Can they get football games?

To the editor:

The Missouri Senate administrator objected to my comment about a $20,000 television set for the Senate because, he said, it is "audio-visual capability."

My facts on this subject came from an article in the Feb. 13 Kansas City Star: "The state Senate is spending nearly $20,000 to equip a committee meeting room with a new, 61-inch plasma screen television ... . The Senate Administration Committee, chaired by Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, approved the purchase in January."

Further, the Senate administrator objected to my guest column, saying no tax dollars were used in the purchase. He said the money came from the sale of copies of bills, rental of bill boxes to lobbyists and interest groups and the sale of surplus equipment.

Wait a minute. How did the sale of copies of bills made on our paper and our copiers by our employees become their money and not our money? How did the rental of bill boxes in our Capitol become their money and not our money? How did the sale of equipment we paid for become their money and not our money?

I don't really expect Michael Keathley to answer those questions, but I would like him to answer this one: Can they or can they not get NFL games on their 61-inch plasma TV?

REBECCA McDOWELL COOK

Cape Girardeau