Miscellany: 2/21/11

Quote of the Day  

Let everyone sweep in front of his own door 
and the whole world will be clean.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

A Rant Against Tokenism

Every once in a while my mom forwards me copies of various opinion emails, essentially aimed at making federal legislators eat their own dog food or putting their own compensation at risk. For instance, if you want to pass the Democratic Party Health Care Bill, you yourself must be required to enroll in a relevant exchange; you should agree to freeze or cut your own pay; you should be subjective to the same red tape employers face; etc.

I understand and to some extent empathize with the motivations behind these proposals but when you take into account a few lawmakers are millionaires and can spend large amounts of money to pursue their own candidacies (e.g., Romney, Whitman, and Bloomberg among others), the proposals seem somewhat pointless. But more to the point, whereas there's always risk of corruption when you are discussing trillions in spending, I think that for the most part, legislators vote based on their political principles. As a matter of civility, I dislike implicit allegations of hypocrisy; I think time would be better spent showing the ineffectiveness, obtrusiveness or high costs of mandates than trying to personalize a political perspective.

Qaddafi Engages in Crimes Against Humanity: 
Thumbs DOWN!

There are troubling, unconfirmed reports that the Libyan Air Force shot at, with live ammunition, protesters in Tripoli, with two Libyan pilots defecting to Malta, refusing to follow orders. Of all of the recent pro-democratic revolts--Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, China, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, etc., this is particularly stirring because of the nature of the population.

Additional Comments on Governor Walker (R-WI) and the Collective Bargaining Kerfuffle

One thing I had not researched was the puzzling nuanced exclusion of police and firemen from Walker's collective bargaining legislation. It turns out these unions endorsed Walker's gubernatorial bid.

Let me say, first of all, and the public unions won't like this, nor both parties (especially the Democrats), but it's very hard to make any case for the necessity of unions in government employment. As Benjamin Franklin noted in 1789, nothing in life is certain but death and taxes.  Government employment is (after a certain probationary period) all but guaranteed for life; civil servants have extensive employment protections and tenured-based step increases, even during recessionary times.

But businesses have to operate in a world where revenues aren't guaranteed and an inability to proactively control one's costs can be a question of survival. I have taken gigs without benefits and where clients could dismiss me at will (no stated reason); I have personally seen at least 5 DBA's leave assignments within 2 weeks of hire, and I have been on one long-term federal contract with 4 DBA positions where the second longest DBA had been there only 7 months. Labor costs are among the highest cost factors in many industries (including service industries). Businesses had to find ways of controlling and sharing the escalating cost burden of benefits; hence, decades ago businesses started transitioning from defined benefit to defined contribution plans (including the state universities I worked for in the late 1980's)--in fact, many companies will suspend matching contributions to 401-K plans during tough times. Of course, there have been layoffs, reduced hours, or temporary pay cuts.

We ordinary citizens see the government, with 40% or so dips in revenue, at least on the federal level, not resorting to layoffs, freezing or cutting benefits; in fact, Obama seems oblivious and if anything actually speaks of generous college loan forgiveness loans for new government employees--benefits at the expense of and unavailable for the private sector. [Many federal employees are in defined contribution plans and contribute roughly 25% of their health insurance costs.] State/local workers in many, if not most cases are still in (more expensive and grossly underfunded) defined benefit plans and little if anything towards health care insurance. When employees or citizens have no vested interests of their own in a transaction, they have no incentive to economize (because the other guy is paying). For instance, if my prescription coverage fully covers the same drug, name-brand or generic, I might very well choose the more expensive name-brand drug.

The New York Times presents an interesting anecdotal example of how even many blue-collar workers have come to the side of Governor Walker: a laid-off auto worker, a union man, saw 3 of the top 5 employers in his area were government units. He saw endless negotiations and lavish benefits for public sector employees relative to his own when working.

I think Governor Walker is not articulating his position clearly enough. This allows the unions to undercut his argument by implying they were willing to concede his desired contributions. I saw a couple of clips (including Governor Walker on Fox News' Hannity) which do a better job; for example, Walker explains that the unions were arguing a week ago the very same concessions were infeasible; there are aspects of the negotiations where the union has relationships with a designated insurance partner, which may not be the most cost-effective vendor; they may also attempt to add gold-plated mandates to insurance coverages (e.g., Viagra prescriptions). Keep in mind even with the concessions, the local/state government will be picking up the cost of 7 of 8 health care insurance dollars. It is almost impossible for the government to manage its costs if it's constantly negotiating or submitting to arbitration. 

Indiana House Committee Forwards a Right-to-Work Law: 
Thumbs UP!

Many people confuse employment-at-will with right-to-work. Employment at will allows the employer or worker to end the relationship within little or no notice. Right to work means that a worker cannot be forced to be a union member or otherwise pay dues in order to work. (Governor Walker has taken a small step in that direction with respect to dues payment in his current collective bargaining reforms.)

Many unions are pursuing a subsidized political agenda in many (if not most) cases against the personal beliefs of the captive union worker. In one recent clip I saw, the wife of a GOP legislative candidate found her own union was actively pursuing the political defeat of her husband.

Political Humor

A few originals:

• The top elected official listened to opposition input and then said, "I won" and "elections have consequences", marginalizing the opposition. New Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker responding to teacher protesters and MIA Democratic state senators? No--President Barack Obama.
• I'm not saying the doctors attending the Madison, WI protests have been writing bad excuses for protestors, but President Obama got one signed saying "The country's ills are due to 8 years of failed policies".

Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups

The Bee Gees/Samantha Sang, "Emotion"