According to the Local section of this morning's Seattle Times,
President Bush's budget proposal would significantly reduce funding for
the Chittenden Locks and the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

The largest expense at the Chittenden Locks is payroll, and total
operating expenses there are about $6mm a year. Under the Bush budget
proposal, that would be cut to $4mm a year. The Corp of Engineers has
suggested that among other steps, the locks (always historically open
24-hours a day) would close every day from 10PM until 6AM the following
morning. Others savings under consideration include closing the very
popular tourist attraction to visitors, thereby saving money currently
spent for gardeners, janitors, and others not directly involved with
the actual operation of the locks.


While only a few pleasure boaters use the locks during the middle of
the night, there is a steady flow of tugs, fishboats, etc. at all
hours. Under the Bush proposal, all of that commercial traffic would be
waiting on one side of the locks or the other first thing in the
morning, and trying to crowd through in the last few hours of the
evening. (A 10PM closure means that during some weeks of the year the
locks will close just as it's getting dark). As commercial traffic has
priority over pleasure boats, there is no doubt that pleasure boaters
would need to curtail boating earlier each day to be certain of making
the locks before the 10PM shutdown.

I'm all for the FEDGOV saving money and reducing the 1.26 billion
dollars it is currently borrowing, every day, to meet expenses. (see
national debt clock site)

When I divide $2,000,000 (savings by shutting down the locks) into
$1,260,000,000 (current daily overspending by congress and the
administration) my math, (not always the best), shows that shutting
down the locks would save enough money to eliminate federal borrowing
for about 1/610 of a single day each year. Isn't that less than three
minutes a year?

Seems like a huge sacrifice to bail out Bush's spending spree for three
short minutes a year. Must be payback for being a blue state.
:-)