The issue of whether the North County Transit District's LIFT buses ---- the program to give disabled people lifts from hither to yon ---- should deliver patrons to the steps of North County's casinos or not is a non-starter, in our view.

The topic has raised concern by some critics, including Supervisor and Transit District Board member Bill Horn, who just don't think the practice is "right."

First, whether it is for slot machines or for church services, it's not the government's business (read NCTD here) to decide what the appropriate destinations ought to be. If the district has a duty to provide services to the disabled, then do it without imposing value judgments about what its patrons want to do after the bus drops them off.

We think NCTD's Sarah Benson had this right when she said recently: "It's not our role to judge (where the riders want to go) ... It's a federal right that we can't discriminate based on a casino trip or a medical appointment."

A different issue is clear to us, though.

Why should the federal government impose a $4-a-ride price cap on the service when the average trip cost is $33.47? (Oh, wait, it is the federal government we're talking about, isn't it?) And why isn't there a sliding scale to determine which patrons pay how much?

On that topic, it seems clear that those who can afford to pay more, should; and the full subsidy should be reserved for those who need it the most.

And as an alternative for the cash-strapped agency, our Congressional representatives need to move legislation that would allow the agency to remap its services to confine the LIFT role to delivering patrons to spots in the neighborhood (service districts) instead of driving all over, hither and yon.