his proposed 2011-2012 budget, Times editorials bashed all spending cuts other than symbolic cuts by the General Assembly on itself and the executive branch on itself while advocating new taxes and raising tax rates.
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.