Is the task of creating significant numbers of jobs an impossibility for the United States economy in the “Global Market’?
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions.
We are hearing a lot of political rhetoric about “Jobs Creation”, “Jobs Bills”, “Jobs Saved”, “Jobs Stimulus”, “Jobs-Jobs-Jobs”. But just as the old lady said in the hamburger commercial as she looked for the meat…..”Where’s the Jobs?” Well, if you really want to find them you will have to go to China, that is where you will find those millions of jobs we have lost since we adopted the concept of free trade, the “global” economy, and obediently dropped all of the tariffs, quotas, and duties which afforded some level of equality in our marketplace for domestic products.
Sure, we may be buying those “made in China” products at a good price at Wal Mart, but it is difficult to even pay those low prices when you are out of a job and have no income except for government assistance. And the growing social burdens created by the declining markets, growing unemployment, and general decline of the economy are creating insurmountable debts which may eventually destroy the U.S. economy. Good idea?...I think not.
It appears to me that the only arena in which our national leadership can create jobs is in the industry of “Government”. New jobs are plentiful in Washington as huge new bureaucracies are being formed to administer absolute control over our lives and our environment. Meanwhile, they pour borrowed funds into the unquenchable, gaping budgets of federal, state, and local government agencies…and brag about “saving” jobs. At the same time they are serving out more unnecessary, wasteful “Pork” than Sonny’s Bar-B-Q!
These inept, ill conceived trade “deals” which were passed during the Clinton administration with bi-partisan support, have today eroded the basic structure of our industrial sector to a point where there no longer exists any hope of real jobs creation. It is a political spoof which will not happen. Those jobs, those factories, those industries, those companies….are forever lost. They have been lost because of poor business decisions made for political reasons by our elected leaders. They should now pay the price, since there is rampant proof of the results of their folly.
Under the overregulated, over taxed, over labor priced environment in which our nation’s industries must struggle, there is no hope for successfully competing in the marketplace on a long term basis. The only way we can hope to regain any of these life threatening losses is through a national program of common sense reductions of these impairments to our industries, combined with sensibly applied international protections from products entering the US markets from countries which do not compete on a fair, equitable basis. We must level the playing field, or our team will never win.
The real tragedy in this matter is the continuing ineptness of our national leadership in these matters. They continue to “pile on” new, costly environmental regulations over our remaining industrial sector, higher taxation, higher labor costs requirements such as mandatory health care, and reduced industrial assistance programs in operational financing, …all of which further widen the cost gap favoring imported products. They have a pro-union, anti-business mentality which makes any real hope for “Jobs Creation” an impossible dream, except for government jobs.
“God Bless America”….cause they ain’t “Getting it Right!”
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● I applaud the Chipola Baptist Association for their “Buckets for Haiti” program. It is a clever concept and will help thousands of suffering people in that politically ruined nation. (Please Note, I began by saying something nice this week.)
● Some area newspapers have dug out the story about Marti Coley receiving a salary increase some three years ago, and her role in helping Chipola obtain funding for the Arts Center which is currently under construction. This is old news, and I feel it is playing “dirty pool” for the media to dig the story out of the past and present it as new news. I wrote a story reporting this occurrence many months ago entitled “Dirty Games Junior Colleges Have to Play”. It is wrong to give rebirth to this as we enter the 2010 campaign period. Their intent is obvious, and I do not agree with their tactics.
● While we are discussing politics and Marti Coley, it has come to my attention that a group of liberal minded “reform-a-crats” in Tallahassee want to close Dozier and place those thugs in private “halfway houses” around the state. We need Marti’s presence in Tallahassee to defend this valuable employer in our community, and the social purpose it performs.
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hatcher Publications.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
For Those In Peril on the Sea
Eternal Father, strong to save; whose arm doth bind the restless wave, who bidst the mighty ocean deep, its own appointed limits keep. Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee for those in peril on the sea. (Whiting)
The USS TWEEDY, a destroyer escort, was serving for one year’s active duty with the Atlantic fleet out of Norfolk, Virginia. By midyear of 1962 she had played cat and mouse games with our own and with Soviet submarines. She had patrolled sea lanes from the harbor at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Ash Wednesday Storm, the ninth worst storm for the United States in the Twentieth Century, had tried her seams and power plants and the nerves and strengths of her officers and men.
Pensacola was ready to celebrate its annual Fiesta of Five Flags, and had requested a U. S. Navy warship to attend as guest of the City. The Navy sent TWEEDY for a three day visit. This was great! Pensacola was our Reserve home port and almost all of us were from those environs. We arrived, moored our ship to Allegheny Pier near the LEXINGTON, held open house and declared liberty for three fourths of the officers and men. For many of us this was our first time home since our activation the previous September.
I set up my department’s watch bill and departed by bus for my parent’s home in Chattahoochee. Upon arrival I said hello to my folks and borrowed my dad’s automobile for the evening. Before being activated I had dated a very charming young lady, and she had been much on my mind while I was at sea. I called her folk’s home and found that she was working in Pensacola for the summer. I called her and made a date for the coming Sunday evening, the day before we were to get underway for the Atlantic Ocean. She was scheduled to work until midnight, but that could not be helped.
