Time to start yelling

What are we gonna do?

Looking at the problems of American government at both the state and federal levels is a very depressing exercise. Here in California we face bankruptcy, plain and simple. In the past, when there were acrimonious feelings toward the citizens by the leaders, the California legislature decided the best way to exert their dominance when money was short was to cut essential services that affect us all, like education funding and fire protection. Close a few libraries. Close some state parks. But never touch the sore thumb sticking out with deficits written all over it—state workers’ salaries and pensions. I know a teacher who retired and gets a really nice percentage of his salary as a pension. That percentage? 104%! He will probably live for another 40 years. Another teacher gets, for her years of service, a “Golden Handshake” of $800 per month on top of her regular pension. And of course these payouts are subject to COLAs, Cost of Living Adjustments.

Recently I read that the actual premium paid to a person working for the government, at all levels, is twice what the same job pays in the private sector when health insurance and other benefits are factored in.

Can we sustain this folly? The current administration in Washington DC is expanding government hiring and control. A recent issue of The Economist, an Obama-favoring magazine, finally got the gumption to call our Dear Leader “an American version of Vladimir Putin.” With one exception, I might add. Putin is an effective thug.