U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn't getting good marks these days from Judicial Watch, which investigates and prosecutes government corruption — and for good reason.

Judicial Watch, which has obtained documents under the Freedom of Information Act, found that the nation's taxpayers have doled out more that $101,000 over the past two years for "in-flight services" in connection with Pelosi's trips on Air Force jets.

Taxpayers should keep in mind that the expenditure wasn't for jet fuel. Much, if not most, of the in-flight services involved the purchase of liquor and food for the flights.

But the $101,000 pales in comparison with the total cost for the jets' use by Pelosi during the period in question: $2.1 million.

It's true that Pelosi, as House speaker, has responsibilities that require much travel. However, that travel shouldn't take on the appearance of being excessive and, beyond that, a big party.

Averaging about $1,000 a week for those questionable in-flight services, especially the wide variety of liquor that the obtained documents indicate, unfortunately does paint the picture of a high-altitude Happy Hour.

Pelosi should be trying to set an example of acting in the best interests of the taxpayers. Being an overly generous party host every time she boards an Air Force jet doesn't project that kind of good example.

The U.S. Census Bureau's decision to eliminate the "long form" for this year's once-in-a-decade people count will encourage quicker response and, hopefully, reduce the number of visits to residences needed to complete the count.In the 2000 census, the long form was sent to a random 15 million households. This time, all households will be receiving the "short form," which includes just 10 questions that will take only an estimated 10 minutes to answer.All Americans need to remember that the census is more than a counting of the nation's people. Beyond determining the final number, the census determines how many seats each state gets in the U.S. House of Representatives.Population also is a key factor in the distribution of federal money.Thus, anything less than a full census count has potentially serious ramifications. Besides, census participation is required by law. Households that do not respond by the end of April will be visited by follow-up census workers.More than 130 million census forms will be mailed out in March; there will be no postage cost when people return their form. It is prepaid by the government.According to the Census Bureau, elimination of the long form was possible because the American Community Survey collects more revealing socioeconomic information about the nation's residents.That survey was fully implemented in 2005, and it now is mailed to 3 million households each year.But despite the more streamlined 2010 census process, the count is expected to have a problem related to the deep recession.As explained by Robert Groves, Census Bureau director, "The vacancy rate through foreclosures and other reasons . . . hurts us. It means that we're going to mail out a lot of forms to units where no one lives."Full use of the short form should provide the Census Bureau more time to efficiently deal with the projected recession-related problems.But the bottom line is that if the American people cooperate with the census, the bureau's task will be easier to accomplish and provide the accurate picture that is in all of the country's best interests.

The state police rightly took pride in last weekend's big drug bust on Interstate 81 in Lebanon County. It was touted initially as possibly the biggest such bust in the commonwealth's history.While pride in the anti-drug accomplishment was warranted, the state police were too quick in putting the bust at the top of the list in terms of the size of the drug shipment confiscated. In fact, the bust was small when compared with one on April 16, 1984, at the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, about 85 miles southeast of Butler.In the early morning darkness of that April 1984 day, a DC-6 plane carrying 329 bales of marijuana, each weighing between 42 and 80 pounds, landed at the suburban Johnstown airport and was confiscated by police. Last weekend's bust involved just six plywood crates containing a total of 4,000 to 6,000 pounds of marijuana.The 1984 case began when the plane slid off the end of the runway and became mired in mud. The airport's night watchman saw the plane and called police.Before long, a tractor-trailer with four men from Sacramento, Calif., arrived to haul away the plane's cargo and all were arrested. The pilot of the aircraft had fled after talking with the watchman, telling the watchman that the plane's cargo had to be unloaded quickly.It eventually was determined that the plane had been stolen in Arizona and was headed to an airport in Rostraver, near Pittsburgh, when it developed engine problems.While at the time police estimated the street value of the marijuana on the plane at "in the millions of dollars," the state police after last weekend's bust set the street value of the truck's cargo at between $10 million and $25 million. Two Florida men in the tractor-trailer were arrested.What will happen with the marijuana seized last weekend remains to be seen. As for the 1984 bust, eventually, at the request of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, five tons of the marijuana from the plane was released to DEA agents for a reverse sting operation in the South. The rest of the cargo was burned at a remote site.For those who might be puzzled about why illegal drugs are so prevalent, the two cases provide a troubling glimpse.It's clear that the movement of such drugs is sometimes — perhaps many times — not the small-size operation many people envision. Thus, more big-time busts would be encouraging.<B><I> — J.R.K.</B></I>