On Sunday evening I caught a ride to her place of employment, and we got into her sports car and began looking for excitement in Pensacola. There was none, so we went out to the ship. The Officer of the Deck saluted me, ogled my girl friend and we began touring the main deck. Gun mounts, K guns, depth charges and torpedoes seemed to intrigue her. Then we got to the dark and silent pilot house, or bridge, and she was even more intrigued. I have never spent a more enjoyable time on a ship’s bridge. Soon it was time for her to leave me, and I walked her to her car and kissed her good bye. For a fleeting moment I considered going with her, but I knew the admiral would frown on that move.
At 8:00 the next morning we took in all lines, backed the good ship TWEEDY down and turned and departed Pensacola Bay. I am certain that almost everyone on her felt as I did. There was almost no talking as we sank deep into thought and perhaps some despair. We knew we were getting closer to a showdown with Castro’s Cuba and possibly with the Soviet Union. We felt the uncertainty that all service folk feel in times like these.
Our ship turned her bow to the east and soon we were transiting the Florida Straits. We stood out into the broad Atlantic Ocean and reached that river of water known as the Gulf Stream. The Stream comes out of the Gulf of Mexico, warm and swift, and moves northward, bearing away from our eastern shore. Almost all ships northbound seek to enter its waters to take advantage of its force so that their speeds can increase. We had done the same.
As we steamed along, with most of us thinking of those we left behind, a lookout on the starboard (right) side sighted an object low in the water. We were well out of range of land. Our radar had not picked it up and we soon discovered why. As we turned to investigate we saw a small open fishing boat, made entirely of wood, drifting about on the swells. We approached and saw two men and one woman in nondescript garments in it. Across the forward part of the boat was a square of canvas. When the man at the tiller recognized us as American he began waving and calling out.
The Captain sent me aft to be certain that the boat was no danger to us, and to secure it to our side. When we took the painter the woman pulled the canvas to one side and revealed two small children, one only a baby. We had no one aboard that could speak Spanish and the refugees did not understand English very well. We secured the boat and assisted them onto our deck and into the shade.
This is what we found: the boat had departed Cuba several days earlier, bound for the Keys. The engine quit and the Gulf Stream had swept them away from land. All their food had been eaten, and their water would have been gone that day if we had not arrived. A couple of days’ delay would probably have meant death for the infants, followed soon for all three of the adults.
The sailors took the refugees in and gave them clean clothes. They were fed and allowed to shower. Our captain gave orders to turn and make for Miami. The owner of the boat had begged me, with signs, to hoist his boat aboard. We did so, because it was all he had left in the world. I did not tell him, though, that he would not be able to use it in American waters because of its condition. A Coast Guard boat met us at the harbor entrance and we transferred them, with the boat, to its deck. They waved to us and cried, and I am certain that there were tears in our eyes, too.
Our spirits changed and we felt renewed. We realized that our country must be something special for a mother to take her two children to sea in a boat that was unsafe in any waters, just for the possibility of an opportunity for freedom.
On occasion I will be watching a television show from the Miami area, and I will spot a couple of old men sitting in a park playing a spirited game of checkers, or I will see some fifty-somethings, obviously Cubans, working or talking and enjoying life. And sometimes I ask myself, could this be the folks that brought the officers and crew back on course to reality, to an understanding of our purpose? And I answer, quietly, “Yes, they may well be”.
Oh Trinity of Love and Power, our brethren shield in danger’s hour; from rock and tempest, fire and foe, Protect them whereso’ere they go; Thus evermore shall rise to Thee, glad hymns of praise on land and sea. (from “Eternal Father, Strong to Save“ also known as “The Navy Hymn“, by William Whiting)
The USS TWEEDY, a destroyer escort, was serving for one year’s active duty with the Atlantic fleet out of Norfolk, Virginia. By midyear of 1962 she had played cat and mouse games with our own and with Soviet submarines. She had patrolled sea lanes from the harbor at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Ash Wednesday Storm, the ninth worst storm for the United States in the Twentieth Century, had tried her seams and power plants and the nerves and strengths of her officers and men.
Pensacola was ready to celebrate its annual Fiesta of Five Flags, and had requested a U. S. Navy warship to attend as guest of the City. The Navy sent TWEEDY for a three day visit. This was great! Pensacola was our Reserve home port and almost all of us were from those environs. We arrived, moored our ship to Allegheny Pier near the LEXINGTON, held open house and declared liberty for three fourths of the officers and men. For many of us this was our first time home since our activation the previous September.
I set up my department’s watch bill and departed by bus for my parent’s home in Chattahoochee. Upon arrival I said hello to my folks and borrowed my dad’s automobile for the evening. Before being activated I had dated a very charming young lady, and she had been much on my mind while I was at sea. I called her folk’s home and found that she was working in Pensacola for the summer. I called her and made a date for the coming Sunday evening, the day before we were to get underway for the Atlantic Ocean. She was scheduled to work until midnight, but that could not be helped.
