OPINION
And Still No Budget
It makes us wonder, sometimes, why there hasn’t been enough crit
icism of the Rendell Administration.
Schools and other agencies are clamoring for the final state budget
that should have been ready in July. As of presstime, still no state
budget.
What makes matters worse, those Rendell campaign promises
raising enough money from vice taxation to create property tax re
form have not come anywhere near planning stage. Now, all we see
out of the Rendell camp is a proposed House plan to increase the state
sales tax to 6.5 percent. Is this the first time that a Republican-con
trolled General Assembly would actually side with the Democratic
governor on an actual tax increase? Could it happen?
We learned that, according to the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ As
sociation (www.pamanufacturers.org), the U.S. average sales tax is
4.83 percent. Pennsylvania’s proposed sales tax increase at 6.S percent
ranks it right up there with Mississippi, Tennessee, and Rhode Island,
at 7 percent.
According to the association, the sales tax is needed to raise $6OO
million to $1.2 billion to cover at least part of RendeU’s plans for edu
cation spending. The association noted Rendell has the “right” as gov
ernor to expect “something” from the Republican lawmakers.
Earlier this year, Rendell proposed raising the personal income tax
from 2.8 percent to 3.5 percent.
So where exactly will the solution for the reforms of property tax so
heralded by the freshman Rendell governor crew come from?
We were intrigued by the recent introduction of legislation co-spon
sored by State. Rep James E. Casorio Jr. (D-56th) that would give
every Pennsylvania homeowner a $5,000 homestead exclusion on
property taxes, and an additional $lO,OOO exclusion to low-income
seniors who qualify for the state’s Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program.
That amount would be subtracted from the fair market value of a
home before property tax amounts are calculated.
That proposal sounds like a step in the right direction, but it’s just a
dent. Real property tax reform is needed, and needed now. The state
shouldn’t simply shift a method of payment from two departments
(sales and personal income tax) to the next (property). That is not
moving ahead it’s movings/deways.
Saturday, October 25
Pa. Sheep and Wool Growers’
Association Annual meeting,
Penn State University Park.
State 4-H Model Horse Show,
Farm Show Complex.
Pa. State Grange Conference,
thru Oct. 28, Inn at Chester
Springs, Exton, (800)
552-3865,10 a.m.
Schuylkill County Fall Compost
Lancaster Farming Editorial Staff:
Your Source For Ag News
Our time and talents are invest
ed heavily in bringing news from
the region's ag events to your
home - and we’ve been doing so
a long time. The Lancaster
Farming editorial staff has been
recognized by various organiza
tions with:
• 2 Northeast Farm
Communicators Association
first-place awards.
• 2 Keystone Awards.
• Ag Journalist of the Year.
• Dairy Council and NEAFCS
Honors.
' Andv Andrews, editor, about
14 years of seivice to Lancaster
Farming, 22 years m the journal
ism field. Winner of the 1992
PennAg Ag Journalism of Yeai
honors, winnei of 1993 Keystone
Pi ess Award; honorable mention,
1995, Keystone Press, first-place
awaid toi special project catego
ly. Northeast Faun Commum
catois Association (NEFC), 2003
Workshop, cooperative exten
sion building, 10 a.m.-l p.m.,
(570) 622-4225.
Dauphin County Cooperative
Extension Annual meeting, Ag
and Research Center, Dau
phin, 6 p.m., (717) 921-880.
Delmarva Driving Club’s Fall
Harvest, Pepperbox, 10 a.m.-3
p.m., (302) 875-4971.
(Turn to Page A 34)
Lou Ann Good, food and fami
ly features editor, 16 years of
service to Lancaster Farming, 17
years in the journalism field, win
ner of the Dairy Council Inc.
Friend of Nutrition Education
and National Extension
Association of Family and
Consumer Sciences honors.
