The Daily California Malfeasance Report

[bearishgurl]

[quote=no_such_reality]Thank you CAR for being clear for everyone.

The government workers do not think they are accountable to the taxpayer.

If the taxpayer doesnt like it, get out of the State is their position.[/quote]

The REAL situation is, govm’t employees have a “monopoly” on the services they are providing. No one else does it and the taxpayer cannot visit a private business to get a certified copy of a document, for example, unless that business is simply a “middleman” who must visit the gov’t agency themselves to provide the service (such as a DMV “tag office” or “runner”).

ALL of the “services” govm’t employees are providing MUST be provided by law, no matter what anyone who doesn’t receive or doesn’t qualify to receive the service may think about it. The working conditions inherent in providing many of these public services may or may not be what a typical worker in private enterprise CAN or WILL agree to comply with for the duration of their employment.

Therefore, the “taxpayer” (in ANY jurisdiction) has no choice but to use the gov’mt agency if they need services only it provides. There is no “shopping around.”

[CA renter]

[quote=bearishgurl][quote=no_such_reality]Thank you CAR for being clear for everyone.

The government workers do not think they are accountable to the taxpayer.

If the taxpayer doesnt like it, get out of the State is their position.[/quote]

The REAL situation is, govm’t employees have a “monopoly” on the services they are providing. No one else does it and the taxpayer cannot visit a private business to get a certified copy of a document, for example, unless that business is simply a “middleman” who must visit the gov’t agency themselves to provide the service (such as a DMV “tag office” or “runner”).

ALL of the “services” govm’t employees are providing MUST be provided by law, no matter what anyone who doesn’t receive or doesn’t qualify to receive the service may think about it. The working conditions inherent in providing many of these public services may or may not be what a typical worker in private enterprise CAN or WILL agree to comply with for the duration of their employment.

Therefore, the “taxpayer” (in ANY jurisdiction) has no choice but to use the gov’mt agency if they need services only it provides. There is no “shopping around.”[/quote]

Well, this is why I made the analogy of buying residency, as opposed to just buying services. Each city/state has their own level of services they are willing/able to provide based on funding levels, community need, political will, local culture, etc. One can move to a high-tax city in a high-tax state, OR they can move to a low-tax city in a low-tax state.

I’ve been to a few cities/states where there are a lot of dirt roads, only volunteer fire departments, a couple of deputies, a small courthouse (maybe), and that’s about it. The tax rates there are quite low, relative to what we pay in larger cities.

People DO have choices, in just the same way that we have choices when buying goods/services in the private market. It’s up to them to decide what they would prefer.

In general, large cities have higher taxes. Nobody has to live in a large, well-developed city, but if they do, they will likely be paying higher taxes than those who choose to live in lower-tax areas. It is what it is.

Funny aside…I know a couple who are very libertarian and they want to move to a low-tax city/state. What’s amusing is that they want nice roads, top-of-the-line schools, safe neighborhoods, well-equipped/stocked libraries, nice parks, etc. It’s like people are completely unable to connect the dots and realize that there is no free ride. If you want the goodies, you have to pay for them. There is no magic infrastructure fairy who will come along and provide all these things for free. You have to decide whether or not lower taxes are more important than a well-developed social and physical infrastructure.

[sdrealtor]

Of course there is no magic infrastructure fairy. She is too busy working as the magic pension fairy though I have heard she is about to get laid off in SD, San Jose and WI.

[no_such_reality]

Former Bell official’s pensions cut further

Finally doing the right thing.

And in case you miss the real item in the story. “According to state law, workers can buy as many as five years’ additional credit toward their pensions.”

Now I’ve got to go look at what that cost them. How much would you pay for a 10-15% increase in your annual pension from 55-60 til you die?

[Anonymous]

[quote=CDMA ENG]Please… Plenty of laws have been broken in the private sector as well…

[simple-minded generalization with odd mention of race omitted]

Makes no difference private or public.

As the Human Torch says… Flame on! And the smarter in the group will ignore this thread as it deserves to be…[/quote]

Yes, and likewise smart investors should also ignore news of malfeasance in the private sector.

“This Enron sounds like a great company. I’m not going to bother reading those negative news stories…that would be mean spirited!”

