We are, by all signs, involved in an oil cost run-up driven by demand being greater than supply.  It is exacerbated for us Americans because our monetary policy has seen an intentional softening of the dollar (our money is worth less than other peoples' money, so it takes more of it to buy a barrel of crude oil).  I paid $4.20 per gallon yesterday with the price of crude oil standing at about $130 +/- per barrel.  Predictions of crude oil prices of $150 per barrel or more are seen or heard regularly now.  And, the cost of oil could well be higher than that by year-end.

How did we get to this point?  We got there by congressional law making, by presidents rolling over and signing those bills, and by our country's increasing needs/demand for gasoline and diesel fuel.  Why would we permit ourselves to become part of such a quagmire?

Politics!  Politics played by those on both sides of the aisle.  Conservatives seem to have lost their voices.  Liberals never seem to lose their voices.

Laws were re-written more than thirty years ago to make it nearly impossible for a new refinery to be built.  Those were the result of congress being rolled by the environmentalists and presidents either believing the rhetoric of the day or fearing the backlash should they stand up to the rhetoric.  This has continued to this very day.  We are forbidden from drilling within 200 miles of the California and Florida coastlines but the Chinese are already doing so as we sit on our thumbs.  We are unable to pursue the shale oil deposits that span our northern plains and southwestern states.  We have ample untapped resources that are readily available but our laws don't permit us to make use of those resources.

We see the 'global warming' group and the 'environmentalist group' driving our economy into the ground...and we have not found the moral outrage/courage to stand up to them and say "no more"!  We could easily build new refineries in any number of locations around our country but we're not permitted to do so.  We know how to drill and refine today without ruining our world.  It takes from 6 to 10 years to bring a new refinery on-line so the time to have declared a moratorium on the rules that made it impossible to build new refining capacity has come and gone.  But, the typical congressional response of "that will take ten years" should remind us that if we don't roll back those silly laws today, it'll take ten years from whenever we do roll back those silly laws.  The time to begin is now, not next week or next month.

We witnessed the ridiculous 'hearings' held by congress in the past few weeks.  We watched as Sen. Herb Kohl embarrassed himself by chiding the 'big bad oil companies' for making a profit.  He is a former businessman who certainly understands that profit must be derived in order for businesses to exist and grow.  He knew how that worked when he ran Kohl's Food Stores.  He certainly must have some comprehension as the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.  His statement to the oil company executives that their profits didn't seem fair gives one a lot of insight.  He knows better but he will play/pander to the crowd he favors.  He 'feels' as do most liberals.  He doesn't necessarily reason.  He has his millions, so he can set out to control everyone else who aspires to similar success.

Sen. Kohl is but one of the 535 members of congress.  Too many of those men and women are too intent on keeping their offices to actually vote the way they probably know they should.  You have probably heard the old phrase that states you must "go along to get along".  That should be inscribed over the doorways leading to the House and the Senate chambers since it is the rule that is followed by the vast majority of people who walk through those portals.  That is true on the national stage, the state stage and the local stage.

The people who go to Washington and who do not give in and play by the Washingtonian rules are few and very far between.

Whose fault is this dilemma in the final analysis?  Yours and mine. 

We're the men and women who have permitted this to happen.  We don't vote in the House or the Senate, but we do elect those who do...and we do not seem to unelect people very often once they've gotten into office.  Rep. Steve Kagen (D) from the Appleton area stands for re-election this November.  He is at his most defeatable point historically.  If he survives the first re-election campaign and keeps his seat, he is likely to be in that seat for so long as he desires without regard to how he votes or doesn't vote.

We're so unconcerned about our vote, it seems, that we don't even think voting is sacrosanct enough to require valid photo identification before we're permitted to cast a ballot. 

So, all this angst has been brought to us by us.  Remember that the next time you buy gasoline or diesel fuel.  Remember that the next time you go to the grocery store and try to make your food budget stretch.  Remember that when you ponder whether or not you'll be able to take a vacation this year, or buy new school clothing for your children, or go out for a fish fry.  Remember that when you try to stretch your retirement income to cover your basic needs.

And, when you've gotten yourself all 'cranked up', if that happens, make a resolution to get involved and stay involved and to talk with your elected representatives at every level of government and let them know what you think and what you want them to do on your behalf.  And, if they fail you, fire them with your vote at the polling place.

Had you and I done that two decades ago instead of simply going with the flow, maybe we'd not be in the situation we find ourselves in today.