On Sunday evening I caught a ride to her place of employment, and we got into her sports car and began looking for excitement in Pensacola. There was none, so we went out to the ship. The Officer of the Deck saluted me, ogled my girl friend and we began touring the main deck. Gun mounts, K guns, depth charges and torpedoes seemed to intrigue her. Then we got to the dark and silent pilot house, or bridge, and she was even more intrigued. I have never spent a more enjoyable time on a ship’s bridge. Soon it was time for her to leave me, and I walked her to her car and kissed her good bye. For a fleeting moment I considered going with her, but I knew the admiral would frown on that move.
At 8:00 the next morning we took in all lines, backed the good ship TWEEDY down and turned and departed Pensacola Bay. I am certain that almost everyone on her felt as I did. There was almost no talking as we sank deep into thought and perhaps some despair. We knew we were getting closer to a showdown with Castro’s Cuba and possibly with the Soviet Union. We felt the uncertainty that all service folk feel in times like these.
Our ship turned her bow to the east and soon we were transiting the Florida Straits. We stood out into the broad Atlantic Ocean and reached that river of water known as the Gulf Stream. The Stream comes out of the Gulf of Mexico, warm and swift, and moves northward, bearing away from our eastern shore. Almost all ships northbound seek to enter its waters to take advantage of its force so that their speeds can increase. We had done the same.
As we steamed along, with most of us thinking of those we left behind, a lookout on the starboard (right) side sighted an object low in the water. We were well out of range of land. Our radar had not picked it up and we soon discovered why. As we turned to investigate we saw a small open fishing boat, made entirely of wood, drifting about on the swells. We approached and saw two men and one woman in nondescript garments in it. Across the forward part of the boat was a square of canvas. When the man at the tiller recognized us as American he began waving and calling out.
The Captain sent me aft to be certain that the boat was no danger to us, and to secure it to our side. When we took the painter the woman pulled the canvas to one side and revealed two small children, one only a baby. We had no one aboard that could speak Spanish and the refugees did not understand English very well. We secured the boat and assisted them onto our deck and into the shade.
This is what we found: the boat had departed Cuba several days earlier, bound for the Keys. The engine quit and the Gulf Stream had swept them away from land. All their food had been eaten, and their water would have been gone that day if we had not arrived. A couple of days’ delay would probably have meant death for the infants, followed soon for all three of the adults.
The sailors took the refugees in and gave them clean clothes. They were fed and allowed to shower. Our captain gave orders to turn and make for Miami. The owner of the boat had begged me, with signs, to hoist his boat aboard. We did so, because it was all he had left in the world. I did not tell him, though, that he would not be able to use it in American waters because of its condition. A Coast Guard boat met us at the harbor entrance and we transferred them, with the boat, to its deck. They waved to us and cried, and I am certain that there were tears in our eyes, too.
Our spirits changed and we felt renewed. We realized that our country must be something special for a mother to take her two children to sea in a boat that was unsafe in any waters, just for the possibility of an opportunity for freedom.
On occasion I will be watching a television show from the Miami area, and I will spot a couple of old men sitting in a park playing a spirited game of checkers, or I will see some fifty-somethings, obviously Cubans, working or talking and enjoying life. And sometimes I ask myself, could this be the folks that brought the officers and crew back on course to reality, to an understanding of our purpose? And I answer, quietly, “Yes, they may well be”.
Oh Trinity of Love and Power, our brethren shield in danger’s hour; from rock and tempest, fire and foe, Protect them whereso’ere they go; Thus evermore shall rise to Thee, glad hymns of praise on land and sea. (from “Eternal Father, Strong to Save“ also known as “The Navy Hymn“, by William Whiting)
Thursday, March 18, 2010
“The Rest of the Story” On Immigration and Health Care
The real politics of political positions on these issues
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now - the subject of the week.
As we all know, during numerous recent elections, the margin of victory has been by only a few percentage points of the voters taking part in the process. The nation is obviously almost evenly divided between liberals and conservatives, those favoring increased government control and influence vs. those who wish to reduce the size and scope of governments.
In this situation, the addition of a few million voters to one side or the other can assure victory for the party realizing the gain. I would suspect that the group promoting amnesty for the estimated 15,000,000 illegal aliens living in the U.S. are not really promoting this move out of a humanitarian, sympathetic motivation. They are promoting this approach because they see this group as a potential impetus of millions of additional voters who favor their side, and this addition would assure continuation of their power over our government and its coffers of money.
In my opinion, the same condition is true when they talk of expansion of entitlements, especially health care. They see those 30,000,000 uninsured people as future voters, if they can only win their favor by giving them free health care. Again, the move is not motivated out of a zeal for humanity, a caring spirit, a liberal love for fellow man…..the move is inspired because those added votes would expand their power base and assure future control of the course of the nation.
Although the speeches and rhetoric may sound noble of cause and may engender feelings of sympathy and response to need…..it is best to remember the underlying motivation and probable results if the majority of voters align with the pleas to help those poor, uninsured masses.
In reality, no one in America has to go without needed health care. They may not be able to go to the exact doctor they wish, but free care is available. Personally, I would be for increasing the scope and services of the Public Health Departments across the nation. They could provide 24-7 medical services to the qualified patients, and thus provide those people somewhere to go for routine care on weekends and evenings instead of the Hospital Emergency Rooms. This would save millions of dollars, and would put the costs where they should be.
