Shame

Well, it appears that Pennsylvania has a "political" budget. Link here.

Yes, it's a political budget because it seems more designed to meet the needs of politicians (Democrats can say "we take care of children" and Republicans can say "we cut spending") than it does the needs of real Pennsylvanians. Among the more ridiculous provisions:

• An increase in taxes on cigarettes (Good!) but no extra tax on cigars and chewing tobacco (Insane!); maybe this is because the governor and his GOP friends in the legislature do so enjoy a good cigar every now and then
• The sales tax now applies to entertainment tickets, but not to sporting events; when last I checked, sporting events are a form of entertainment
• Gambling is extended to table games; funny, but wasn't all of this gambling revenue supposed to go directly back to taxpayers in the form of reduced property taxes?

No sense inflating my blood pressure any more than it has to be. One point though...you will see a lot of comments being made about "Rendell and the spend-o-crats"; one such comment was made to the Scranton Times article by someone named "Santo". Apparently people such as this have conveniently forgotten that Rendell had the willing assistance of Republican leaders in the Legislature in crafting this nonsense.

Welcome to Pennsylvania.