Like you said:

Makes no difference private or public.

[Anonymous]

[quote=CA renter]You really don’t seem to understand the relationship between taxpayers and govt employees. Taxpayers are *consumers,* not shareholders or employers. Government employees are accountable to their employers — the agencies they work for — and the bosses/politicians who oversee them.[/quote]

Soooo…

Government employees are accountable to their employers

And their employers are also government employees…

[…] and the bosses/politicians who oversee them.

Politicians? You mean more government employees?

Hmmm….Government employees are accountable to government employees?

What a wonderfully inbred system of checks and balances!

[CA renter]

[quote=harvey][quote=CA renter]You really don’t seem to understand the relationship between taxpayers and govt employees. Taxpayers are *consumers,* not shareholders or employers. Government employees are accountable to their employers — the agencies they work for — and the bosses/politicians who oversee them.[/quote]

Soooo…

Government employees are accountable to their employers

And their employers are also government employees…

[…] and the bosses/politicians who oversee them.

Politicians? You mean more government employees?

Hmmm….Government employees are accountable to government employees?

What a wonderfully inbred system of checks and balances![/quote]

Wrong. Elected officials are not the same as “boots on the ground” employees. Not only that, but those elected officials (and many of their managerial underlings/equals) might be extremely anti-union. The are NOT “on the same side of the table,” under any circumstances.

Private corporations and other, anti-labor special interest groups also contribute to campaigns and control politicians — every bit as much as unions (or worse!). There is no way you can characterize politicians as being pro-union; you need to learm more about all the other players and how they interact with the system. The system can easily be very anti-labor, which seems to be the case right now.

[no_such_reality]

Is Mary Nichols head of CARB elected?

[UCGal]

[quote=flu]Got porn?

Students watched porn in 7th grade class
Classmates say they reported goings-on, and teacher did nothing

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jun/14/students-watched-porn-7th-grade-class/

The irony to this is the district was really hush hush about this up until a few days ago.. A previous article mentioned the school suspended 9 students but school officials declined to state why.. Now we know why they didn’t want to talk about it… I don’t know, a bunch of kids wacking off in a classroom, you think maybe just maybe there might be a problem???

You know there seems to be rampant case of what I call “porn stupidity” that seems to be making news. I mean, people getting caught with porn at work.. I don’t get it. In every company that I’ve worked at, it was very very clear… No porn at work, no porn even on work computer even if you are working at home… If you get caught, bye bye, immediate termination…. Why on earth would anyone in their right mind think it would be porn would be OK at work? Are people really that dumb?[/quote]

This is one strong argument against giving your kids data plans on their phones.

They were not on school computers viewing the porn – they were using their cell phones.

sdr just bought his son an iPhone. I’m sure there are lots of mini-piggs that have smart phones.

It happens at home, too. Just had to do a lockdown on our home computers because of some questionable choices by my sons. They will *NOT* be getting data plans when and if I ever get them phones. Thank goodness for net nanny software. Sure they’ll be able to figure out hacks to get around it – but it will be harder to do. (And I’ll be blocking sites/IP addresses at the router as they figure it out.)

Why do 7th graders need data plans on their phones?

[sdrealtor]

Mostly for gaming is what they use it for. There has been one big benefit to us. We got him a phone 2 yrs agoso we could get in touch with him when we needed to. He often left it home or forgot to charge his phone. He never forgets with the iPhone. He is also so happy and appreciative for the iPhone. He knows we will pull it from him if he misuses it or does other things wrong. He has lost computer privileges several times for days or even a week. The reasons have never Ben due to his computer usage but rather his behavior. Yes it’s a slippery slope but our kids live in a very different world than we grew up in. We do the best we can, just like our parents did with us.

[CA renter]

[quote=no_such_reality]Is Mary Nichols head of CARB elected?[/quote]

She was appointed by Gov. Brown…who was elected. Why?

[sdrealtor]

Here’s another one of the finest citizens the intense scrutiny and strict hiring protocols produces. The best way to satisfy one’s drug habit?

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/carlsbad/carlsbad-ex-police-officer-gets-probation-for-heroin-theft/article_7e7c3513-ee69-53e6-8651-4188d60ce426.html

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