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● Keeping my new year’s resolution to always say something nice….I applaud Main Street Marianna for organizing and sponsoring the St. Pats Day festival in downtown Marianna this weekend. They “Got it Right!” These events help bond the community together……and they are fun!
● I feel that if a group of concerned Marianna business owners got together and made a united appeal to the City Commission, we could get the Board to revisit the existing sign ordinance. As it is written it obviously has shortcomings which need to be improved.
● I also applaud the Jackson County School Board for exploring alternatives to their health benefit programs in an effort to lower costs. I hope they are successful in this effort. (Oops! I accidently said TWO nice things this week.)
● If in these “greenway” programs being created by the City of Marianna and the County Government, they build public boat ramps with tax payer money to increase access to the Chipola River, and make these ramps exclusive to the launching of canoes and kayaks, I feel they would be doing an injustice to the small motorized boat fisherman who would also wish to gain this easier river access. I question the legality of favoring one population segment of river users to the detriment of another, while using public funding. I would urge all of our Chipola River bream fishermen to get involved in this issue. We need to be sure they “Get This Right”.
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hatcher Publications.
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now - the subject of the week.
As we all know, during numerous recent elections, the margin of victory has been by only a few percentage points of the voters taking part in the process. The nation is obviously almost evenly divided between liberals and conservatives, those favoring increased government control and influence vs. those who wish to reduce the size and scope of governments.
In this situation, the addition of a few million voters to one side or the other can assure victory for the party realizing the gain. I would suspect that the group promoting amnesty for the estimated 15,000,000 illegal aliens living in the U.S. are not really promoting this move out of a humanitarian, sympathetic motivation. They are promoting this approach because they see this group as a potential impetus of millions of additional voters who favor their side, and this addition would assure continuation of their power over our government and its coffers of money.
In my opinion, the same condition is true when they talk of expansion of entitlements, especially health care. They see those 30,000,000 uninsured people as future voters, if they can only win their favor by giving them free health care. Again, the move is not motivated out of a zeal for humanity, a caring spirit, a liberal love for fellow man…..the move is inspired because those added votes would expand their power base and assure future control of the course of the nation.
Although the speeches and rhetoric may sound noble of cause and may engender feelings of sympathy and response to need…..it is best to remember the underlying motivation and probable results if the majority of voters align with the pleas to help those poor, uninsured masses.
In reality, no one in America has to go without needed health care. They may not be able to go to the exact doctor they wish, but free care is available. Personally, I would be for increasing the scope and services of the Public Health Departments across the nation. They could provide 24-7 medical services to the qualified patients, and thus provide those people somewhere to go for routine care on weekends and evenings instead of the Hospital Emergency Rooms. This would save millions of dollars, and would put the costs where they should be.
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● Keeping my new year’s resolution to always say something nice….I applaud Main Street Marianna for organizing and sponsoring the St. Pats Day festival in downtown Marianna this weekend. They “Got it Right!” These events help bond the community together……and they are fun!
● I feel that if a group of concerned Marianna business owners got together and made a united appeal to the City Commission, we could get the Board to revisit the existing sign ordinance. As it is written it obviously has shortcomings which need to be improved.
● I also applaud the Jackson County School Board for exploring alternatives to their health benefit programs in an effort to lower costs. I hope they are successful in this effort. (Oops! I accidently said TWO nice things this week.)
● If in these “greenway” programs being created by the City of Marianna and the County Government, they build public boat ramps with tax payer money to increase access to the Chipola River, and make these ramps exclusive to the launching of canoes and kayaks, I feel they would be doing an injustice to the small motorized boat fisherman who would also wish to gain this easier river access. I question the legality of favoring one population segment of river users to the detriment of another, while using public funding. I would urge all of our Chipola River bream fishermen to get involved in this issue. We need to be sure they “Get This Right”.
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hatcher Publications.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Bureaucracy...Stop the Wasteful Concepts and Save a Fellow “Crat’s” Job
By “cleaning up their act” the bureaucracies can prevent the eventual layoffs and cutbacks which will reduce their ranks.
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions.
Bureaucratic leaders and Politicians…would you like to save a teacher’s job? Would you like to keep from being forced to lay-off road crews, reduce library operations, cut back on parks services, cut administrative staff, eliminate unessential social programs and services, and perform other unpleasant reduction actions dictated by budget shortfalls? If you do not want to be faced with these difficult duties, please take heed to the following paragraphs. They will provide other courses of action which you can take to help avert the need for these drastic actions which possibly will be in your future.
First, you must recognize the fact that the “Crat” is not immune from job eliminations and lay-offs. Although government employment is certainly much better protected from these actions than are jobs in industry and the private sector….they are not immune. If the money isn’t there and there are no other remedies….the cuts will occur.
How can the millions of dollars in funding be created which will be needed to avoid cuts in a time of severe budget shortfall, reduced revenues for state, county, and municipal operations? The answer is relatively simple…..merely stop engaging in wasteful, illogical money management practices relating to expenditures.
