Pine and Richland park fees

Do you think Pine Township and Richland Township should consider raising the fees to use their parks? Or is providing parks for youth sports socialism as the tea party likes to call it? Is that how the Repulican Elected Officials that promised to cut government came up with these plans to raise park fees because they couldn't cut elsewhere?

From the Post Gazette:

Some park fees to increase in Pine
Thursday, January 19, 2012
By Sandy Trozzo

Pine supervisors Tuesday increased fees for some park facilities and discussed whether to regulate the locations for gas and oil wells.

The superivsors voted 5-0 to raise some park fees to recoup some of the maintenance costs and on the recommendation of the parks and recreation commission.

The cost of renting a pavilion will remain the same, but a permit to serve alcohol will rise from $10 to $25.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12019/1204387-54.stm#ixzz1jxe1appK

From the Pine Creek Journal:

Fees for playing fields causing issues in Richland Township
by Deborah Deasy Staff Writer
January 5, 2012

Richland-area athletic organizations want township officials to reduce proposed 2012 fees for use of playing fields at Richland Community Park.

"Nobody is going to be able to afford to go there and play," John Hall of Richland Church Softball League told Richland supervisors last month.

Township administrators want to raise the field use fees, however, to offset reportedly increasing bills from contractors who mow the grass, remove garbage and perform other chores to help maintain the park's fields.

Under the newly proposed fee structure, Richland Church Softball League, for example, faces a $5,080 bill in 2012 April-to-August for one-night-per week use of a field at Richland Community Park. The league paid $390 for use of the same field in 2011....
Read more:
http://www.yournorthhills.com/northhillsnews/article/fees-playing-fields-causing-issues-richland-township

Dear Republicans, Congressman Jason Altmire is a Healthcare Hero

I don't try to hide how much I respect Congressman Altmire. The most admirably trait of Congressman Altmire is how much he cares about representing the complex 4th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. During the healthcare debate Altmire was attacked by the extremes of both side and insisted on taking the time to actually wait for the bill to be released and listen to as many constituents as possible before he made his vote. Congressman Altmire has repeatedly said that the 4th Congressional District was overwhelmingly against the so called 'Obamacare' and that was one of the main reasons for his no vote.

My opinion on the healthcare bill is as such. We need healthcare reform on two fronts:

1. We need to bring down the cost of healthcare. The cost is breaking the backs of small businesses and our governments at every level. Healthcare costs are being spent on paperwork and executives instead of true care.

2. We need fair coverage for all that will not bankrupt our Medicare/Medicaid spending and overall government spending.

While the Democrats ran on the platform of going after both fronts of the healthcare battle, at some point they decided one was better than the other. My opinion is that this move was made to appease the doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies because all the healthcare bill did was shift the cost to the government. So instead of attacking the biggest healthcare problem facing our economy and small businesses everywhere, the White House and Democratic leadership said we'll try to pull the moral card in the press and just say we are covering everyone!

This didn’t work because unless someone had a personal experience with not getting healthcare coverage or someone close to them (that they don't judge negatively as lazy) that has had an issue with not having insurance the regular citizen isn’t going to (as Bill Clinton would have said) "feel your pain."

So Congressman Jason Altmire made the right decision by doing his job and trying to fight for deficit reducing measures to be included in a healthcare law. At the end of the day, not only did the healthcare bill add billions of dollars to our debt, but the 4th Congressional District didn't want it passed. Congressman Altmire did the right thing by representing the constituents that he serves and not the party he belongs too.

What did Congressman Altmire get for this thoughtful concept of governing for the people and from the middle? He got a lot of right wing candidates that said he was just pandering and Altmire didn't do enough. To me the only issue any Rothfus supporter had was about voting against anyone with a dreaded D next to their name.

“Altmire can say that he voted against it, but he did not stop the agenda,” Rothfus said.

Rothfus says it's not enough that Altmire didn't vote for President Barack Obama's health care law

Even though Mr. Altmire didn't vote for the health care bill, Mr. Rothfus said Altmire should have been more forceful in his denunciation of the bill instead of sitting on the fence for so long.

Although he did come to the right decision, he shouldn't have sat on the fence as long as he has," Ms. Buchanan said. "People in the district have been clear they are opposed to 'Obamacare.'

Keith Rothfus: “Jason Altmire needs to say no to the new packaging of this old plan. We need to provide more options for health care coverage, including interstate marketing of insurance, tax fairness for individuals who buy their own insurance, and tort reform. We do not need a rehash of the legislation that was overwhelmingly rejected less than a year ago.”

So to my Republican neighbors and friends that tell me that Congressman Altmire is just a lapdog for Pelosi (FYI - He didn't vote for her as Minority Leader) and all the other hypocritical right wing talking points you are spewing, remember that according to Sean Hannity Congressman Altmire is a healthcare reform hero and a GREAT AMERICAN. (Altmire clip is around 1:20)

Random RNC Mailers

Just thought I would share.

Pine-Richland School Board wants to build more?

I was shocked when I saw a few weeks ago an article about the Pine-Richland School District looking to raise taxes. I was mostly shocked because the make up of the Board is 100% Republican. As I read through the article I knew there has to be a catch as to why Republicans might have to raise taxes. It is the Democrats fault!!

"This is the cause of mismanagement by the state government," Rich Herko, board vice president, said. "And this is not a surprise to the legislatures, even when they reduced our contribution to the PSERS, they soft-pedaled it and kicked it down the lane.

"State legislatures and our governor (Ed Rendell) have done nothing about it and don't intend to do anything about it either. They don't view it as their problem -- they see it as the school districts' problem."

I love that it couldn't possibly by the fault of the school board. It is all the fault of a lame duck governor and a Democratic State House majority of the last 3 years. I'm sure the Republican controlled Senate has nothing to do with it when blaming the State Government.

I can understand that government and schools are expensive and costs will go up as time goes on, but I couldn't help but wonder why the state's amount of support became such a small percentage of the budget. So I wanted to look at how much the local school board has raised the budget in the last 5 years. In 2004-2005 the budget was $44.9 million. This year they are proposing a budget of $66.6 million. In times when government are doing everything to cut back this fiscally conservative school board has raised their budget by 48% in just a few years.

I have no problem with cost of government going up to some degree. It is bound to happen. I do have major issues when local elected officials rail against the federal government and state government for partisan issues while at same time they can't keep their own pocketbooks in order. At a time when governments are trying to cut back, Pine-Richland school district builds a fancy upper elementary building to make parents in Suburbia feel safer because their kids will just be around kids their own age. Did anyone look at what the transportation costs are to have 3 school buildings that service the entire geographic school district before they built an "upper elementary school"?

To top off these Republican comments about property tax raises, (that aren't their fault) the school board is looking to add a $30 million dollar addition to a school. So next time one of these school board members tells you something about how much Democrats are all about taxing and spending, ask them why they feel the need to tax and spend on a special interest that they care about so deeply.