scott's inner monologue

ziggy wrote:But Scott, the union and government workers do not lose theirs. That's the point. They have a contract and they get their pensions no matter what.

I am unfamiliar with this specific situation but will try to follow. Basically you are saying that despite a host of economic problems people in unions and government workers still get the retirement they worked for through much of their lives?... that sounds.. wonderful. If only we were fortunate enough that this was the case for everyone. It is not. That is not fair but.. do we want to deny some becuase all cannot have? Sounds pretty unamerican

Why do people want smaller government? Do people want smaller government? I personally like the military, police, post office, electrical grid, roads, bridges, prisons to house Sam McCroskey, health inspectors, courts, safety codes for consumer products, regulations banning lead paint and asbestos, airports, etc etc etc. Basically many of the things that make modern life modern are government services. The people who provide them are not the bad guys. They are are neighbors.

I love the military, police, especially love firemen (yummy man chicken) etc. All the things you mentioned may be good but they are also only a FRACTION of governement employees and agencies.

I don't like career politicians who get filthy rich as public servants.

I don't like administrative agencies that do not have to follow the law with regards to our Constitutional rights. I don't like inflated social programs with no oversight that give welfare checks out to the deceased and I get seriously pissed off when I find that millions of stimulus money is going to create a museum in some town or help build little frog tunnels under a road, or pay for thousands of illegals to get dialysis, or be wasted by the government for suing a state for enforcing the laws the government already has on the books but will not enforce, or when I got to the courthouse office to ask a question and the gals glued to their seats with their traps yapping about someone's salad won't even look at me for five minutes while I stand there waiting and when they do are rude and could care less to help, or when 28 million dollars is spent on SIGNs announcing that the road projects are funded by the government to get people back to work, or when

-- $233,000 to the University of California at San Diego to study why Africans vote. Jobs created: 12, but seven of those are Africans in Africa.

-- In Nevada, $2 million in stimulus money built a new fire station, but because of budget cuts, the county can't afford to hire firefighters to work there.

-- Penn State University got $1.5 million to study plant fossils in Argentina. Of 5 jobs created, 2 belong to Argentines.

-- Researchers the State University of New York at Buffalo got $389,000 to pay 100 Buffalonians $45 each to record how much malt liquor they drink -- and how much pot smoke each day. Consumption is then reported via an automated phone hotline. Cost per job: almost $200,000.

-- The Obama administration is spending $5 billion to weatherize homes. But one Texas county spent $4 million to weatherize just 47 homes. That's $78,000 per house. Each retrofit is supposed to save homeowners $500 a year in energy costs. That means taxpayers will recoup their investment in 156 years, long after the home is probably torn down. And read about the shoddy work that was done that will have to be fixed here:
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/05/14/more-stimulus-waste-taxpayer-funds-pay-for-shoddy-weatherization-work-in-texas/

-- Two Arizona universities got almost $1 million dollars so 3 grad students can study how ants work. That's more than $300,000 per job.

-- Companies that raise tropical fish, shellfish, catfish, alligators and even turtles qualify for $50 million in tax money to buy fish food.

-- North Carolina public schools received $4.4 million to hire math and literacy coaches, not for students, but teachers. That's 64 people paid $70,000 each to teach teachers how to teach reading and math.

-- $6 million in stimulus money to a California contractor under federal investigation for overcharging San Diego for cleanup after the 2007 wildfires

-- A Denver developer received $13 million in tax credits to help build a senior housing complex despite being sued as a slumlord for running decrepit, rodent-infested apartment buildings in San Francisco.

-- Kentucky gave $24 million to a contractor on trial on for bribery.

-- An aerospace company received $15 million to monitor water quality in a Ventura County creek it was already fined for polluting.

Career politicians certainly can and do get filthy rich. They are however not the norm for government employees any more than wildly wealthy ceos are the norm for private sector employees.

Each of the scenarios you explain above sounds like an abuse of the system. I am comforted to see that that some are under investigation.

Another thought. Are the figures quoted salaries paid of cost of employees. An employee earning whatever say $70,000 a yaer does not cost a company just $70,000 a year. There are the cost of benefits, training, work space, reasources the employee will use etc etc.

