PSoTD

Because somebody will.

Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie will become the only state park with beaches patrolled by lifeguards.

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources says it is cutting 84 lifeguard positions at 15 other state parks with beaches.

Angry Pennsylvania taxpayers want to stop the State Legislature from giving away free calendars.

Activist Tim Potts of Democracy Rising PA said the calendars are mere self-promotion.

"It is not as though people are sending them letters saying, 'You need to send me a calendar.' The state ought to be selling those calendars, not giving them away," Potts said. "That way the taxpayers would be getting a benefit out of it."

The Senate paid $41,500 to print 56,500 calendars. The House paid $90,000 to print 240,000 calendars, records showed.

House leaders did not respond to requests for comment.

"The calendar is one of the many informational materials made available to constituents, such as the Pennsylvania Manual, road maps, other travel information, packets of educational material for school groups, and brochures describing various state programs," said Erik Arneson, a spokesman for Senate Republicans.

"The calendars contain no politically motivated content," said Charlie Tocci, a spokesman for Senate Democrats. "This year's edition features Pennsylvania natives who became American military heroes."

Nathan Benefield of the Commonwealth Foundation said printing doesn't begin to cover the total cost. Benefield said the three calendars his office received each carried $1.65 postage.

"Some of the 296,500 were kept to give out by hand. If I assumed that 200,000 were mailed, that puts the total cost to taxpayers at $371,500," Benefield said.

I dunno. As a Pennsylvania taxpayer, I can't excited about this. The calendars do have a bit of educational value. Your kid might learn something if you stuck one up in the kitchen. The Angry Taxpayers squad will probably have them taking out historical markers next.

I guess it's possible some people may decide to vote for the nice man who gave them a calendar. Maybe they could print fewer of them, do them a bit cheaper or stop mailing them out. But in a sixty billion dollar budget, there have to be more egregious areas of waste to focus on.

But, of course, there's little chance that the issue of public service volunteerism will be discussed in Pennsylvania by candidates in the primary, because by the time the primary schedule reaches Pennsylvania, the news media will have decreed both races over.

for your consideration.