Recently, the Pennsylvania state legislature passed the state budget weeks before its July deadline, making it ten years in a row the state budget has been passed before or on deadline. With a republican governor and legislature, it isn't difficult to see why the budget has been on time as of late. But, this record began before Tom Ridge became governor.

While many can list the virtues of having an on-time budget, a problem arises from this seemingly good example of productive politics: people aren't questioning where their money is going. The belief that because there is no conflict amongst the representative ranks, then everything must be okay fails to question if an absence of conflict means the presence of good judgment.

The media doesn't help with this situation. The relatively little fighting over which amount of money goes where isn't newsworthy. Thus, the media shows hardly any interest in ho-hum budget proceedings that have the same outcome every year.

There is a danger in this too much of a good thing. Suzanne Massie said it best in her husband's book Journey, "All that the Devil asks is acquiescence . . . not struggle, not conflict." The industrious state government is not being questioned. By not questioning our government, constituents send the message we aren't paying attention.

While a brawl over budget allocations shouldn't be the goal, representatives should be debating where our money is going. Constituents should also hold representatives accountable and make sure they know how their tax dollars are being spent. It should not be seen as a "record" being put in jeopardy, but Pennsylvanians becoming politically involved.