There are abuses in the private sector too. Thinks Ford Pinto Memo. Enron. Melamine in baby formula.

I suppose it is a little different in the sense that all taxpayers are in essesnce shareholders in the government. I get that. Everyone has a stake in how the money is spent as opposed to private enterprises that affect a smaller group.

Seems like those who abuse in the private sector can be indicted. There is less of that when the abuse is by government employees etc. Plus, the fox is guarding the henhouse. Look at what is happening in Greece. Let it be a lesson.

ziggy wrote:Seems like those who abuse in the private sector can be indicted. There is less of that when the abuse is by government employees etc. Plus, the fox is guarding the henhouse. Look at what is happening in Greece. Let it be a lesson.

I don't know if there is less. I know of at least one large multi billion dollar corporation that has proudly violated the spirit and letter of federal law for years and as far as I can tell no one there has yet to see the inside of a prison cell. No I cannot name names.

I also see various government workers charged with crimes in the news all the time.

There was one in our local paper today.

All prosecution is selective in one way or another. It is all about getting a police officer, auditor, prosecuting attorney, someone.. interested in your specific problem. Some people do bad things and never suffer the consequences. Some people slip once and gets SLAMMED. The only thing consistent is the inconsistency.

IMO no organization can be trusted to fully self regulate. Experience shows that model fails time and time again. There has to be someone on the outside making sure all is above board.

I am not sure we disagree on this entirely. We are both stating different sides of the same problem. People abuse systems. Someone is always looking to manipulate and take advantage. It happens inthe public sector. It happens in the private sector. Those who abuse the system are not necessarily representative of the system. They could be in some cases I suppose. They could also just be people who took advantage of an otherwise good thing.

Except that the government abuse is sickening because they TAKE peoples income by force and then waste and abuse it. That's a crime in the private sector and unfortunately not when government does it.

Are all people equally valuable? This is a serious question. Contemplate for a moment before you respond. And I would like to hear what people think about this. That is the point of posting my inner monologue on line.
On paper all people have equal rights. It is an ideal we strive for within our system. Practically we fall short.
But this is different than a question of if all people have equal value.
I think no they do not.
What gives someone value? Is it what we have? We often act like it is but I think no.
I think it is what we do. It is the choices we make that give us value. It is what we chose to do with the brief time we have.
Debra chose to do something positive. She did meaningful work. She helped people. She helped to shape who I am.
Sam chose to destroy.
I think 1 Debra is worth more than 1,000 Sam McCroskeys.
It is important not to confuse the anti death penalty advocacy work I did with concern for what happens to Sam. I most certainly have no such concerns. I did it for Debra. I never did it for Sam.

I was watching reruns of Top Model yesterday [I will pause here while you laugh richly at my expense].
Okay now I continue...
There were two models that were late for a photo shoot and not allowed to participate. The first was a Russian girl who.. took the news pretty well and went to wait outside. The next was an American girl that flipped out, started screaming and crying, and threw somehting. She was ranting about a cab driver making her late. its not my fault.. and on and on and on and.. the Russian girl said something along the lines of "you do know that there are some people living in war zones??? you missed a cab.. so what."

So I thought is the degree of a persons freak out proportional to other adversity in their lives. If you grew up well, had life pretty easy, and are used to getting whatever you want it may be a CRISIS when you miss you cab. Likewise if you have had some significant troubles, had to struggle, don't get everything you want all the time, then it is NOT the worst thing in the world to you when you miss a cab.

Thoughts?

give me a minute to get over you watching top model re-runs...

Just finished a book where the criminal mastermind kept a box of darts on his desk. Rather than scoring on a traditional dart board he discounted anything that did not hit the center bullseye as a reminder to himself that in life there are no points for getting close...you hit the mark.. or you do not.. It made for a fascinating fictional characted but I ponder.. is this true?
It has been my experience that it is NOT. Most conflict is resolve through compromise. The compromise could be forced or accepted but overall no one gets entirely what they want. In most situations the best you can hope for is getting close.