In Tuesday’s Baton Rouge newspaper is a story about a $1 Million gift from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge. The money “brought MRI testing to Baton Rouge’s poor and uninsured.”

According to the paper “LSU Earl K. Long Medical Center, … has a 200-plus backlog of patients needing the specialized medical test.” “Before Hurricane Katrina, local charity patients had to travel to New Orleans to get MRIs because the local charity hospital did not have the expensive equipment…”

While this gift should be most appreciated by the people of LA, it does raise some questions about the spending priorities of our state government. The state Operating Budget just ballooned to almost $27 BILLION. Of which included almost a billion dollars in new state funds. Approximately, $32 Million was spent by individual leges on projects that if they weren’t “pork barrel projects” certainly were of a lower priority than MRI testing for the poor and uninsured.

America rightfully claims to be the “greatest nation on earth.” Despite the vast oil riches of Saudi Arabia, shouldn’t it be a bit embarrassing that LA had to use this gift to supply what is a basic need of its people?

What’s wrong with this picture? What other unmet needs (as opposed to wants) are there in our state for which go begging for the kindness of strangers? At a minimum it shows the poor judgment of those we choose to spend our hard-earned tax dollars.

C.B.