Free Republic

Earmarks again are a topic in Congress, and people in this part of Pennsylvania shouldn’t condemn them. Back in the 1970s, when highway construction was booming around the biggest population centers of the Keystone State, places like Altoona, Johnstown, Ebensburg and Bedford were told that once those projects were completed, work would begin on their roadway needs.But as the large-scale projects around Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Erie were completed, the promises that had been made to Blair County and other smaller-population areas, didn’t materialize because of alleged money shortages.The message seemed to be: “We’ll get to you sometime, but for...