'Partisan bickering, special interests, and a lack of focus'

"Partisan bickering, special interests, and a lack of focus on the issues most pressing to the citizens of Pennsylvania threaten to once again see June 30 come and go without a state budget being finalized."

That's how The Mercury begins an editorial about the Pennsylvania Legislature and the annual circus known as approval of the state budget.

It's that time of year again. Time for the most expensive state Legislature in the United States to shine. Oh, wait. This is Pennsylvania. It's time for the most expensive state Legislature in the U.S. to show us once again how dysfunctional it can be.

"Until legislators realize that voters hold their job security in their hands, this June ordeal will continue to repeat itself," says The Mercury in Pottstown. "The answer is to show them in November that voters have had enough."

Read the full editorial, "State budget process brings out the worst in Pennsylvania lawmakers," in The Mercury.