An Easy Decision, But A Sound One

Here in Minnesota, someone in state government decided to buy 24 50-inch flat screen television sets for a facility in Moose Lake that houses sex offenders. The logic behind the purchase isn’t clear, but when Governor Tim Pawlenty heard about it he called it “boneheaded” and had the TV sets removed. Instead of entertaining sex offenders, the 50-inch units are now being distributed among four Minnesota homes for veterans. It’s a “higher and better use for the sets,” Pawlenty said.
No kidding. It’s easy to say that Pawlenty’s decision was a no-brainer, but the fact is that governments at all levels do crazy things like this, and usually they go uncorrected. So let’s give Pawlenty credit for having the good sense to do what should be obvious, but so often in government, isn’t.