There are two openly endorsed procedures used within the bureaucracy which waste millions of taxpayer dollars in Florida each year, and billions across the USA. If these two practices could be exposed for being unnecessary, wasteful, (and dumb), and the public would loudly voice their disgust and despair when the practices are exposed, these monies could be saved. These wasted funds would then be available in the General Fund to make up the budget shortfalls and thus preserve the “crat” jobs.
Specifically I am revering to the “Bureaucratic Management Concept of Inept Money Management” which states “Once monies have been allocated for a purpose it is essential that ALL of that money be spent. Never, never, fail to spend all the money provided to you and return unused funds back to the funding source.”
In filling my role as a newspaper flunky, I am forced to continually attend official meetings of the County Commission, School Board, and numerous municipal commissions. I watch as they administer and spend the millions of tax dollars which have been reaped, raped, and coerced from the Citizens and Businesses of Jackson County, Florida, and the nation. Each year, at the local level, I observe millions being spent in what I see as a wasteful manner….just because of the concept described in the preceding paragraph.
When funding is allocated for a specific project, the officials are very careful to follow prescribed procedures to obtain bids from qualified vendors, to evaluate the bids and to formally select and approve the bid award. Then, when the project is over and they find they have saved thousands of dollars by these good management practices, they quickly look for some way to spend these “excess” dollars….never considering turning this funding back to the granting source. As a result, these monies are spent in a careless, wasteful manner on unnecessary things.
Recent examples would be the approval of creating a four lane entrance road to the Marianna Industrial Park with money not used on the road changes for the new Ice Springs plant. When thousands were unspent on the new Marianna water treatment plant, they spent the money on expanding the design to add back-up pumps and other features originally not deemed as necessary. A commonly uttered statement from one of these selfish officials is “If we don’t spend it we lose it”.
The other, equally wasteful practice is the “Zero Based Budgeting” concept which forces the managers of each bureaucratic element to be sure and spend all of the money in the budget each year. Again, they are told they should “Never, Never” fail to spend all of their money. This leads to computers, cars, and millions of dollars in perfectly good government equipment being scrapped and sold at auctions because new, replacement equipment has been bought in order to “spend” everything in the budget. We have all heard the stories of these wasteful practices. As a result, billions of taxpayer dollars are unnecessarily spent each year.
When I see the various government commissions working on their annual budgets, I am amazed at how it just happens that in almost every instance the department’s expenditures were exactly what had been budgeted. In reality, they found some way to throw any excess funds away on some unneeded items. There is no motivation to ever manage their departments so efficiently that a surplus would be present at the end of the year.
I would suggest a system where a manager earns “funding priority points” for future funding requests when they are able to return funds to the funding source. Those with the most funding priority points would be at the front of the line when the next round of funding takes place. This would reward them for their management skills and ability to save money within the system.
These improper, wasteful, (and dumb) practices are so ingrained in governmental fiscal policies, it seems to be impossible to convince those involved that they should do what is right, and return unneeded funding back into the system for future use… for the common good of the community, the state, and the nation. We need to be publically critical when our elected and appointed officials selfishly “keep and spend” public money just because it is in their grasp. This goes for sidewalks to nowhere, building new buildings when existing buildings are setting empty, reworking and landscaping road right of ways when it is not really necessary, and many, many other wasteful projects and programs. Just take time to notice the waste.
The old concept used as a measure of the ability of an elected official was their skills at “Bringing Home the Bacon, for the folks back home”. It is time to throw this short sighted, selfish concept aside and replace it with electing those with a nationally patriotic view which places the common national good ahead of local, party, or personal gains.
Perhaps if they can be made to realize that through the discontinuance of these wasteful (and dumb) practices they are not merely easing the tax burden on the public, they can also save the job of a fellow “crat”, because future budget shortfalls will be lessened, and more funds will be available at all levels. Perhaps then they will be motivated because of a desire to preserve the “bureaucratic brotherhood”, even if they won’t do it merely to lessen the burden on the poor taxpaying citizens.
In either instance, we as taxpayers should not tolerate continuation of these wasteful (and dumb) examples of mismanagement. We must stop allowing implied public permission through our silence when they take these actions.
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● Isn’t it interesting that there are over 600 federal “crats” in Washington that are failing to pay their federal income taxes…..and the IRS is hesitant to take action against them?
● Isn’t it interesting that the average wages and benefits for a federal employee totals $108,000/ Yr., while the average for a private sector worker is $69,000?
● Isn’t it interesting that the largest area of jobs creation and growth in our existing economy is government jobs?
- (Keeping my resolution to always say something nice), I award a big bouquet of flowers to the Marianna Probation and Parole and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society of Chipola for sponsoring a fund raising fun run last weekend for the Special Olympics Program. Also flowers to those who participated.
● A bouquet of kudzu is awarded to Marianna Commissioners Howard Milton, Paul Donofro, and Roger Clay for voting to enforce the city’s ill conceived sign ordinance and force a local small business to waste $1400 on another sign for their building. We can see what causes those “anti-business attitude” remarks toward this Commission to be made.
● Downtown Marianna has just lost another business as Jema Boutique has announced the closing of their enterprise.
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hatcher Publications.
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions.
