WEEKLY EDITORIAL RECAP

THURSDAY

PORK ON THE MENU

When is government pork not really government pork? Why, when it's your government pork, of course.

Consider Gov. Jim Gibbons. Having presided over perhaps the worst budget crisis in state history, Gov. Gibbons is a staunch opponent of wasteful government spending. Yet on Tuesday he was applauding the federal stimulus bill for providing money to fund the restoration of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. ...

One wonders whether Gov. Gibbons also approves of the millions handed to the National Endowment for the Arts to put on jazz festivals and puppet shows, or the grants given to the National Institutes of Health to examine whether drinking by female college students can lead to casual sex. (Duh!)

It comes down to this: Why should taxpayers in Michigan's Upper Peninsula or Florida's Panhandle have to pay for a Virginia City tourist train that can't make it on its own?

It's pork, governor. The fact that we're the ones pulling up to the table doesn't change reality.

FRIDAY

CREDIT CARD

In a letter to the governor, higher education Chancellor Daniel Klaich said cutting higher education spending now would be "virtually impossible" because contracts have been executed for the school year, registration for the next semester is nearly completed and schedules have been published. Instead, Mr. Klaich urged Gov. Gibbons to avoid cuts by using the $160 million line of credit approved by the 2009 Legislature to "balance the budget."

But during a news conference, Gov. Gibbons said he opposes tapping into the credit line, stating it's "unacceptable" to create debt in order to cover state operating expenses.

He is absolutely correct ... to avoid incurring debt to cover operating expenses, especially at a time when state population growth has slowed and many prices are dropping.