Where There's Smoke. . . There's Money Being Burned

According to the Washington Post, the number of  annual fires occurring in the country has fallen in half of the last 30 years while the number of career firefighters employed has risen by more than half.

                           Number of  Fires Annually       Number of Career Firefighters    Fires per Firefighter

1985                                 2.4MM                                      225,000                                    10.6

2015                                 1.2MM                                      360,000                                      3.3

% Change                          -47%                                          +57%                                     -69%


Are the firefighters we are hiring today just wimps?  Can't handle the task anymore?

Two words: Government Unions. The International Association of Firefighters brags that it is "one of the most active lobbying organizations in the country". And local governments cave in because, after all, who wants to be against firefighters? Or puppies? Doesn't this sound pretty similar to the NEA's constant whine to reduce class sizes for teachers?

The next time you see firefighters responding to something, notice how many of them show up. Usually two or three times as many as are needed.  Because they have nothing else to do. And the statistics above show you why.

The War on Poverty

The US was winning the war on poverty --- right up to the point where the Federal Government declared a WAR ON POVERTY.

Percent US Families Below the Federal Poverty Line

Sad? Collect Disability.

Below is a simple table that shows what has happened to the number of people claiming Social Security disability payments over the last 50 years.

                     Number on Disability      % Population

1960                       455,000                    0.65%
2011                    8,600,000                    5.60%

There are two possibilities here:

A. The workplace has gotten incredibly more dangerous
B. The number of people being granted bogus disability claims has increased

You make the call.

Hint: Did you know that you can qualify for disability by claiming a "mood disorder" (otherwise known as "being sad")?

(some) Governments Discover Outsourcing

In 2008, the town of Molalla, Oregon (population 8000) spent $507,973 on employee salaries and other expenses to handle its building permits, inspections and other construction red tape. In the fiscal year ended June 2012, it spent less than $150,000 for that work by outsourcing the tasks -- in this case to Clackamas County.

Kudos to the town of Molalla and city manager Ellen Barnes. Except why did it take her so long? Had it not been for the current budget squeeze the town would probably still be spending $350,000 ( ~$100 per household) of the taxpayers' money unnecessarily.

It's time government starting behaving like the businesses in their communities. Outsourcing is not a four letter word (it's actually eleven). Governments should not perform with its own employees work that can be done more efficiently with someone else's employees. The only entity not benefiting from this will be the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees.

Food Stamp Nation

Does this indicate that the there are three times as many people unable to feed themselves as there were 12 years ago? Or does it indicate that if you give away something with heavy marketing that there will be lots of takers? Can we afford to borrow money from abroad to give away something to people who could purchase it for themselves?

Free Amtrak

At a time when the country is up to its eyeballs in debt, why are we still spending billions to subsidize Amtrak? It's often faster and cheaper to take a bus or a plane. The solution is remarkably simple. Deregulate Amtrak. In 1980, the Staggers Act deregulated rail freight. It gave railways freedom to charge market rates, enter confidential contracts with shippers, drop unprofitable runs and operate trains as they liked.What did this do to costs?

Why wouldn't you expect the same things to happen with Amtrak? It would shed the unprofitable parts of its business and figure out how to make the profitable parts more profitable. And the 90% of Americans who never use passenger rail would stop paying for those who do. Yet Congress keeps renewing this incredible waste because?