Wows & Scowls
Scowl: With the illegal immigration debate raging all over the nation, Wednesday’s police pickup of two illegals at the Uniontown bus station, where they reportedly got into a verbal spat with an area woman, underscores that the problem is hitting close to home. If you’ve been following the national debate, we’d like you to dwell on just one aspect of the local angle: the Hispanic men reportedly had been fired from their jobs at a Uniontown restaurant. Do you really think that in jobs-starved Fayette County, these were jobs that Americans simply do not want? The “scowl” here goes to the federal government for failing to plug a porous border, and for not doing enough to punish employers who hire illegals. Wow: Ever-Greene Technology Park in Greene County is set to get its first tenant, the U.S. Air Force contractor RJ Lee Corp., on June 1. The addition of any new jobs is good news. Let’s see if there’s any shortage of Americans willing to work there, or elsewhere in our area for that matter, for a competitive wage and benefits package.
Scowl: Gasoline prices are on the rise again, with the $3-a-gallon barrier likely to be broken soon. There are certain to be all types of justifications for this price spike, but all of them are hard to swallow in a time of record oil company profits. The upshot is significantly higher prices for consumers, many of whom are already feeling pinched at the pump.
Scowl: What kind of scumbag would vandalize, break in or steal from a church? In recent weeks those things have happened to churches in New Salem, Leckrone, Allison and, most recently, Richeyville. In the latter incident, a 43-year-old man reportedly smashed a glass door and stole a jug containing $500 worth of donations for the needy. These incidents are proof that the fabric of a solid society is unraveling.
Scowl: Harrisburg isn’t the only place where you’ll find career politicians living large at the public trough. Members of the U.S. Congress can retire at age 60 after 12 years of service, and get an immediate $25,000-a-year pension, plus lifetime benefits of up to $800,000. If he or she serves only five years in office, they get taxpayer-subsidized health care until they become Medicare eligible. Automatic cost-of-living increases are automatically built into their pensions, something rare in most private-sector pension plans. If you serve 20 years, you can retire at age 50 with full benefits. If you want a return to true “pubic service,” you should pressure congress to eliminate its lucrative pension plan. That would force most people to enter government for the right reasons, and to move on to a new, real-world career at some point.
Wow: The family of World War II Staff Sgt. William Lowery of Republic, missing in action and presumed dead following a 1944 airplane crash in Papua New Guinea, at last has closure as to his fate. A 2002 search of a ravine by U.S. experts turned up dog tags and skeletal remains, and Lowery’s were recently put to rest in a most befitting place, Arlington National Cemetery. For all of us, it’s another reminder of the type of sacrifice made by many of what author Peter Jennings correctly dubbed, “The Greatest Generation.”
Wow: The Fayette Civic Forum is once again performing its civic duty by hosting a candidates’ forum Thursday, April 27, at the State Theatre in Uniontown. It will begin at 6 p.m. and feature candidates for the 51st (8 p.m.) and 52nd (6 p.m.) legislative districts, currently represented by retiring state Reps. Larry Roberts and James Shaner, respectively. These forums afford voters the chance to eye up candidates and form their own perspectives. Try to attend.