McCandless Crossings

Last year, I questioned whether we really needed all these new developments and could not reuse what we have already developed.  Anyone who travels McKnight Road regularly sees the devistation of the woods around the intersection of McKnight Road and Duncan.  I never realized how big this area is going to be.

My 8-year-old son commented how sad it was that all the trees are gone.  Do we really need to make McKnight Road one giant sprawl from Pittsburgh all the way to Cranberry?

Fostering Competition

A Republican friend of mine was complaining that there should be a voucher system or some other way to fund private schools as a way to "Foster Competition" with the public schools as a way to improve them.  Should we call this the "Private Option"?

I told him that if you replace the word "school" with "health care" and change "private option" to "public option" you have the exact reason why we need a public option in his own words.

Outsourcing Iran's Nuclear Power

I have wondered what Iran would do if we made them this offer: If you give up your nuclear processing plants, we will build all the nuclear power plants you want, and manage them for you.  Iran just pays us for the electricity.  They get the energy they say they want, but will have no access whatsoever to any nuclear material.

If they really want nuclear power, they should jump at the offer.

Texas Independence

I keep wondering if we should let Texans get their wish as long as they understand what it means:

1. They forfeit all claims to their Social Security.
2. Their seniors lose their Medicare and their veterans lose their health insurance as well.
3. We would close all our military bases in Texas.
4. The border patrol would drop back to the new border between the remaining United States of America and the Republic of Texas.
5. Texas oil would become an import and put in the same class as oil from the Middle East.
6. All commerce and travel between the US and Texas would have to go through customs.
7. They get all the teabaggers.

Win-Win

Watching Republicans like John McCain and Orrin Hatch talk glowingly about Ted Kennedy Friday night made me think about what is wrong with this country. Although they may not have said it explicitly, they were all about finding win-win solutions.

Politics today seems to be about winning and losing. For example, the health care debate seems to be more about whether President Obama or the Republicans will win or lose, and not about finding common ground and doing what is best for the country.

Kennedy and his colleagues also realized that even though they may have disagreed on just about everything, they were all Americans that loved their country. They never exhibited the hate and disrespect that many are displaying towards those with differing opinions than their own.  I don't remember Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton being compared to Hitler like both George W. Bush and Barack Obama have been.

We need to get back to finding the win-win solutions in our lives whether it be in public or private, and realizing that even though we may disagree, we are all Americans in the end.

It has been a while

It has been a while since I posted. However, the entire “death panel” silliness got me going again. Sarah Palin should take her own advice and “quick makin’ stuff up”. Her using her own child for political gain is revolting. She is a disgusting selfish human being, and I just don’t understand why anyone in their right mind would support her.

The entire thing boils down to a section of the bill to provide end of life counseling which may include hospice care, living wills and other kinds of directives. My father passed away five years ago. It was an emotional time, but because he had a living will and had hospice counseling, we were clear of what his final wishes were. My wife and I have living wills and we are far from retirement age. It is also something Republicans have supported in the past, so it is purely political.

I respect President Obama for trying to get Republican support. However, it is clear that they are more interested in putting their own self-interests ahead of their country rather than putting the “Country First”. In defeat, we see their true colors.

If the Republicans are not interested in being part of the solution, then the Democrats should move on without them. As George W. Bush once said “I have political capital and I plan to spend it.” President Obama and the Democrats have overwhelming majorities, and should take full advantage of them to do the right thing.

Suburban Sprawl

As I drive up McKnight road, I see a lot of empty spaces. Across from Ross Park Mall is an old Chi Chi's, Sam's Club, Ford car dealership, Damon's and Don Parmesian. These stores all closed and have been sitting vacant for quite some time. A little further up is the closed Famous Dave's BBQ.

Further up the road is a sign for new commercial development at McKnight and Duncan. Up in Wexford a huge new shopping center is currently being built. Rather than building all this new development from scratch, what can we do to reuse the land that has already been developed on?

I am not suggesting that we build the WalMart across from Ross Park Mall. That would have been a traffic nightmare. However, this land already has the utilities available that these new developments do not. They are an eyesore that we drive past every day that we should be rebuilding on rather than adding to the sprawl we already have.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think part of the problem is that every township does their own planning. McCandless where I live would never give up their developments (and the tax revenue) at McKnight and Duncan even though a better location might be the car dealership in Ross in conjunction with the existing shopping center next to it. A better location in McCandless might be the area around Trader Horn and Showcase Cinema, anyway.

Is there some master plan for McKnight Road that I just don't know about or is it really just every Township for themselves?