May 25, 2007 4 min read

All the sanctimonious squawking by House Republicans over comments made by U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha gives me a chuckle. The GOP sought to reprimand Murtha, but failed 219-189 on a largely party-line vote, because the Johnstown Democrat reportedly told a Republican congressman “you will not get any (budget) earmarks, now and forever.” That representative, Mike Rogers of Michigan, had tried without success to strike a $23 million earmark for a drug intelligence center in Murtha’s district, which spans Fayette and Greene counties. Republicans said that Murtha violated ethics rules when he confronted Rogers on the House floor.

Geez, it’s not like House Republicans, who helped spend more money than anybody ever did in the past several years, have a strong philosophical aversion to earmarks. The thing I like about Murtha is, he tells it like it is. And what he was telling Rogers was, “You mess with me, I’ll mess with you.”

Think that message isn’t sent by someone at least a hundred times a day in Washington, D.C.?

Voting machine fuss

What’s suddenly the big problem with Fayette County’s new electronic voting machines? They were used in two prior elections and it was mostly smooth sailing, with very few complaints. Now, in the just-concluded primary election, which had a woeful 30 percent voter turnout, people are complaining about long lines.

I voted on the dial machine May 15 and, even with a lengthy ballot, it took me less than two minutes to finish. Understandably, older citizens may need a little more time. But fundamentally, most third-graders could be taught how to use the machines in less than five minutes.

Long lines? When I voted in the 2004 general election at the huge South Union Township 1 precinct, the line stretched the length of the South Union Township Fire Hall. And that’s when the old lever-style machines were still being used.

The commissioners may need to buy some more of the electronic machines, but a bigger problem is the need to realign the voting districts. Some of them need consolidated; others, like in South Union Township, need broken up.

And it does make sense to have some chairs for those who need to sit, particularly given the county’s high number of senior citizens. That’s a common-sense courtesy. The commissioners should make that happen.

And the best public schools are …

In its most recent issue, Newsweek magazine ranked the top 100 public high schools in the United States. None were from Fayette County. Or Greene County. Or Washington County. None of that’s surprising, for various reasons.

But not a single public high school in the entire state of Pennsylvania made the list. Not one. There were plenty from Texas, Florida and New York, though. And for those who will say, “We didn’t make the list because we have a lot of poor (as in lacking money) students,” consider this: At the top-rated school, Talented and Gifted in Dallas, 33 percent of students qualify for subsidized lunches.

At the number-two school, Science/Engineering Magnet, also in Dallas, 46 percent of students get a subsidized lunch. And at number nine Preuss UCSD in La Jolla, Calif., 100 percent of students receive subsidized lunches.

Guess poverty isn’t used as an excuse everywhere. (I wonder if those schools have an anti-nepotism hiring policy …)

Capitol priorities

The need to pass a state budget by June 30 is predictably dominating the agenda in Harrisburg. But looking beyond all the jawing one can view on PCN, remember that no new laws have been passed regarding open records or reforming the Legislature.

True, the House Speaker’s Reform Commission has made a slew of recommendations, and the House has changed its rules, but the need to change laws remains unfinished business. Nothing is more important than that in the long run.

Paul Sunyak is editorial page editor of the Herald-Standard. You can reach him at 724-439-7577 or psunyak@heraldstandard.com