Pa. Turnpike Bean Counters Cave On Tixs

Outrage from customers and state officials forced Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission bureaucrats to consider commonsense and change a policy of not placing rates on toll tickets.

The commission removed the exit prices  to save  bucks on ticket-printing for future rate hikes.

It cost $280,000 to print a year’s worth of tickets and not listing fares was expected to save $100,000 since all tickets would be able to be used regardless of rate changes.

Of course, it would also slow traffic as motorists tried to figure out  fares and, more disconcertingly, it would make it easier to boil the frog by making fare hikes less transparent.

Among those instrumental in getting the bean counters to see that a penny saved could be a dollar lost was Auditor General Jack Wagner.

Still, turnpike users are stuck with the guess-the-fare tickets until new ones can be printed. This may take up to six-months.

Drivers, in the meantime, can ask toll collectors the price or call  call 866-976-8747or visit www.paturnpike.com .

The unpriced tickets start Jan. 2  when the 10-percent increase for cash customers takes effect. This means that driving the length of the road from Ohio to Philadelphia will cost a cash-payer $32.30.

The rate for E-ZPass users is rising 3 percent. Driving the length from Ohio will cost an E-ZPass user $30.17 in ten days.

Thank A Soldier

Xerox is sponsoring a website which allows one to thank a soldier serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. It can be found here .

The site sends an image of a thank you card designed by a young person along with a short message. The process  takes seconds.

Kudos to Xerox and thank you Cathy Craddock for passing it on.

Rep. Lawrence Nixes Pension, Per Diems

John Lawrence, the Tea Party Republican who beat incumbent Democrat Tim Houghton in November to represent the 13th District in the Pennsylvania House has declared that he will accept neither per diems nor pension.

“The citizens of Chester County are tired of rhetoric and are looking for action,” he said.  “If we are truly going to reduce the financial burden on taxpayers and get a handle on excessive state spending, then it is incumbent upon me as a lawmaker to lead by example.” 

 

Lawrence advocates replacing the current defined benefit plans for government workers with a defined contribution plan akin to the 401(k) of the private sector.

 

“Under the state pension system, if investment returns suddenly drop, as they have during the past few years, taxpayers are responsible for making up the difference.  The citizens of Pennsylvania should not be forced to fund the pensions of state legislators especially while many individuals have seen their personal retirement savings lose value,”  Lawrence said.

While the state’s pension policy is going to have a far greater impact on the lives of Pennsylvanians — the lame-duck bailout is estimated by Commonwealth Foundation to have a cost per household of  $1,360  per year — the $163 per diem policy for state legislators is a far more glaring example is what is wrong with government in the state.

Don’t forget these guys are already getting a base pay of close to $80,000, a great health plan and, of course, a pension to die for.

Lawrence had earlier said he will not accept the cost of living increase .

Hat tip to Bob Guzzardi.

Rep. Lawrence is no relation to the proprietor of this site.

Sweet Gift For The Salvation Army

Sweet Gift For The Salvation Army — An anonymous donor dropped 55 fresh $100 bills into a Salvation Army kettle deduced to have been stationed at a K-Mart in Fort Olglethorp, Ga. The money was desperately needed. Request for Army services in the area were up 30 percent in the area over the previous year.

A pox on all corporate bean-counters who forbid the Army from placing kettles outside their stores.

The Army is likely the most efficient major charity in the world.

Sweet Gift For The Salvation Army