I couldn't help but notice that 71 percent of respondents to a Sun-Gazette online poll support the idea of using federal grant money to hire more police.
While the poll is unscientific, it is interesting to note that most respondents want local government to go after federal grants to support important local needs. I see where the county is considering use of federal grant money to purchase a number of buildings that were destroyed in the flood earlier this year.
The local intermediate school unit, BLAST IU17, has received a federal grant to help provide videoconferencing and long-distance learning for homebound students.
I also notice that many people in this area say they want to "shrink" the size of the federal government. Perhaps we should "think" before we "shrink" the federal government; after all, it's the federal government that supports all those important local projects.
On Election Day, will we vote for a federal government big enough to support local priorities, or will we vote against our own interests and usher in an era of austerity not seen since the Hoover administration?
Stanley Gould
Williamsport
Submitted by Virtual Newsroom
