Stumbling block
Ridge's budget will negatively affect average Pennsylvanians

Short on details and long in theory, Gov. Tom Ridge is setting himself up as the nip-and-tuck governor. Taking a peek at his proposed budget, which will be introduced into legislation tomorrow, it is clear, to Ridge, that change equals cuts.

Gambling with polished-up Reaganomics, Ridge has decided to deal a hand that would leave most Pennsylvanians a bit flushed -- except for the state's business owners. Ridge is proposing a cut in the corporate net income tax and at the same time preparing for welfare cuts.

From the public school system to the welfare system, Ridge is not looking to revamp and revitalize but to make cuts. Instead of creating a new welfare program to help Pennsylvania's underclass, Ridge's budget will merely scrape and scratch at an already failed system. His proposed budget is less revolutionary, more raw deal.

In an attempt to cure the state's failing public schools, Ridge offers a voucher system or "Education Opportunity Grants." These vouchers would distribute up to $1,000 per qualified child, money that parents could use to send their children to a private school or public school in a neighboring district. Although vouchers could go to needy residents looking for a way out, it does nothing for already existing public schools nor those schools' students.

The "Education Opportunity Grants" provide only opportunities for those lucky enough to get them. By implementing this $38.5 million education lottery, Ridge is ignoring the existing public schools. Although private schools have always thrived, and would only be bolstered by this plan, public schools will continue to plummet. A good education will not be a right, but a privilege.

Ridge is offering to eliminate welfare's "transitionally needy" category that consists of about 20 percent of Pennsylvanians on welfare. This blanket cut is both irresponsible and uncreative. Instead of offering sweeping changes to a system that both Democrats and Republicans believe needs a major overhaul, Ridge is looking for an easy way out.

In cutting the "transitionally needy" benefits, small payments given for two months over a two-year period, he is mainly affecting those on the way to supporting themselves.

He's giving the poor another stumbling block.

Ridge's proposed budget gives all average citizens another stumbling block.