Cheers & Jeers
vote
Tom Gralish/Philadelphia Inquirer
Gov. Josh Shapiro鈥檚 budget proposal includes $500 million over five years for mental health services in schools and $60 million annually for Pennsylvania鈥檚 counties.
Alex Brandon/Associated Press
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., left, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., during a hearing in a file photo from 2021
Cheers: Some pundits, and no small number of voters, believe that the ills of our politics could be cured if we only imposed term limits 鈥� everyday people would, for a couple of years, go to their state capitols or to D.C., humbly legislate, and then return to their workaday lives, unsullied and untainted by the grit and grime of being 鈥渋n the arena,鈥� as Theodore Roosevelt once put it. But the clear problem with mandated term limits is great lawmakers would be sent packing along with the mediocre and lousy ones. Above all, voters themselves have the means to impose term limits 鈥� the ballot box. In fact, they demonstrated that in this region Tuesday. The controversial tenure of Greene County District Attorney David Russo will end this year thanks to Republican voters denying him renomination by an overwhelming margin in the primary election. Richard Bower, Fayette County鈥檚 district attorney, also lost his primary race, as did Steven Zappala, Allegheny County鈥檚 longtime top prosecutor. In Washington County, GOP voters also decided they had had quite enough of the circus surrounding Brenda Davis, the clerk of courts, and she will be out of a job at the end of the year. Voters, when motivated, can impose term limits quite efficiently on their own.
Jeers: Many older people like to find meaningful things to do after they retire, and some of them no doubt would enjoy spending more time with their grandchildren. But they would hardly be suited to guarding the schools their grandchildren attend from well-armed mass shooters. That just seems like common sense. However, Marsha Blackburn, a Republican U.S. senator from Tennessee, apparently believes it鈥檚 a dandy idea. Last week, she said on Fox News that retired police officers and veterans could stand watch at schools. She explained, 鈥淭hey like to de-escalate situations. I鈥檝e talked to a lot of them. They like this idea. They are grandparents like we are 鈥� my husband and I are grandparents 鈥� and they want to help protect children.鈥� No one can doubt that grandparents do want to protect their grandchildren, and many are good at de-escalating situations. But there鈥檚 a world of difference between a fussy toddler and an unhinged gunman who is armed to the teeth. Proposals like these sidestep the main issue, which is the easy access to battlefield weaponry in America today.
Cheers: In 2021, more than 40% of students in Pennsylvania reported symptoms of depression. Granted, some of that could have been the result of the disruption caused by COVID-19, but rates of anxiety, depression, suicide and other types of self-harm have been rising among American teenagers in recent years. This suggests what is happening is more than just run-of-the-mill teenage angst. On Wednesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro visited Hempfield Area High School in Westmoreland County to focus on teen mental health and how his budget proposal includes $500 million over five years for mental health counselors and services in schools, and $60 million annually for Pennsylvania counties to mental health services. Shapiro explained, 鈥淔or too long, there has been a stigma around mental health care 鈥� but that鈥檚 changing with this generation. 鈥ental health affects our kids in and out of school 鈥� and we need a comprehensive approach to deliver real help across Pennsylvania.鈥