The outrage rages on

From the western end of the state, another columnist bemoans the legislative pay-raise. This one has a novel suggestion, after comparing the number of PA legislators to those from the other high-end state governments like CA and NY -- we should trim back the number of reps and senators until they are more in line with the ratios elsewhere.

If it was time to face facts in this budget due to declining federal money, aging population and double-digit health-care inflation, then it's time to face facts about our swollen Legislature. The cost of keeping these people employed is no longer tolerable. It's time to cut their numbers in half.
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What's needed is a political groundswell so widespread that nobody can afford to ignore it. Candidates should be asked to sign a pledge that they will vote in the next session to cut their own numbers in half, effective in X number of years (but no more than 10). That gives the old hands time to retire and the rest plenty of notice. Those who refuse to sign are dogged at every step -- meetings in their districts, pickets, blogs, e-mails, letters, phone calls, billboards, Web sites, newspaper ads, letters to the editor.

If it's so hard to attract quality folks that we need to hike their wages, then perhaps the answer is to settle for a smaller yield . . .