buy unique gifts at Zazzle

Dec

18

Pension Update

December 18, 2006 |

The Post Gazette has a second in its series covering the fat benefits programs for government workers. Today’s covers the politicians themselves.

“In 2012, the cost of subsidizing pensions for state workers and school employees is expected to jump from less than $1 billion to more than $3 billion a year. The increase is being driven in part by big increases lawmakers approved five years ago for everyone, including themselves. State workers and teachers received a 25 percent pension boost, most legislators a 50 percent hike.”

There truly is nothing like voting yourself and your largest loyal voting constituency great benefits, and sticking someone else with the tab.

Someday people will wake up and realize that government workers and politicians are the same fallible human beings voters don’t seem to trust in the private sector. Yet voters delude themselves into believing that, because it is government, it will somehow be less susceptible to greed and patronage. After all, government is always a monopoly. In our case, it is a democratically enforced monopoly, where all citizens are left with the choice of being stuck with what PA offers, or moving. And the first rule of any monopoly is that you pay more for an ever worsening product. As for who gravitates to work in monopolies, it is those who prefer its shelter. Those who don’t want the private sector’s demands for ever improving products at ever more efficient prices. (Also known as putting the customer first!!) It is also those who know they could never sell what it is they are offering to people absent the use of government force; the most powerful are masters of the political games that must be played in order to secure the power of state monopoly for their use.

In other words, you are actually screening for individuals for whom you should have dramatically lower expectations than form the private sector. That’s not to say that’s all of them, but I state this to point out the shallow, reflexive tendency so many otherwise intelligent people have against the free market while embracing everything government. Still, so many voters will be surprised when a few years from now they’ll learn the government is dragging them deeper into the poor house. Stupidly, many will look to the government to save them.

(If you think the local problem is bad, take a look at the Federal Deficit situation.)


Comments

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind