Friday, July 25, 2008
'With little if any regard for the logic, viability or necessity'
So now we have actual long-term cost estimates for pension perks for just 386 government employees: $115 million (conservative estimate) to $235 million (Newton High School probability range). ... It goes without saying that the perks are 'extremely rare in the private sector' and that 'Beacon Hill leaders are not clamoring to change the law.' Nor are they clamoring to truly reform/abolish the Pike that dishes out such perks. ... Reading the latest pension-abuse stories, Hub Blog couldn't get the word 'kleptocracy' out of mind. Here's the definition:
So now we have actual long-term cost estimates for pension perks for just 386 government employees: $115 million (conservative estimate) to $235 million (Newton High School probability range). ... It goes without saying that the perks are 'extremely rare in the private sector' and that 'Beacon Hill leaders are not clamoring to change the law.' Nor are they clamoring to truly reform/abolish the Pike that dishes out such perks. ... Reading the latest pension-abuse stories, Hub Blog couldn't get the word 'kleptocracy' out of mind. Here's the definition:
A kleptocracy (sometimes cleptocracy, occasionally kleptarchy) (root: klepto+kratein = rule by thieves) is a term applied to a government that extends the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats) at the expense of the population. A kleptocratic government often goes beyond mere cronyism and nepotism, or awarding the prime contracts and civil service posts to relatives or personal friends rather than the most competent applicants. They also create projects and programs at a policy level which serve the primary purpose of funneling money out of the treasury and into the pockets of the executive with little if any regard for the logic, viability or necessity of those projects.I like the word 'kleptocratic.' It just has a nice ring to it. ...