Bureaucratic leaders and Politicians…would you like to save a teacher’s job? Would you like to keep from being forced to lay-off road crews, reduce library operations, cut back on parks services, cut administrative staff, eliminate unessential social programs and services, and perform other unpleasant reduction actions dictated by budget shortfalls? If you do not want to be faced with these difficult duties, please take heed to the following paragraphs. They will provide other courses of action which you can take to help avert the need for these drastic actions which possibly will be in your future.
First, you must recognize the fact that the “Crat” is not immune from job eliminations and lay-offs. Although government employment is certainly much better protected from these actions than are jobs in industry and the private sector….they are not immune. If the money isn’t there and there are no other remedies….the cuts will occur.
How can the millions of dollars in funding be created which will be needed to avoid cuts in a time of severe budget shortfall, reduced revenues for state, county, and municipal operations? The answer is relatively simple…..merely stop engaging in wasteful, illogical money management practices relating to expenditures.
There are two openly endorsed procedures used within the bureaucracy which waste millions of taxpayer dollars in Florida each year, and billions across the USA. If these two practices could be exposed for being unnecessary, wasteful, (and dumb), and the public would loudly voice their disgust and despair when the practices are exposed, these monies could be saved. These wasted funds would then be available in the General Fund to make up the budget shortfalls and thus preserve the “crat” jobs.
Specifically I am revering to the “Bureaucratic Management Concept of Inept Money Management” which states “Once monies have been allocated for a purpose it is essential that ALL of that money be spent. Never, never, fail to spend all the money provided to you and return unused funds back to the funding source.”
In filling my role as a newspaper flunky, I am forced to continually attend official meetings of the County Commission, School Board, and numerous municipal commissions. I watch as they administer and spend the millions of tax dollars which have been reaped, raped, and coerced from the Citizens and Businesses of Jackson County, Florida, and the nation. Each year, at the local level, I observe millions being spent in what I see as a wasteful manner….just because of the concept described in the preceding paragraph.
When funding is allocated for a specific project, the officials are very careful to follow prescribed procedures to obtain bids from qualified vendors, to evaluate the bids and to formally select and approve the bid award. Then, when the project is over and they find they have saved thousands of dollars by these good management practices, they quickly look for some way to spend these “excess” dollars….never considering turning this funding back to the granting source. As a result, these monies are spent in a careless, wasteful manner on unnecessary things.
Recent examples would be the approval of creating a four lane entrance road to the Marianna Industrial Park with money not used on the road changes for the new Ice Springs plant. When thousands were unspent on the new Marianna water treatment plant, they spent the money on expanding the design to add back-up pumps and other features originally not deemed as necessary. A commonly uttered statement from one of these selfish officials is “If we don’t spend it we lose it”.
The other, equally wasteful practice is the “Zero Based Budgeting” concept which forces the managers of each bureaucratic element to be sure and spend all of the money in the budget each year. Again, they are told they should “Never, Never” fail to spend all of their money. This leads to computers, cars, and millions of dollars in perfectly good government equipment being scrapped and sold at auctions because new, replacement equipment has been bought in order to “spend” everything in the budget. We have all heard the stories of these wasteful practices. As a result, billions of taxpayer dollars are unnecessarily spent each year.
When I see the various government commissions working on their annual budgets, I am amazed at how it just happens that in almost every instance the department’s expenditures were exactly what had been budgeted. In reality, they found some way to throw any excess funds away on some unneeded items. There is no motivation to ever manage their departments so efficiently that a surplus would be present at the end of the year.
I would suggest a system where a manager earns “funding priority points” for future funding requests when they are able to return funds to the funding source. Those with the most funding priority points would be at the front of the line when the next round of funding takes place. This would reward them for their management skills and ability to save money within the system.
These improper, wasteful, (and dumb) practices are so ingrained in governmental fiscal policies, it seems to be impossible to convince those involved that they should do what is right, and return unneeded funding back into the system for future use… for the common good of the community, the state, and the nation. We need to be publically critical when our elected and appointed officials selfishly “keep and spend” public money just because it is in their grasp. This goes for sidewalks to nowhere, building new buildings when existing buildings are setting empty, reworking and landscaping road right of ways when it is not really necessary, and many, many other wasteful projects and programs. Just take time to notice the waste.
The old concept used as a measure of the ability of an elected official was their skills at “Bringing Home the Bacon, for the folks back home”. It is time to throw this short sighted, selfish concept aside and replace it with electing those with a nationally patriotic view which places the common national good ahead of local, party, or personal gains.
Perhaps if they can be made to realize that through the discontinuance of these wasteful (and dumb) practices they are not merely easing the tax burden on the public, they can also save the job of a fellow “crat”, because future budget shortfalls will be lessened, and more funds will be available at all levels. Perhaps then they will be motivated because of a desire to preserve the “bureaucratic brotherhood”, even if they won’t do it merely to lessen the burden on the poor taxpaying citizens.
In either instance, we as taxpayers should not tolerate continuation of these wasteful (and dumb) examples of mismanagement. We must stop allowing implied public permission through our silence when they take these actions.
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● Isn’t it interesting that there are over 600 federal “crats” in Washington that are failing to pay their federal income taxes…..and the IRS is hesitant to take action against them?
