Accountability

When you buy something at the store you expect to get something for your money, right? How about when you pay taxes? Do you expect efficiency? Do you expect service or product on a timely basis and on the terms you were told to expect?

It is interesting to watch people in different situations react to the realities of the moment.  Some examples:

-Pay property taxes in person at the bank or at the County Collector’s Office. I've done both. The bank is fast, accurate and friendly. It is also convenient and no fees for the extra service!  At the county building the service is relatively fast (you have to ring a buzzer to call a clerk to the service desk) and their smile is just as genuine as the bank teller’s. Not convenient, however; to pay at the county building you have to drive there, find a parking spot in a huge lot, walk a long way to the building, find the right office, and reverse all of those steps to return home. Still, the task was accomplished.

-Public pensions. I have one although it was awarded to my spouse at the time of our divorce. Still, for many years I paid into the pension program; my employer (the University of Illinois) did the same; all at the right amount and on schedule. The state, however, did not. It paid only what was being claimed by current retirees. No deposits/payments to the trust fund were paid in for future claims or to benefit from the principle of compounding interest in the investment fund. Result? