Friday, February 09, 2007

The Poverty Line

The poverty line for one person under 65 with no dependents is $9827. With each dependent after that the line goes up between $2000-$4000 per dependent plateauing at $36,520 with 8 or more.

I myself, if i continues this internship for the entire year would make roughly $18,000 before taxes. Now I will admit that I do not live the most humble lifestyle, I splurge from time to time and I do have digital cable and the internet at my apartment but after all my bills, expenses I have hardly any money.

How does the government a single parent to be able survive off of half of a what a college kid gets by on? Not only do they have t feed and clothe themselves they have to care for other children while at the same time holding multiple jobs and probably making car insurance payments. The poverty level in this country is a ridiculous calculation that is impossible for some one to subsist on and should be reconfigured to reflect the needs of this countries poor.

That's not even getting into the health insurance problem.......

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Getting Lost in Big Government

Conservatives hate big government, and since I now work for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts I can see why. The rigor and demands of the corporate world are no where to be found in this large bureaucracy. Once you get down below the immediate offices of the elected officials you are left with largely a great deal of people who are never pushed. People who are never given real deadlines and who know their job will always be there barring a racial or sexual misconduct. Lack of a work ethic and of motivation are accepted as the status quo and largely because of that employee productivity slows within weeks of being hired.

Conservatives (and most Americans) blame the employee; the reason for the lack of productivity is found in the employees themselves, because of that missing will. Yet who would be able to do that job with anymore will or determination? Possibly an intern like myself who is looking for that recommendation and that leg up, but for those who work here as a career there is no leg up, there are no bonuses, there are no real upgrades or promotions (moving from scanning assistant to data entry assistant is a change in scenery, one cubicle to another).

The fault does not fall at the will of the employee but at the feet of the elected officials who do not demand excellence of their employees. If you want government to match business in productivity and efficiency then you must run it like a business. Hand out bonuses and promotions to those who deserve them and fire those that refuse to work.

Demanding that your employees try is only half the problem, the other half is making them want to come to work. Give them some independence and responsibility, make them feel important, make them feel like they are apart of something greater. Not just a person in a cubicle but an asset to the agency that has ideas and solutions.

But as long as we have this mindset that government can never be like business and will always be bloated and ineffective then we will only continue to hamstring ourselves and the future of this country.

I will continue to touch on this subject in more detail as this internship continues.

Resurrection 2.0

I'm bored at work, it's as simple as that. Because of my boredom I think its time for this hideous thing to rear its ugly head once more. We'll see if I actually post some more.