Dave Lefever. staff writer,
about three years of service to
Lancaster Farming, five years in
the journalism field
Charlene Shu
staff writer, four years in the jour
nalism field
Michelle
staff, three years of service to
Lancaster Farming, four yeai s in
the journalism field Kunjappu is
the winner of a first-place photo
lournahsm award tiom NEFC
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A new species of stinkbug has
made itself at home in the Lehigh
Valley. Beginning in 1999, an un
known stinkbug was observed as a
nuisance pest inhabiting houses dur
ing fall, winter, and spring. This in
sect was behaving like the multicol
ored Asian lady beetle or box elder
bug. In 2001, it was identified by
Cornell entomologist E. Richard
Hoekes as Allomorph hays or the
brown marmorated stinkbug.
This species had never before been
observed in North America, but is
common in eastern Asia where it is a
pest of tree fruit and soybeans.
In 2002 and 2003, USDA APHIS
entomologist Gary Bernon has
worked closely with Lehigh County
Cooperative Extension’s Karen Bern
hard to learn more about the brown
marmorated stinkbug’s behavior.
After observing the behavior of this
stinkbug for two seasons, these ento
mologists have concluded that bug
indeed does feed on stone fruit and
has the potential to cause economic
THE LATE GOD
Background Scripture:
2 Peter 3.
Devotional Reading:
Hebrews 10:19-25.
The above title could be taken in
two different ways. First, as an allu
sion to the traditional complaint that
God is slow to carry out his promises.
Or it could allude to the popular
theological tempest of some decades
ago over the “death of God.” Actual
ly, both are appropriate for what we
will be discussing today.
It is obvious that 2 Peter is react
ing to criticisms by outsiders:
“...scoffers will come in the last
days... saying ‘Where is the
promise of his coming?’” (3:3,4). The
rest of this chapter is a rebuttal to
those who are pointing out that early
Christian expectations of Christ’s im
minent return were in error. The
scoffers suggest that either they were
wrong in expecting it or that God
had not kept his promise to them.
In studying 2 Peter 3, it is impor
tant that wc understand its context.
First, many in the early church ex-
iade.
iu, sections
Lancaster Farming
An Award-Winning Farm Newspaper
• PDA Friend of Agriculture Award, 2003
• Keystone Awards 1993,1995 • PennAg Industries 1992
• PACD Media Award 1996 • Berks Ag-Busmess Council 2000
• Recognized for photo excellence throughout the years by the
Northeast Farm Communicators
To Be Aware Of
The Threat From The
Marmorated Stinkbug
damage on peaches and apricots.
This insect has been found in Lehigh,
Northampton, Berks, and upper
Bucks and Montgomery counties.
Over time, it is expected that the
range of this insect will expand.
To Upgrade Your
Beef Cattle Herd
At The Penn State
Beef Cattle Sale
The Penn State Proud! Beef Cattle
Sale on Nov. 7 at the University Park
campus will share highly desired top
quality Angus genetics with beef pro
ducers across the East and reaffirm
Penn State’s reputation as an institu
tion that maintains a first-class
breeding operation.
But those aren’t the biggest bene
fits from the first such sale the uni
versity has conducted in IS years,
according to John Comerford, associ
ate professor of dairy and animal sci
ence and beef cattle coordinator.
“The most important reason why a
university such as Penn State would
own cattle is for their educational
value,” he said. “Sales give us an op
portunity to teach students how to
prepare cattle for a sale as well as
how to create catalogs and advertise
ments. For that reason, we developed
an undergraduate class in livestock
merchandising.
“Students in the class will partici
pate in all aspects of the sale activi
ties, including preparing the catalog,
submitting advertisements, reviewing
budgets, preparing the sale facility,
meeting and interacting with buyers
and guests, and providing feedback
to help improve our sales in the fu
ture.”
Not since 1988 have Penn State
students experienced a cattle sale.
“Our department made a strategic
decision a few years ago to begin
having regular beef sales,” Come
rford said. “We have been producing
more cattle to get ready for this one.
“We have received animals from
endowments, gifts, and donations,”
Comerford said. “We must have a
certain number of cattle available to
have a sale, because we could gut our
program if we sold too many and
pected the imminent return of Jesus
(including Paul), an expectation that
was not fulfilled. Some of Paul’s
teachings are based upon the belief
that they were living in the last days
before the Second Coming. This in
cludes his passive attitude to slavery
and advice that couples should not
marry unless they couldn’t control
themselves. These were essentially
interim teachings. In reading his
later letters, we can see that in time
Paul realized that the “end of all
things” was delayed. Considerably
later, when 2 Peter was written, it
was obvious that they had been
wrong about this matter.
