Regardless of how the issue of establishing a K-9 unit for Buffalo Township is decided, residents should appreciate the healthy debate that preceded the decision.

Some members of the township board of supervisors argue that a K-9 would be valuable in terms of detecting drugs and tracking people, and that related financial obligations to the township would not be burdensome.

Supervisor Dan Przybylek, one of those favoring a K-9 unit, said, "Look at what's happening with drugs. We've got to draw the line somewhere."

That's a good point.

However, Supervisor Greg Furer, one of the opponents, expressed the equally appropriate observation that "we barely made our budget this year; I don't know we can afford it."

One of Furer's concerns on the money issue revolves around a proposal to designate part of a $15,000 grant for a used SUV that would be the K-9 officer's vehicle. He said the township can't afford maintenance on a small fleet of police vehicles.

The supervisors plan to make a decision on whether to add a police dog at their April 8 meeting. However that vote ends up, township taxpayers can feel comfortable that all sides of the issue were considered, rather than a decision having been made without a full airing of the issue.

State Sen. Jane Orie, who represents a portion of southwestern Butler County, along with state Rep. Mike Vereb of Montgomery County, merit strong support in their plan to introduce legislation that would put all state travel expenses online for residents to see.Those in state government who travel as part of their work responsibilities should have no objection to taxpayers perusing such records.Public scrutiny of travel records would be an incentive for the various state government departments to avoid excessive travel and to more closely monitor travel spending.The two lawmakers' plan is an outgrowth of their criticism of travel by five employees of the state Gaming Control Board to a six-day conference in Rome in September, sponsored by the International Association of Gaming Regulators, days after Gov. Ed Rendell banned out-of-state travel.Those two and other Republican lawmakers also criticized a conference trip to Las Vegas in November by the gaming board's former enforcement chief, more than two weeks after he had announced plans to retire.Gaming board spokesman Richard McGarvey said both trips criticized by lawmakers were exempt from the travel ban because the plane tickets and hotel rooms were paid for before the ban was imposed, and those payments were not refundable.Rendell said he understood that the board's plans were made before the travel limits kicked in. But none of the participants in the Rome conference were willing to talk with a reporter the other day, and some taxpayers might be wondering why.Many of the taxpayers' questions might be answered if information regarding the trips was at their fingertips via their home computers.The proposal by Orie and Vereb deserves quick approval and a quick signature from Rendell.

There's been plenty of outrage in the past week over the millions of dollars in bonuses paid by insurance giant AIG, a recipient of federal bailout money. But there is a less-publicized story that taxpayers should be aware of involving money being spent by recipients of bailout money, known as TARPfunds, as donations to members of Congress.Filings with the Federal Election Commission reveal that five of the largest recipients of the federal bailout money are recycling some of those taxpayer funds back as campaign contributions to politicians.The first two months of this year saw about $85,000 from TARP-supported companies going to members of Congress, especially to those who serve on committees with oversight power over the TARP program.And prior to TARP money being doled out to the troubled financial institutions, those companies were very generous in their support of key members of Congress, giving $114 million in the year leading up to the bailout program's creation last fall.Some analysts have noted that those donations provided investment returns far greater than any risky credit-default swap deal: $114 million in political donations for about $300 billion in bailout money. Not bad.Taxpayers deserve to know how TARP money is being used. And making political contributions, to help ensure receipt of more bailout money, should not be an acceptable use of those taxpayer bailout funds.