● Isn’t it interesting that the average wages and benefits for a federal employee totals $108,000/ Yr., while the average for a private sector worker is $69,000?
● Isn’t it interesting that the largest area of jobs creation and growth in our existing economy is government jobs?
- (Keeping my resolution to always say something nice), I award a big bouquet of flowers to the Marianna Probation and Parole and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society of Chipola for sponsoring a fund raising fun run last weekend for the Special Olympics Program. Also flowers to those who participated.
● A bouquet of kudzu is awarded to Marianna Commissioners Howard Milton, Paul Donofro, and Roger Clay for voting to enforce the city’s ill conceived sign ordinance and force a local small business to waste $1400 on another sign for their building. We can see what causes those “anti-business attitude” remarks toward this Commission to be made.
● Downtown Marianna has just lost another business as Jema Boutique has announced the closing of their enterprise.
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hatcher Publications.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Government Employees Unions, Have We Allowed Creation of a Monster?
These unions may prevent the nation from enacting changes which are necessary to save our economy.
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions.
Unions in Business vs. Unions in Government-
In the business world there is a self correcting element which does not exist in the government sector. If a company becomes too inefficient, competition from more efficient companies will put them out of business. If a business or industry allows unions to form, become too powerful, and significantly drive up cost of operations, …in a free market, foreign competitors will eventually enter the field and take away their sales. This is evident if one looks at the history of the U.S. Automotive Industry, the U. S. Steel Industry, the U. S. Textile Industry, and many other once flourishing industries of our nation. Along with their demise we also lost millions of jobs which are now being happily performed in China and other far away lands. This happened because of weak, permissive corporate management, the domination of greedy, politically potent unions, and foolish, self perpetuating politicians who enacted legislation first in support of strengthening the stranglehold of the unions, and finally the endorsement of ‘free trade”.
Thus, because of these influences we became non-competitive and were booted from the game. Perhaps that is as it should be.
Now let’s examine what happens when strong unions organize the millions of federal, state, county, and municipal workers across our nation. When the unions realized they had killed their “golden goose”, the industrial sector, they began to aggressively move into the public sector. During the past twenty years unions have realized unprecedented growth in membership….all in the government arena. Unions such as SEIU (Service Employees International Union), The Teamsters, AFGE (American Federation of Government Employees), AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) and other unions have enrolled a huge majority of all government workers, and are reaping huge stacks of money paid to them as dues. A portion of this money is used to purchase political influence at all levels of government.
This creates a constant upward pressure on the cost of government as they use their power to gain increased salaries and benefits for their membership…..at the expense of the taxpaying public. The problem with this situation is that unlike what happens in business, in the public sector there is no competitive, corrective factor. As government grows it bites deeper and deeper into the disposable income of the general public, reducing purchasing power and quality of life. Potentially, the only corrective measure is the eventual failure of the entire economic system…and thus the failure of government.
Have We Allowed a New, Destructive Monster to Form?
This offers a basic question for debate. If the electorate does put a body of fiscally conservative legislators into power as concerns over the rising cost of governments, will these new officials be able to enact the needed corrective legislation in the face of resistance from the government employees unions? These unions now have the power to completely shut down our nation. They can shut down transportation, public safety, schools, hospitals, maintenance of all public properties, and many other critical functions in every county and city of the United States.
An example of the result of government control by unions can be found in the current crisis in Greece, who is a member of the European Union. The country is in bankruptcy, with their annual deficits running over 12%, and their problems are threatening the European Common Market. When the government has tried to institute the necessary reforms, the powerful government unions in Greece have risen in protest and created chaos in the country. As a result, government officials have been slow to make moves which are direly needed. Other nations in Europe are threatening reprisals against Greece if their government does not take action to cut costs.
These government unions are so powerful within the Greek nation that it may require a complete failure of the nation before they can be rooted out or forced to loosen their grip on the Greek Government, Greek Economy, and Greek People. I hope we are not in the process of repeating this story in the USA.
It appears that severe cuts will be needed to make up for budget shortfalls in the upcoming budgets for many states and counties across the nation this year. It will be interesting to see what role these powerful US government employee unions play in solving these problems.
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning –
● Marianna has lost another business…Century Lighting on Jackson Street has closed.
● I was surprised to see that the mini-market in the center of Greenwood has closed. Another victim of the unfettered power of the EPA and FDEP. As you drive around the county note how many of these markets/filling stations have closed in the past year. I would estimate at least fifteen for Jackson County. If each employed five people, that represents 75 jobs which have been lost, as well as the businesses. Across the state it would amount to thousands of jobs. This is done with no public comment, little or no oversight, and little or no resistance. In the name of the “Green God”, the bureaucrats within the EPA can do whatever they can dream up. To “Get it Right” we need to force our legislators to create more oversight and supervision of their actions. We can’t afford them!
● At Tuesday’s Marianna City Commission meeting local businessman Van Kunde of Florida Land and Title made a final appeal to the Commission for a sign variance. His $1400 sign was mistakenly installed six feet too long. Commissioners Roberts and Wise made eloquent appeals for granting the request, but Commissioners Donofro, Milton, and Clay voted to deny the local businesses request. Comments were made during discussion about the need to revise this over-restrictive, ill conceived code. Meanwhile, this local business just wasted $1400 because of our inflexible municipal bureaucracy.
