Act 72 REFUTED

Rendell's stupid act feels the smackdown!

So, let me get this straight. The stupid electorate of Pennsylvania (Auskunft and I are excluded because we voted against Rendell, you idiots) decided it would be a great idea to elect Fast Eddie Rendell to the state governorship because, you know, he demonstrated exemplary qualifications in corruption and incompetence as the mayor of Philadelphia, so he'd be ideal to lead one of the largest states in the Union.

Oh, and if Pennsylvania keeps being such a socialist haven and driving away residents, we soon won't be one of the largest states in the Union. Just FYI, in case anyone in the state legislature cared about, you know, tax revenues and having people actually stay in your state.

But I DIGRESS! Rendell was elected largely on his promise to reduce property taxes by seeking alternate ways of funding public education. It turns out that his great plan was to use revenue generated from slot machines to fund public schooling. Because, when I think of a morally upright way to fund education, I think of tempting poor people with the promise of quick, easy cash through gambling. Yeah. Anyway, school districts are not a fan of the idea for a couple reasons. First, and DEFINITELY most important to school officials, is that Act 72 placed certain restrictions on the taxing authority of school boards. That is, school boards would have to submit tax increases to a public referendum unless those increases were meant to fund certain well-defined projects. In other words, the school districts wouldn't be able to raise local taxes for no other reason that to bleed you dry. School districts don't like being told that, you know, it's your money and if you are going to be forced to give it up to the government, you should have some say in how it's spent. You people who want to keep your own money and freedom sicken me.

Seriously.

But, the second problem with Act 72 was the fact that schools would have to depend on slots revenue to compensate them for their decreasing take of property taxes. And, apparently, the consultants Rendell got to work for him (I'm sure they're totally unbiased) said that the slots would generate a billion dollars of revenue, which would be distributed among schools to help fund education. Apparently some rather ignorant *cough* people thought, "Hm, could Ed Rendell, the corrupt, lying, union-cock-sucking-former-mayor-of-Philadelphia be lying to us? Maybe we should think twice about depending on his phony gambling revenue numbers." And, oops, Rendell's act got served.

It's cool, because apparently Rendell never meant for school districts to get a choice in the matter, since he's about ready to force them to accept it anyway.

Don't you love Democrats?