Wows and Scowls
Scowl: Still trying to figure out how the far-reaching Medicare bill is going to work? Good luck. According to the Heritage Foundation, the prescription drug bill runs 681 pages long, weighs nearly 7 pounds and contains such clear, concise language such as this: “Increase in federal percentage assumed in second risk corridor. And equal percentage point increase in the percents applied under subparagraphs (B)(ii)(II) and (C)(ii)(II) of section 1860D-15(e)(2).” OK, now we get it. —
Wow: The largest prime number yet was discovered. We’d share it with you but we don’t have the space, as it is long enough to consume enough paper to type up two Medicare bills. Nor is it important to know that 2 to the 20,996,011th power minus one can only be divisible by itself. But the method used to compute it is far astounding. Tens of thousands of people volunteered the use of their PCs to the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, a project organized by Michigan State University student Michael Shafer. Some 210,000 computers harnessed together performed 9 trillion calculations per second and after 19 days had an answer.
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Scowl: Pennsylvania Republicans attempted this week to justify to the U.S. Supreme Court the methodology used to draw a new map of congressional districts. It was abundantly clear that politicians pick who their voters will be rather than permit voters to pick their representatives. Before Pennsylvania lost two of its 21 seats following the 2000 Census, the GOP held 11 seats to the Democrats’ 10. The margin is now 12 to 7. In designing the new map, Republicans used taxpayers’ money to tap into new technology that allowed them to peek into each precinct to find out how people vote. They didn’t just tweak lines; they carved out districts that would give them an advantage. So now Republicans must make the case before the nation’s highest court that political gerrymandering passes constitutional muster.
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Scowl: The Greene County commissioners are set to adopt a budget that increases property taxes 21 percent. That’s a substantial hike and will cost taxpayers $10 more for every $10,000 worth of property. Greene County is squeezed with declining values on coal reserves, yet it is growing its budget by $3 million to cover general costs. Commissioners blamed substantial premium hikes on health care, fire insurance and worker’s compensation. Taxpayers ought to ask the commissioners how much they have done to attempt to reduce those costs before socking them for automatic increases.
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Scowl: When Congress returns in January it will set to work enacting a mega spending bill that keeps the alphabet soup agencies simmering and serves up a healthy heaping of pork to favored lawmakers. Congress neglected to fund the government by its Oct. 1 deadline and was prepared to pass the massive end-of-the year spending bill. It failed once again. At least it gives a temporary reprieve to poor people struggling to heat their homes this winter as the federal Low Income Energy Assistance Program is targeted for the $200 million cut. That amount incidentally is nearly identical to the amount House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., intends to steer to the Tampa Bay area.
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Wow: Laurel Highlands School District appears to finally be getting its financial house in order. Auditors this week told the school board that it ended last fiscal year with an $800,000 surplus and that recordkeeping – blamed in part for causing a huge deficit – has improved. Auditors next month will present the board with a report that shows signs of encouragement. School board members need to keep on task and not indulge in overspending. Those tempted to go overboard need reminding that Laurel Highlands still owes $3 million that it borrowed last year to pay bills.
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Scowl: What is the purpose of holding fire drills at school if the school doesn’t intend to evacuate students during the real thing. Rick Adobato, Fayette EMS director and parent of a Dunbar Elementary School student, chastised the Connellsville Area School Board for keeping 600 students inside the school when a heating transformer malfunctioned last month and sent smoke through part of the building. The school called 911 but did not immediately evacuate the building. Adobato shouldn’t be the only parent asking why.