Back on March 25th, we discussed the first story that centered on the Wellness Committee within the Germantown employee ranks.  The committee was about to make a request for up to $20,000 to be used in a wellness program for village employees.  This proposal was sent back by the General Government and Finance Committee at that time for more work by the group.  I had mentioned at the time that there seemed little enthusiasm for a $20,000 expenditure but that the committee had been encouraged to formulate more detailed plans and return.

That return visit is scheduled for tonight according to a Journal Sentinel article this morning.  That article stated that the committee will be returning with a proposal for the expenditure of $14,495 this year on wellness activities.  The key here will be the plan of action that they present.

Wellness programs can be very good for employees and their dependents if managed correctly.  Many private sector employers use them and have had good results.  Among the keys is that employees have to be engaged.  They have to be challenged.  Some private sector employers have used incentives to get the employee's buy-in.  The incentives are legal if put together correctly.

In other instances, smaller groups have managed to create sound wellness programs with the expenditure of relatively few dollars.  By few dollars, I am talking about a few hundred dollars that is leveraged using the resources already available within the community.  Many wellness programs have begun on a smaller scale and then expanded as ideas were proved to work.

Other wellness programs see the gradual decline of participation by employees.  That seems to happen when the programs become old and stale; when there are no new ideas or approaches being developed year after year.

And, it is very important that wellness programs are available to dependents of the village employees.  Dependents typically outnumber employees especially in a more mature workforce such as seems evident in Germantown.

Finally, negotiated agreements may need to be revisited should the village decide to proceed with a wellness program.

I hope that we do not see blanket approval without some in-depth study and analysis.  These programs can be good or bad; they are never guaranteed to work.

In the final analysis, the purposes of wellness programs also include a return on investment.  What will the investment of $14,495 this year do, if anything, to reduce costs in the health care programs next year or in the next five years?  Who has put the plan together?  Are they qualified to do so?  If a professional group, does it have a track record that can be reviewed by the Board before moving ahead?

The morning Journal Sentinel carried a brief story about Germantown being in the process of considering the approval of a $20,000 employee wellness program.  The General Government & Finance Committee meets tonight at 7:00PM in the Village Hall Board Room and is scheduled to consider this as part of that agenda.

Wellness programs have been with us for some time now, and are quite common in the private sector.  Many are preceded by a Health Risk Assessment as is apparently the case here in Germantown.

I was under the impression that we had more than 46 employees, but that is the number given as those who participated.  If that is only a segment of the full number of employees, then I would have to assume that this Assessment was undertaken voluntarily.  Given the labor agreements in place, that might be understandable, but it tends to defeat the purpose of helping employees identify issues with their health.  And, it tends to defeat the purpose of trying to reduce our taxes through better control over health care expenditures.

I was surprised that some 80% of the 46 employees who did complete the Assessment were found in need of nutrition improvement, weight management, cancer risk reduction and fitness.  That seems a high percentage of a work force contrasted to what one would expect in the private sector.  This could be symptomatic of the fact that municipalities tend to have very low turn-over of employees once hired which would tend to provide for a higher average age in the group.  That speaks to the overall conclusions of municipal employees that they have a very good deal when employed in the public sector.

The idea that the village needs to pony up $20,000 to teach people how to cook or to encourage them to begin to take better care of themselves through smoking cessation or weight-management is counter to what one would expect in the private sector.  Private sector programs tend to offer rewards to those who take personal responsibility rather than to offer up money to pay for the classes necessary.  Health premium contributions might be reduced if one takes steps to improves his or her health risk.  The money involved on the part of the employer is typically the 'seed' money used to get the wellness programs launched thus helping over time to reduce the cost of health care within the group.  Maybe this article was written poorly; I don't know, but the inference is certainly disconcerting. 

I do not know how much, if anything, is contributed by village employees toward their health coverage.  That may also be part of the problem.  We tend to attach little worth to something we don't pay for or for which we pay relatively little.

That $20,000 amounts to some $540 for every employee who displayed health risks.  It does nothing to reward the few employees who were already taking better care of themselves.  Doesn't that seem to be sort of a reverse incentive?  Then again, if the employees are paying little or nothing for their health coverage, this would've helped to create the environment where one would have to think of paying someone to take better care of themselves.

Update: The General Government & Finance Committee approved further study of the village Wellness Committee's request for funding at its meeting last night.  The general concensus was that this seemed a good idea but without specifics, there was nothing of sufficient substance to compel anything other than a furtherance.  Discussion appeared to indicate that this committee was not favorably disposed to a $20,000 initial funding level, but might consider some lesser amount at a future time.