I’m beginning to think that no matter how many examples we provide of ridiculously incompetent and inefficient government bureacracy, the pro-tax crowd will continue to insist that government is the answer to our problems.
For what it’s worth, here’s yet another example. The Associated Press reports that four Idaho tax workers have taken leaves of absence in a showing of solidarity with fellow state workers who had their wages cut:
With a looming state budget gap, Idaho’s four top tax collectors wanted to show solidarity with state workers who were having their wages cut. So they took furlough days to reduce their own salaries.
Only trouble is, their voluntarily turning down salary violates state law, the tax collectors learned Wednesday — so they will get be paid for the days they took off.
Royce Chigbrow, David Langhorst, Sam Haws and Tom Katsilometes took 292 hours of furlough in recent months.
But since their salaries are set by the Legislature — part of a policy meant to remove pay from potential political interference — the state controller’s office said they must be paid for furlough time, a total of $11,995.41.
“Since the inception of required furlough hours taken by Tax Commission employees, the commissioners have willingly participated and also taken the appropriate furlough hours,” the commission wrote in a memo to its employees. “The commissioners have now been told that by doing so, we are violating state law. Therefore, we must comply with the law. We regret having to do this, but it is simply out of our hands.”
Here’s a Pop Quiz for you:
Question: How many industries can you name where it would be possible for key workers to take leaves of absence for the purpose of taking sides with individuals involved in a dispute against their employer and still get paid for it?
Answer: Just one. Government.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Rachel Arciniega // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:59 pm
this sounds more like they knew what the law could do. they took it further. on the Government Bureacracy.
2 Peter // Jun 23, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Rachel,
Could be. Time off with pay sounds awfully good to most folks… especially bureaucrats who live off taxpayers’ money.
3 LawStudent // Jun 24, 2010 at 12:05 pm
I think we (i.e. productive individuals in the private economy) would be better off if we could pay bureaucrats to not work rather than meddle in our lives. I also think this plan might work for politicians as well (i.e. pay them more when the legislate less).
4 Peter // Jun 24, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Law,
I like the way you think. I never understood it when people complained about gridlock. Gridlock is a good thing. It means the politicians aren’t screwing things up even further.
5 Tab Ularasa // Jun 24, 2010 at 9:40 pm
You ask: How many industries can you name where it would be possible for key workers to take leaves of absence for the purpose of taking sides with individuals involved in a dispute against their employer and still get paid for it?
Say what? What “dispute against their employer” are you talking about? It looks like the management was trying to support the employees by sharing the pain from budget cuts. They took the cuts just like everyone else. Then they were told by the state Controller’s office that statute prohibited them from doing that. Is everything a conspiracy? Guess the word solidarity threw you…..
6 LawStudent // Jun 24, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Amen Brother.
Stephen
7 LawStudent // Jun 24, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Come to think of it, our Constitution, and the whole notion of “checks and balances”, invites gridlock; it is almost as though our founding fathers knew what they were doing because they knew human nature. I’m taking Con-law this coming year and I’m sure they’ll try to cleanse that silly notion from my mind.
Stephen
8 Peter // Jun 25, 2010 at 12:21 am
Tab,
Thanks for visiting.
The budget cuts were government mandated. The state workers work for the government. They were opposed to the budget cuts. The four tax collectors took furlough – even though their services were obviously needed by their employer – to show support for the workers whose wages were cut.
I said nothing about a conspiracy. I didn’t even say anything bad about the employees, other than that in any other industry they would not have been paid for not working.
I was making a point about the absurd incompetence and ineffeciency of government bureaucracies.
If a public company operated in this wasteful manner, its stock price would plummet. But governments get away with this idiocy because nobody’s going to perp-walk a bureaucrat.
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