JayB

What, like, you've got a better self deprecating sense of humor than the rest of us? At least one of you.

Exactly.

Jesus Christ Almighty. I'd love to watch the faces of quite a few posters on this site as they work their way through that list. #62. Knowing What's Best for Poor People. "White people spend a lot of time of worrying about poor people. It takes up a pretty significant portion of their day. They feel guilty and sad that poor people shop at Wal*Mart instead of Whole Foods, that they vote Republican instead of Democratic, that they go to Community College/get a job instead of studying art at a University. It is a poorly guarded secret that, deep down, white people believe if given money and education that all poor people would be EXACTLY like them. In fact, the only reason that poor people make the choices they do is because they have not been given the means to make the right choices and care about the right things. A great way to make white people feel good is to tell them about situations where poor people changed how they were doing things because they were given the ‘whiter’ option. “Back in my old town, people used to shop at Wal*Mart and then this non-profit organization came in and set up a special farmers co-op so that we could buy more local produce, and within two weeks the Wal*Mart shut down and we elected our first Democratic representative in 40 years.” White people will first ask which non-profit and are they hiring? After that, they will be filled with euphoria and will invite you to more parties to tell this story to their friends, so that they can feel great. But it is ESSENTIAL that you reassert that poor people do not make decisions based on free will. That news could crush white people and their hope for the future."

If a given skillset won't generate a return sufficient to generate any profits (Help: Total Comp/Hour = $20. Labor value added/hour = $10. Operating loss from labor/hour = $10), how do you propose to fund the said benefits and wages. In reality. Here. Now. Not after the Lefto-Rapture arrives and the ghost of Marx smites the capitalists while all of the devout socialists smile smugly from their emission/cruelty/racism/sexism/classism/speciesism/lookism free sustaino-collectives.

Ahh yes, the "Buy the product of their labor" fallacy. Unless the guys in the shipyards fabricating the yachts can all afford to buy...yachts, it'll all come crashing down.

Oh, come on now - really. Until the leftist equivalent of "The Rapture" comes along, the system collapses, and a clique of intellectuals running a police state has secured "the means of production," you know very well that they'll just run out and blow their "living" wages on UFC pay-per-view matches, lift-kits for their F350's, ATV's, Bugles snack-mix, Milwaukee's Best Tallboys, Ammo, and of course...TruckNutz.

Teddy and Co insured that Uncle Sugar took care of the tab for most of that one, I think. I suspect that the nature and extent of the corruption and graft associated with that project would have left even Boss Tweed shaking his head in disbelief.

It's more the inefficiency than the taxes. All of the stuff that I've complained about should bother folks on the left as well, since it means that the state ultimately delivers fewer services to the people and causes that need them than it would have if it used tax revenue as efficiently as possible. BTW - I suspect that the public sector in Washington is a model of integrity and efficiency relative to MA.

If by these days, you mean, "any time in the last 30 years" I'd have to agree with you.

I assume you've factored the fact that all of our debt is denominated in......dollars into the above statement concerning exchange rates... A rapid decline in the value of the dollar may well translate into higher borrowing costs at some point, but that's yet to manifest itself in treasury yields.

The list of positions affected by that FY "adjustment" was pages long. My personal experience is limited to higher ed, and most of the positions affected were specialized, like childcare center workers, lab technicians, etc. Maybe in Seattle they could "jump ship" to better paying jobs prior to this increase, but a huge percentage of gov't employees are in cities with depressed economies (I'm from the eastside of the state). The best employer BY FAR is the gov't in most smaller towns. People rarely jump ship from gov't jobs in eastside towns, not without a really strong reason. Yah - agreed - the folks are voluntarily sticking with their jobs for a reason. Either the tangibles (total compensation), or intangibles (job security, regular - to the second - hours) are enticing them to stay in the jobs voluntarily. If the grass were really considerably greener in the private sector, then the state employees in these jobs would have already taken jobs in the private sector, and the state would be struggling to fill vacancies at the comp levels offered. Better not let the folks at the water cooler know that you are giving away the secrets of the temple here on cc.com....

I think I heard the sound of tens of thousands of state employees in Eastern Washington simultaneously making the "Shhhhhh!" sound all the way out here in Boston....

Actually, they (Nick Licatta) plan to milk you for more fines with red-light cameras. Far more effecting at boosting revenue than improving safety.

Sounds quite hard to believe, especially when you factor in future pension liabilities, etc - let alone money wages. Then there's the matter of how many public employees would actually stay in their current jobs if they knew that they could score a 25% raise by jumping ship.

Also put the bit about the effect of asset-class-that-never-loses value, and the sector that will never sustain a downturn or correction in bold. Open your eyes, class warrior.

In 2002 >50% of Oakland's firefighters made over $100k. One made $108k in overtime alone The change taker doesn't get paid to play poker The only thing that keeps them out of the top category is that their functions couldn't be automated with a net gain to society. I've always thought that they were underworked and overpaid, and that the wages that they've managed to secure far exceed those would would be required to staff the positions with qualified people. Unfortunately, questioning their compensation has become rather taboo as of late.

yawn - the demand for services is rather constant, no? Or in the next recession should we just stop having a legal system? I think that easing off of the auto-COLA's, brining employee health insurance contributions in line with those that prevail in the private sector, transitioning to defined contribution plans instead of fixed pensions, tying compensation in manual/clerical and all other easily replaceable positions to private sector averages, eliminating promotion based on seniority, making the process of elminating poor employees more efficient, etc would provide for better services in good times, and make the need for either higher taxes or service cuts less probable in recessions. Keep pretending that civilization will collapse if the Document Specialist 4's actually make market wages, pay for more of their own health care, earn raises instead of having them granted automatically, etc though if you need to....

