UPMC Slogan Contest

I've always had a chip on my shoulder about the many local "non-profit" organizations that clearly profit from the rest of us. Colleges, hospitals, insurers & the Catholic Diocese in this area own the best real estate & don't pay taxes on any of it -- unlike the rest of us poor schmucks, who are being taxed right out of our homes & right out of business.

There are many things to criticize about all fo these organizations, but my favorite to pick on is UPMC, for a variety fo reasons.

First & foremost, UPMC offers the additional caveat of nearly-monopolizing the healthcare industry, thus grossly suppressing wages in many fields that are otherwise quite lucrative. They also have a big piece of the insurance market while offering an average (at best) product for exhorbitant rates. Quite a service to the region, no?

At the moment, the thing that most disgusts me about UPMC is their "gift" to the city in lieu of taxes, aka the "Pittsburgh Promise". Sorry, but sending average & underacheiving students to college for lower rates does not rate high on my list of public services.

That money would be much better spent easing the burden of working people struggling with healthcare costs. It would be better spent easing the tax burden of homeowners & businesses in the region. It would be better spent improving municipal services. it would be even better spent used to consolidate municipal services so as to lower the cost & increase the efficiency of the entire county.

That being said, I'm wondering if UPMC should implement a new slogan to more clearly illustrate their motives. How about something like this:

UPMC: Our rising premiums are driving healthcare out of reach of the masses, so that C students can attend college more cheaply. But not necessarily at Pitt. No. It's just pure coincidence that our college is the only one in town that accepts such pathetic GPA's. Yeah, that's the ticket!

Stop Talking & Do Something, For a Change

If you live in the general Pittsburgh region or if you're a hockey fan, then you know all too well the saga of the new arena. It began a few years ago when our government leaders found ways to subsidize new baseball & football stadiums over the objections of the populace.

Whether you supported or opposed PNC Park & Heinz Field, we did build them so it's hard to understand why our leaders made a new arena such an uphill battle for the Pens. For starters, the hockey arena is the only one of these 3 venues that is of any use to the general public.

I can probably count on my fingers how many events have been held at the new stadiums, but the arena is the site of many events. Sadly, it's so outdated that most performers can't even come here anymore; They choose to go to the Burgettstown amphitheater (whatever it's name is this year) rather than tone down their electronics since the electrical system at the arena can't handle some modern equipment.

With the advent of slots parlors in PA, one plan stood above the rest in giving the region an offer we couldn't refuse. Among the various benefits included were a free arena that would benefit all, generous giveback to the surrounding community & a nearly free-ride for the team.

I could go on for days about the political corruption in PA, including the supposed connection between our crooked leaders & slots license hopeful Harrah's. Many people think that the fix really was in so Isle of Capri never had a chance. Those same folks believe that Don Barden got into the game merely to take the heat off of the plan & thus received the license by default.

Conventional wisdom suggests that once the plan was foiled, a third party was brought in & essentially assured licensure because the second possibility for the license had always been a straw man.

All of this sucks. It's ridiculous, at best. But it's life in PA & I don't think anyone is surprised by it. We're all used to being walked on, taking advantage of & having our pockets picked in PA.

What was new & notable in all of this was the outcry from the Hill District community leaders against the Isle of Capri plan. Many developers just take & give nothing back. In this day & age of using eminent domain to build malls, patio homes (shudder) & other abominations, many depressed communities would have been quite enamored with the Isle of Capri proposal.

But not the Hill. The so-called community leaders picketed, protested & organized. When Isle of Capri lost the license bid, it denied their neighborhood a nice slice of the pie & was a huge loss to this entire region.

Why don't these so-called leaders protest & organize against the criminal element that keeps development away from their neighborhood? Concerned citizens patrolling would make it difficult for the prostitutes & drug dealers to ply their trades. Why not organize bus trips to Harrisburg demanding greater police presence? Why not use such energy & resourcefulness to fix up their community?

Such passion would have been much better spent at home instead of being used to deprive the entire region of a golden opportunity.

And now that the best plan is out of the equation, they've focused on making ridiculous demands to those who have persevered to do what's best for everyone. These self-proclaimed leaders are expending considerable effort to blackmail Pens owners into giving them a whole lot of something for nothing.

In my opinion, they don't deserve anything in the first place but even if they were entitled to kickbacks, surely they forfeited that right when they worked so hard to make this more difficult, more costly & less beneficial to the team & the taxpayers.

The demands are shocking in their audacity. They claim to be working to improve the community to set examples for the children. So bullying, whining & expecting - excuse me, demanding - something for nothing is the way to do it? I don't think so.

Teach your children to stand up for what they believe in by improving your own neighborhood. Don't extort local government & wealthy corporations because that really just sends the wrong message. Where's the sense of personal responsibility or accountability when you sit on your ass & make other people share the spoils of their hard work?

Why don't these adults teach by example instead of words? Rather than showing their children how to make something of themselves, they're demanding jobs for unqualified workers. How about setting up tutoring, scholarship or job training programs in the community? That would be a much better solution for everyone than just giving jobs to workers who don't deserve them.

Bullying & playing the race card are not acceptable ways to improve your lot in life. If this "plan" succeeds, it will add to the problems of this region by setting a disgusting precedent. Stop hassling others for a handout & start working for what you want out of life, be it a better job, a safer neighborhood or whatever. We've got enough problems in this area & we'll never improve if we give in to bullies or hand skilled trade jobs & executive positions to unqualified whiners.

We need to attract & keep skilled workers & educated leaders alike. We're having a difficult enough time doing that right now. If we start handing out perks to the undeserving, that will exacerbate the situation severely, possibly beyond repair. How much can a city of spoiled, underserving, entitled brats possibly thrive?