Empty Nest/Full House

This crazy world of ours

Another cop scandal ... why is it that recent months have seen controversies among the police ranks from Jersey Shore to Hughesville, and now Montoursville. Good to know that the Williamsport P.D. is not alone in having its reputation blemished by the misdeeds of a few, given the reputation this city can't seem to shake in the eyes of its country neighbors.

No recession? Really? That's the latest economic forecast to come this way. So why is it that so many people spent the winter freezing, huddled around space heaters that the fire department warns can be dangerous?

Gov. Rendell is not going to send out stimulus checks. Good, I say. I wasn't going to get one anyway, as they were intended for the very low-income only. The Legislature demanded he include the middle class, which he wasn't going to do. I, for one, am thrilled that our legislators in Harrisburg for once thought to include those of us above the line considered worthy of help who still struggle, or nobody at all.

The governor also says people 45 to 65 should consider buying long-term care insurance to cover our costs in our last years, when our bodies have broken down to the point that we need assistance. That's great, but when you can't even pay the cost of heat (the fuel oil bill yesterday was $3.79 a gallon), and the private enterprise for which you work has replaced the pension with a 401-k plan, and you know you need to save for retirement, (deep breath) and then the price of food goes up -- as does everything else down the line -- and the prescriptions you need to keep your aging body from falling apart too fast come into play (it's not just senior citizens who struggle under the label of fixed income), and you cancel your subscriptions to anything resembling entertainment because you still like to eat, what's the solution? A second job? No, get a government job! That seems to be the last bastion where a person can get it all, from pension to health care to a livable wage. The government, at least, cares for its own while dictating to and taking from private businesses and folks who would like to do more than just survive.

And right around the corner, folks, it's time to talk school taxes. Maybe we can raise them a bit because we need police officers in the hallways to help our young ones learn right from wrong.