Two for the Price of One!

JANUARY 26, 2012 E-MAIL THIS PRINTER FRIENDLY

In case you didn’t know that the government is into extreme water sports like white water rafting and water skiing, I feel it is my duty to inform you of the $1.5 million that the government borrowed in 2006 to “serve as a grant to the Board of Directors of Adventure Sports Center, Inc.” When you go into to debt to fund a hobby, that shows some serious dedication.

And serious short-sightedness, as it turns out. If Adventure Sports Center sounds familiar to you, it’s because it was in the news much more recently than 2006. Just last week, they made local news by defaulting on loan payments, even after receiving $6.1 million from Garrett County, $5.8 million from the state of Maryland, and $2.6 million from the federal government in 2007.

As Christopher B. Summers cynically points out (I owe him another tip of the cap for turning me onto this story as well), maybe this is an opportunity to “sweeten the deal” for Rocky Gap. We’ve been struggling for far too long to find someone willing to buy that failing, state-funded resort and run a mini-casino there. Maybe if we threw a free white water rafting course into the mix we’d have some takers.

The marketing practically writes itself: “Two failing government ventures for the price of one!” Brilliant.

I jest, but only so much. This story is a great reminder that our politicians may not be being entirely truthful when they say that they’ve made all the cuts that they can make. It might not be the god’s honest that the only way out of this mess is with higher taxes.

True, that money was spent several years ago. But it wasn’t long ago that we were throwing away money on a model lighthouse and signing up to finance the Hippodrome’s utility bills. Clearly, this kind of wasteful spending is still going on, and if we want to get our balance sheets well… balanced, then it’s time to put a stop to it.

How do we do that? As G.I. Joe says: “Knowing is half the battle.” These kinds of expenditures need to be made public. We have the technology. It’s time to fight for increased transparency. That allows organizations like us (and so many other excellent watchdogs) to find out about problems and expose them.

But we also need to take the next step if we want to see any change. We need to get on the phone (or sit down in front of our computers) and actually contact our representatives. Talking amongst ourselves might produce a lot of great ideas, but talking to them can actually produce change.

That is the goal, right?

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Two for the Price of One!

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