Pricey TVs for sex offenders fall flat: Pawlenty pulls the plug | StarTribune.com

Officials at the Moose Lake Sex Offenders Program began unbolting the two dozen 50-inch plasma television sets at the center on Tuesday, just hours after Gov. Tim Pawlenty called the purchase "boneheaded" and ordered a search to find out who made the decision.

The TVs, costing $1,576 apiece with $706 mounting brackets, were ordered last October and installed at the new $45 million treatment center when it opened in July.

If state government is using my money to buy 50-inch plasma TVs for sex offenders, maybe the federal government should consider removing planned restrictions on my right to pay, out of my own pocket, for a real 60-watt bulb for my reading lamp?