THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412290009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
The refrain from a World War II-era hit by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, ``You gotta accentuate the positive,'' should be sung to Gov. George Allen night and day, because he and his backward-thinking administration are accentuating the negative.
It is amazing to witness Governor Allen promoting prisons as Virginia's new ``growth industry'' and soliciting more than $2 billion to build them. Having to concede that Virginia needs more and more prisons is admission enough that the state is failing as a social and political entity. But to go to the next extreme and embrace the mindless sophistries of ``Lock 'em up and throw away the key'' or ``Hang 'em high!'' simply proves our state government bankrupt intellectually and spiritually, with no positive solution whatsoever to the problems and causes of crime. In other words, we are about to waste a lot of money.
What is worse, Governor Allen wants to slash funding for the very institutions that build and sustain Virginia's growth and prosperity as well as making life worthwhile culturally. Our selectively frugal governor wants to reduce spending for public education, higher education, museums, libraries and the arts. Yet he could hardly wait to give away half the state treasury to entice Disney to come to Virginia.
Has Governor Allen considered the consequences of a collapsing education system? He plans to decimate programs designed to prevent ``at risk'' students from slipping into the lives of ignorance, crime and social dependency, which will only further increase Virginia's prison population and welfare roles. It is time for concerned citizens, educators and responsible politicians to confront and defeat our congenial governor's neanderthal policies before he sets Virginia back 20 years.
MAC McKINNEY
Norfolk, Dec. 26, 1994 by CNB