Not subject to economic realities? Huh? King County had layoffs this decade! http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/82930_layoffs16.shtml http://www.metrokc.gov/exec/news/2001/061401letteremp.htm Funny how you didn't point the finger at the one group in the public sector who could best be considering overpaid - Firemen. Firemen are up there, but when change-makers are clearing $66K in total compensation, there's plenty of competition for the top prize.

Well, I agree with your argument as far as the types of jobs you mention (clerical, manual, etc.), BUT there actually are a lot of "highly skilled" positions that are local, state or federally funded, like in higher education. Beware of making such a broad generalization. I'd include some university professors in the topmost category, but relatively few outside of science, engineering, medicine, or business have skillsets that would enable them to earn a higher salary in the private sector, and most of them would be loathe to make such a move. In the case of university faculty, the main risk of uncompetitive salary packages would be losing them to other universities.

Show me the stats on private versus public sector layoffs relative to their percentage of the labor force and then you'll have a case. How many Boeing workers lost their jobs between 2001 and 2004?

What's amazing to me is the repeated assertion that climbing unbolted trad lines invariably involves acts that are either terribly difficult or dangerous. Most lines that see any traffic, which constitute ~95% of all of the climbing that gets done feature moderate climbing, with abundant protection, which is easily obtained. It wouldn't surprise me if the limiting factor for most people wasn't the difficulty or risk, but the price of the gear.

cost of living and health insurance! OMFG! you want competent employees you have to pay for them. cut wages and benefits, people leave and it will end up costing you more to do less In cases of highly skilled employees, perhaps. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, programmers, executives, etc. What percentage of public employees actually fall into this category? When it comes to the folks performing manual, clerical, or other jobs, their total compensation likely exceeds anything that they could get in the private sector. If you think otherwise, I invite you to ponder the size of the line the next time that the Washington State Ferries announce that they'll be hiring. Or, the next time that you are in MA, ask the guy in the booth where else he'd take home total compensation averaging $66K a year for making change. Taxing people who are subject to economic realities, in order to insulate those who subsist on their taxes from the said economic realities - will only go on for so long. I suspect that simple economics will force the issue before the voters do.

The public sector unions should be glad that the folks who are subject to layoffs, salary freezes, who shoulder a greater share of the cost for their health insurance benefits, who work for enterprises in which wages are governed by the value of the goods and services that they generate, etc are feeling so generous.

"King County threatened with $45 million deficit Balancing budget likely requires cuts in services By GREGORY ROBERTS P-I REPORTER With a cooling economy pinching tax revenue even as government costs rise, King County faces a $45 million budget deficit in 2009 unless services are cut below current levels, county officials said Tuesday. That projection is gloomier than the $25 million general fund shortfall for 2009 forecast by County Executive Ron Sims in October. And the years beyond 2009 look worse still, county Budget Director Bob Cowan said. Thanks to a strong regional economy, the county has not had to cut services since 2006. Although costs grew slightly faster than revenue in that period, budgets have been balanced by tapping accumulated reserves. Some reserves remain -- including those designated for specific purposes -- but overall, they've been significantly depleted, Cowan said. And the revenue outlook for 2009 looks dim because the projected revenue set against the projected cost of maintaining the current level of service won't be enough. In a presentation he's to give Wednesday to the County Council, Cowan focused Tuesday on the general fund, which accounts for $645 million of the county's total 2008 budget and goes mainly for jails, courts and the Sheriff's Office. The rest of the $4.9 billion spending plan includes construction projects and specific services such as Metro Transit and county road maintenance. The general fund relies primarily on sales and property taxes. The recent rapid growth in sales tax revenue is slowing with the economy. Property tax growth also is faltering: Although overall tax increases on existing property are capped at 1 percent in any event, new construction is exempt from that limit, and the housing slowdown has put a crimp in that revenue source, Cowan said. Meanwhile, the county's unionized employees receive annual cost-of-living salary adjustments and the expense of their county-supported health insurance is increasing faster than revenue. Energy costs, too, are soaring. Balancing the budget likely will mean cuts in the existing level of services, Cowan said. The county hopes it can contain employee health costs and realize savings in the courts, he said. Revenue could increase if the Legislature authorizes counties to collect the kinds of utility taxes that cities impose. Sims is asking departments to look for savings, his top aide, Curt Triplett, said. Sims is to present the 2009 budget to the council in the fall, with the council adopting a spending plan by the end of this year."

Net financial liabilities as percentage of GDP. "Tax burdens are difficult to compare internationally, even at the highest level of aggregation — total taxation revenue as a proportion of GDP. One area that causes particular difficulty is the inter-temporal dimension of the tax burden, or public finance more generally. * Countries may choose to have lower tax burdens in the short run, without reducing their levels of expenditure, if they are willing to run budget deficits and accumulate government debt (or conversely, by reducing their holdings of assets). * Countries with relatively large levels of government debt may need to have a higher tax burden in the future, or reduce expenditures relative to revenues, in order to finance that stock of debt or repay it. Periods of strong economic growth can also help to improve the fiscal position. * Large fiscal imbalances or large levels of debt may not be sustainable for long periods, and choices may need to be made to reduce expenditures or increase revenues." Source same as above.