Screeners cost U.S. money

As I come to the end of my two-week-plus exile from my office, I noticed an item in the local paper here that showed, in stark simplicity, the real reason why anything government does costs more than whatever the private sector accomplishes: they simply pay more! When the paychecks for the screeners shifted to government, the government simply issued bigger checks!

While this phenomenon has been obvious to anyone whose brain is plugged in and whose sensorium is connected, it is rarely shown so openly and brazenly. The only thing not reported in the story is whether the government pays more because they truly couldn't care less, or do they encourage higher payments as part of bureaucratic S.O.P. designed to increase their budget. (It is well known, and I have blogged it before in greater detail, that the chief aim of all managers in bureaucracies is to cause an increase in their budgets. Since they do not use zero base budgeting, the simplest way to accomplish this aim is to merely spend more. Then the additional spending is picked up in the baseline for the next year's budget which is, as standard operating procedure, always increased. The only mystery here is why the electorate agrees with the process by continuing to re-elect the perpetrators. Speaking of which,

Bob Barr Loses

In a stunning turn-around, Bob Barr has lost his primary fight, so he can not stand for re-election for what would have been his fifth congressional term. While four terms is more than enough to corrupt anyone, this case is particularly instructive. Barr is, incredibly, referred to as a voice for "freedom" since he was, indeed, instrumental in standing in the way of the congress when it attempted to infringe on some of our freedoms, particularly first and second ammendment issues. He was, however, one of the hardest of the drug warriors, pushing for the most draconian penalties for pot smokers, led the movement to repudiate the vote, actually blocking the reporting of the vote results on medical marijuana in Wahington, D.C. So much for the "freedom fighter."

I would love to continue, but they are literally putting this computer in a mover's box right now, as I type. I will be back at Blog Central by Thursday, and will get back to my daily posting by the end of the week. See you then.