A Tosa resident since 1991, Christine walks the dog, raises kids, cooks but avoids housework, writes and reads, and works too much. A Quaker and
, she has been known to stand on both sides of the political and philosophic fence at the same time, which is very uncomfortable when you think about it. She writes about pretty much whatever stops in to visit her busy mind at the moment. One reader described her as "incredibly opinionated but not judgmental." That sounds like a good thing to strive for!
There's an old joke: what letter do all pirate words start with?
"Arrrggghhh!"
Or maybe that should be "grrrrrrr" for greed.
Are you a pirate seizing bounty you haven't earned? Are you greedy?
Imagine this: your old coworker tells you that she just got her pension increased by 25% because of a clause in the agreement that says, well, she can. It’s legal, and you’re eligible, too.
Do you say “Oh, sorry. I can’t do that! It wouldn’t be good for the people of the County. That money belongs to them”?
Or do you say “Oh man. That will really help out with the medical bills and my kid’s tuition!”?
I don’t know about you, but I know what I’d do. I’d take the money with gratitude and relief. I wouldn't see myself as a pirate.
Of course, I wouldn’t be eligible for the kind of “bonus” top officials would get, for some a matter of $30,000 a year. That’s on top of what they were getting before. Interestingly, the ones with the most to gain are those who were responsible for setting up, buying into, and administering the system.
Are they pirates--or entrepreneurs in the great American tradition of cutting your own best deal?
Have we ever asked business management to forgo the old golden parachutes and extravagant bonus/stock option features for the good the company, the employees, or most important, the investors?
Arrrrgggghhhh! Not that I can recall.
Milwaukee County government needs to clean up its pension trainwreck now. Scott Walker’s been talking about doing that for a long time. But the County needs to take care of the rest of its business, too. It’s awfully tempting to concentrate on this and forget the other serious business in health, human services, and infrastructure facing the County in its budget considerations.
It’s time to talk about taxes—not money seized but the dues we pay to live as citizens in a free society that provides individuals and businesses with some of the services they need to succeed. Roads (and safe bridges) to transport goods and people. Public transportation so people can travel economically. Affordable, accessible healthcare for the old, the poor, and the rest of us.
And for that, as well as the temporary legal fees to clean up its current mess, the County needs a raise. (I'm steering clear of the question of the supervisors' salaries--that's another topic!) It’s not a matter of greed, it’s a matter of a little more now or a lot more later.
There's a third alternative, I suppose. Further deterioration and putting more of the costs on those who can least afford them.
Are we greedy or are we willing to pay our way? Pirates or citizens?
Time will tell whether we exhale the ggrrrrr of greed --or exasperation with the ongoing mess--or the aahhhhh of relief in solving a problem that won't go away by yelling about it.
