Lincoln Blog

July 21, 2008:

It is always interesting the way the spending interests frame the debate.

For example, the current debate over paying to fix Pennsylvania's crumbling roads and bridges. Judging from legislative proposals, and even media coverage, there are but two options available: lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike to foreign interests, or toll Interstate 80.

Nobody speaks of a third option: cutting wasteful spending from the current budget and using that money to fix the roads and bridges.

Of course "wasteful spending" is in the eye of the beholder. But, for starters, let's look at the money spent by the four legislative caucuses on themselves. At least a portion of that money, according to the Attorney General and a grand jury, has been spent illegally.

How about we dramatically reduce the money the legislature spends on itself and redirect that money to fixing our highway infrastructure?

Then, let's go to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. A more bloated and inefficient bureaucracy would be hard to find (although I am sure we could).

Were PennDOT to cut down on the amount of money being spent on administration and re-direct those funds to actually fixing the roads and bridges a significant part of the problem could be resolved.

And then there is the little matter of the Governor's profligate spending. Insteading of adding to the commonwealth's debt load by the hundreds of millions of dollars each yeaar, let put on the shelf such gigantic government spending plans as socialized health care and spend the money on the core functions of government, such as maintaining our roads and bridges.

The really is a third way. Not that you will every hear anybody talking about it.

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