The Apocalyptic Vision
Secondly, many early Christians
were deeply influenced by the apoca
lyptic, a type of religious thought be
lieved to have originated among Zo
roastrians in Persia, incorporated
into Judaism while the Jews lived in
exile there, and influential in the
early church. Stoic philosophers were
also influenced by it. The language of
the apocalyptic is visionary, similar
to what occurs in dreams. The book
of Revelation (English for the Greek
“Apocalypse”) is the most prominent
example in the New Testament, al
though 2 Peter also has obviously
been influenced by it.
Apocalyptic thought and writing is
usually hopelessly pessimistic about
the present time, but hopeful of a
cataclysmic future scenario in which
God will justify the righteous and de
stroy the wicked along with, in
some cases, the world. Today, apart
from some Christian Adventist
groups, apocalyptic literature is not
important to us because (1) its lan
guage is not compatible with the con-
'v.' rr ~ ” - . rr*jr*
■ i
didn’t have enough animals to meet
teaching and research needs. But we
decided if we are going to produce
cattle at Penn State, then let’s pro
duce good cattle, and then we can
use them to make a contribution to
ward education of our students as
well as making a contribution to the
beef industry.”
In addition to purebred Angus cat
tle, some crossbred animals from the
college’s commercial herd also will be
sold, including Simmental crossbreds
and 4-H steer prospects.
Starting at noon at the Beef-Sheep
Center off Orchard Road, approxi
mately 65 head of cattle will be sold.
Many of the cows will have calves at
their side and all females will have
been bred to top AI sires. A few bull
calves will be auctioned, along with
one 2-year-old bull. The sale is being
managed by one of the college’s
alumni, Dick Beck, originally from
York County, who is in the cattle
sale management business in North
Carolina.
Beef unit manager Don Nichols
stresses that sales are great for stu
dents. “We are developing students
who will be qualified to merchandise
cattle,” he said. “They will learn
marketing techniques and the subtle
things we do to prepare animals for
sale. This will teach them something
that they can take home. They’ll
meet people in the business and
hopefully make merchandising con
tacts that might help them later.”
Nichols hopes this year’s sale will
be the first of many during regular
intervals at Penn State. “Sales help
us to control our cattle inventory and
they allow us to offer our genetics to
other Angus breeders throughout the
country,” he said. “With the number
of cattle we have and the long-range
plan, we could have sales every two
or three years. It is something that
we have to build on. Sales attract stu
dents and help other breeders.”
For more information about the
beef sale, call (814) 863-0831 or visit
the Web at das.psu.edu/beefsale
Quote Of The Week:
“If everyone is thinking alike,
then somebody isn’t thinking.”
George S. Patton Jr.
temporary mind ami (2) the failed
expectation of Christ’s imminent re
turn has left us to be less specific and
dogmatic about the Second Coming
and the Day of Judgment.
Finally, in the time of 2 Peter,
there were Christians who, believing
salvation was already secured, were
teaching and living in emancipation
from moral law: we are saved and,
while we’re waiting for Christ’s re
turn, we are free to live as we choose!
(They were not the last aberrant
Christians to have preached moral
anarchy.)
On What We Can Agree
So, if today we are not of one mind
as to when, how, and where the Sec
ond Coming will take place, or
whether it will mean “the end of all
things,” what can 2 Peter 3 say to us
today? The key is in 3:11. “In view of
the fact that all these things are to be
dissolved, what sort of people ought
you to be? Surely men of good and
holy character, who live expecting
and earnestly longing for the coming
of the day of God.” (J.B. Philips).
For whatever his purpose may be,
God’s delay (only from a human per
spective) gives us time to live righ
teously in his world.
Regardless of how we may agree
or disagree concerning the Second
Coming, while we wait for God’s
promised fulfillment, we all need to
heed the challenge: “But grow in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ” (3:18).
Lancaster Farming
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Andy Andrews, Editor
Copyright 2003 by Lancaster Farming