● (Keep my New Years Resolution to say something nice) …Spring will soon be upon us. I look forward to our world changing into a garden of flowering azaleas and dogwoods.
Wisdom from Dick Kranker:
“It is useless for sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while wolves remain of a different opinion.” William Ralph Inge 1860-1954
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hatcher Publications.
This column presents a conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions.
Unions in Business vs. Unions in Government-
In the business world there is a self correcting element which does not exist in the government sector. If a company becomes too inefficient, competition from more efficient companies will put them out of business. If a business or industry allows unions to form, become too powerful, and significantly drive up cost of operations, …in a free market, foreign competitors will eventually enter the field and take away their sales. This is evident if one looks at the history of the U.S. Automotive Industry, the U. S. Steel Industry, the U. S. Textile Industry, and many other once flourishing industries of our nation. Along with their demise we also lost millions of jobs which are now being happily performed in China and other far away lands. This happened because of weak, permissive corporate management, the domination of greedy, politically potent unions, and foolish, self perpetuating politicians who enacted legislation first in support of strengthening the stranglehold of the unions, and finally the endorsement of ‘free trade”.
Thus, because of these influences we became non-competitive and were booted from the game. Perhaps that is as it should be.
Now let’s examine what happens when strong unions organize the millions of federal, state, county, and municipal workers across our nation. When the unions realized they had killed their “golden goose”, the industrial sector, they began to aggressively move into the public sector. During the past twenty years unions have realized unprecedented growth in membership….all in the government arena. Unions such as SEIU (Service Employees International Union), The Teamsters, AFGE (American Federation of Government Employees), AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) and other unions have enrolled a huge majority of all government workers, and are reaping huge stacks of money paid to them as dues. A portion of this money is used to purchase political influence at all levels of government.
This creates a constant upward pressure on the cost of government as they use their power to gain increased salaries and benefits for their membership…..at the expense of the taxpaying public. The problem with this situation is that unlike what happens in business, in the public sector there is no competitive, corrective factor. As government grows it bites deeper and deeper into the disposable income of the general public, reducing purchasing power and quality of life. Potentially, the only corrective measure is the eventual failure of the entire economic system…and thus the failure of government.
Have We Allowed a New, Destructive Monster to Form?
This offers a basic question for debate. If the electorate does put a body of fiscally conservative legislators into power as concerns over the rising cost of governments, will these new officials be able to enact the needed corrective legislation in the face of resistance from the government employees unions? These unions now have the power to completely shut down our nation. They can shut down transportation, public safety, schools, hospitals, maintenance of all public properties, and many other critical functions in every county and city of the United States.
An example of the result of government control by unions can be found in the current crisis in Greece, who is a member of the European Union. The country is in bankruptcy, with their annual deficits running over 12%, and their problems are threatening the European Common Market. When the government has tried to institute the necessary reforms, the powerful government unions in Greece have risen in protest and created chaos in the country. As a result, government officials have been slow to make moves which are direly needed. Other nations in Europe are threatening reprisals against Greece if their government does not take action to cut costs.
These government unions are so powerful within the Greek nation that it may require a complete failure of the nation before they can be rooted out or forced to loosen their grip on the Greek Government, Greek Economy, and Greek People. I hope we are not in the process of repeating this story in the USA.
It appears that severe cuts will be needed to make up for budget shortfalls in the upcoming budgets for many states and counties across the nation this year. It will be interesting to see what role these powerful US government employee unions play in solving these problems.
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning –
● Marianna has lost another business…Century Lighting on Jackson Street has closed.
● I was surprised to see that the mini-market in the center of Greenwood has closed. Another victim of the unfettered power of the EPA and FDEP. As you drive around the county note how many of these markets/filling stations have closed in the past year. I would estimate at least fifteen for Jackson County. If each employed five people, that represents 75 jobs which have been lost, as well as the businesses. Across the state it would amount to thousands of jobs. This is done with no public comment, little or no oversight, and little or no resistance. In the name of the “Green God”, the bureaucrats within the EPA can do whatever they can dream up. To “Get it Right” we need to force our legislators to create more oversight and supervision of their actions. We can’t afford them!
● At Tuesday’s Marianna City Commission meeting local businessman Van Kunde of Florida Land and Title made a final appeal to the Commission for a sign variance. His $1400 sign was mistakenly installed six feet too long. Commissioners Roberts and Wise made eloquent appeals for granting the request, but Commissioners Donofro, Milton, and Clay voted to deny the local businesses request. Comments were made during discussion about the need to revise this over-restrictive, ill conceived code. Meanwhile, this local business just wasted $1400 because of our inflexible municipal bureaucracy.
● (Keep my New Years Resolution to say something nice) …Spring will soon be upon us. I look forward to our world changing into a garden of flowering azaleas and dogwoods.
Wisdom from Dick Kranker:
“It is useless for sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while wolves remain of a different opinion.” William Ralph Inge 1860-1954
Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hatcher Publications.
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