Recent snippets from Axil:
> Originally a Democrat, Adelson became a Republican > as his wealth increased. "Why is it fair that I should > be paying a higher percentage of taxes than anyone > else?" he once asked. ... > Adelson is a good example of why trickledown economics? > no longer works. When Adelson makes money, it is distributed > globally and no longer is confined within the borders of the > nation he extracted the capital from. ... > Adeson hates unions and helped finance the recent the > election to thwart the recall of Gov. Scott Walker of > Wisconsin that took place on June 5, 2012. As a Wisconsin state employee who witnessed the destruction of our state unions, and who has worked for the Department of Transportation for the past 15 years... I'd like to bring forth the following employment announcement opportunity was recently posted in a local Yahoo group: > If you are looking for a job [at Dept. of Transportation], > Scott can send you information about some job openings at > the WI Dept of Transportation, Madison office. As I am an active member of that group I responded as follows: I also work at DOT, specifically for the Bureau of Information Technology - BiTS. The section I work in currently doesn't have an immediate supervisor. She applied for and was accepted for a section chief position in order to fill a recent vacancy. As most state employees know, soon after Mr. Walker was elected the state experienced a huge brain drain as many individuals who were more-or-less approaching retirement decided to leave immediately rather than stick to their original plan. They left like rats leaving a sinking ship. For a while, in my area, it was not uncommon to attend one or two retirement parties each week. Over the past year there has been a lot of shuffling going on in our bureau. I suspect similar "shuffling" activity is going on in many state office buildings and departments as people vie for new positions and opportunities in a never ending dance of musical chairs. It has created a lot stress among many caught in the middle who are just trying to do their job. Many, MANY, have had to take on additional responsibilities and workloads that were not in their original job descriptions. Like in Scott's area, our department also has several vacancies that we are trying to fill. I've gotten the impression that our superiors are concerned about the fact that there doesn't seem to be sufficient interest. Actually, I think it would be more accurate to say that we can't seem to find enuf qualified applicants. I suspect recent political events may have had something to do with that. I predict that market forces will eventually result in making the necessary salary adjustments to make state positions once again attractive enough to the pool of SKILLED/TECHNICAL workers looking for new opportunities. But it will take a while - a painful while. I specifically mentioned the term "SKILLED/TECHNICAL" because on average state employees are more educated and more technically proficient than the average employee who works out in private enterprise. Unfortunately, a carefully crafted illusion had been created that a frustrated public (looking for someone to blame) bought into. It was implied that state employees have been for a very long time financially better off than the average private employee. It was also implied that state employees had been taking advantage of the system at the private sector's expense. Ironically, studies show that these assumptions are unfounded particularly when you take into account education and other factors. When you look at similarly educated individuals who are working out in the private sector they make a lot more money than they would if they worked for a state agency. What this all boils down to is the fact that recent political machinations have resulted in reducing the motivation of educated and technically proficient individuals to consider a career with the state. For many it would be a noticeable demotion in their financial well-being. I suspect that is a major reason why many state agencies continue to experience difficulty trying to hire adequately educated & trained people to do the technical work that needs to be done. (Maybe they should offer more money, ya think?) Again, I suspect market forces will eventually prevail, making the necessary adjustments. I'm also sure that I'll be long retired before that happens. Addendum: I suspect the ramifications of CF/LENR along with the many spinoffs the technology will introduce into society will assist in readjusting discrepancies in salaries. At least, I hope so. There were some interesting follow-up comments. (1 - From Richard, retired state worker: Budget Analyst) Steve's analysis of the situation matches my own, with one exception. He seems to think that the people presently in charge of the state WANT state government to deliver effective, efficient services by qualified personnel, whereas I think they're using Wisconsin as a demo site to show how to make state government so awful that nobody anywhere will ever want to pay for it ever again. (2 - From Rebecca: State Employee) Unfortunately, what I am hearing matches what Richard said. And I've heard the DNR is being set to fail first. More profit in privatizing. Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
