Wows and Scowls
Scowl: The ongoing controversy over the lax response to Hurricane Katrina continues to worry citizens and now governors, who look at the bungled efforts and wonder what would happen if a similar disaster struck their home turf. Republican and Democratic heads of state alike are singing in this chorus. Blame it on red tape or the lack of a streamlined system, or on plain old ineptitude, but there’s no excuse for what happened regarding one of West Virginia’s aid efforts. Gov. Joe Manchin dispatched airplanes to ferry refugees back to the Mountain State, but five of them came back empty after sitting on a runway. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson fared no better: paperwork delayed the departure of National Guard troops he authorized to go to New Orleans.
With all the emphasis on homeland security and streamlined agency operations over the past four years, one would think that help could more easily get to those who need it at a time such as this.
Wow: Some Pennsylvania lawmakers want to reduce the state’s 30-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax in the wake of record prices that hit an average $3.22 for regular unleaded across the Commonwealth on Wednesday. Does it surprise anyone, though, that the state tax on this particular commodity is the highest in the nation? But that tax escalation tends to happen when, in times of cheap gasoline, many of those same lawmakers see an opportunity to put money in the state coffers when citizens aren’t so apt to feel the extra pinch.
As the saying goes, those chickens have now come home to roost. And if a reduction in the state gasoline sales tax is in order, it should be undertaken even if gas prices fall to more acceptable levels. Wanna’ bet that nobody will be waving the tax-reduction flag when that happens?
Wow: Commercial growth continues practically unabated in South Union Township, where the supervisors recently rezoned two acres off Route 21 to pave the way for a new, eight-store plaza situated on four acres. While this project is located in the county’s best business corridor, and we can’t dismiss the old adage that the top three factors in real estate development are “location, location, location,” it’s another chance to plug the importance of sewerage lines.
South Union undertook that commitment decades ago, when the issue was highly controversial, and it continues reaping benefits from the forward-thinking supervisors of that time. Other municipalities should, and some are, following that blueprint as they chart their own growth destinies.