Question No. 2: Dan Carpenter Response
This is a very good question. As a public employee for thirty-four years and a taxpayer, I have experienced both sides of the issue. None of us wants to pay higher taxes and public employees want to be treated fairly. There are several steps that need to be taken to see that this happens.
First, the State of Wisconsin is extremely inefficient. Governor Doyle has been taking steps to reduce the deficit, but much more must be done. For example, we spend far too much on our prison system. We incarcerate three times the number of inmates that Minnesota does and we aren’t any safer. There are other ways to punish non-violent offenders. However, we have chosen to spend huge sums of money to build more and more prisons. For the $26,000 per year that we spend to incarcerate a non-violent person, we could send them to one of our best private universities. This money would be spent much more wisely on the people that provide us with the services we enjoy. I am truly puzzled when our legislature passes a law to incarcerate a person at a cost of $19,500 for stealing a shopping cart when that money could be spent much more wisely.
Second, I feel that all public employees deserve to have access to binding arbitration. When two sides disagree, why not let a third party resolve the issues. In the past this has sometimes failed because arbitrators were allowed to choose between one side or the other. I would propose that three arbitrators be assigned to hear an arbitration and that they be allowed to pick from each side to arrive at a fair settlement for both.
Third, health care costs are out of control everywhere. The public sector is not alone here. Again, efficiency is the primary issue. Should hospitals be allowed to build across the street from each other? Should staffing requirements be mandated? How about a common database? The inefficiency is driving up costs all over. Business, health care, insurance and government need to sit down and come to a conclusion about how to make health care more affordable. If we don’t do this soon, more of us will be uninsured driving up the cost to those that are and creating a downward spiral to a total collapse.
Public employees enjoy good pension benefits. There are businesses that provide better and some that provide less. It should be understood that pensions of public employees are held in trust and employees make decisions about their own accounts that allow them to be flexible about how their money is invested. If an employee makes the correct decision and allows the fund to accumulate, that employee should not be criticized for having a comfortable pension. Of course, when the topic of Milwaukee County or the bonuses given to some state employees in Madison by outgoing officials arises, we are talking about abuse that is quite different. That is not the norm. Most state employees are hard-working people who deserve to be treated fairly.
First, the State of Wisconsin is extremely inefficient. Governor Doyle has been taking steps to reduce the deficit, but much more must be done. For example, we spend far too much on our prison system. We incarcerate three times the number of inmates that Minnesota does and we aren’t any safer. There are other ways to punish non-violent offenders. However, we have chosen to spend huge sums of money to build more and more prisons. For the $26,000 per year that we spend to incarcerate a non-violent person, we could send them to one of our best private universities. This money would be spent much more wisely on the people that provide us with the services we enjoy. I am truly puzzled when our legislature passes a law to incarcerate a person at a cost of $19,500 for stealing a shopping cart when that money could be spent much more wisely.
Second, I feel that all public employees deserve to have access to binding arbitration. When two sides disagree, why not let a third party resolve the issues. In the past this has sometimes failed because arbitrators were allowed to choose between one side or the other. I would propose that three arbitrators be assigned to hear an arbitration and that they be allowed to pick from each side to arrive at a fair settlement for both.
Third, health care costs are out of control everywhere. The public sector is not alone here. Again, efficiency is the primary issue. Should hospitals be allowed to build across the street from each other? Should staffing requirements be mandated? How about a common database? The inefficiency is driving up costs all over. Business, health care, insurance and government need to sit down and come to a conclusion about how to make health care more affordable. If we don’t do this soon, more of us will be uninsured driving up the cost to those that are and creating a downward spiral to a total collapse.
Public employees enjoy good pension benefits. There are businesses that provide better and some that provide less. It should be understood that pensions of public employees are held in trust and employees make decisions about their own accounts that allow them to be flexible about how their money is invested. If an employee makes the correct decision and allows the fund to accumulate, that employee should not be criticized for having a comfortable pension. Of course, when the topic of Milwaukee County or the bonuses given to some state employees in Madison by outgoing officials arises, we are talking about abuse that is quite different. That is not the norm. Most state employees are hard-working people who deserve to be treated fairly.
posted by Miles Maguire at 8:46 PM
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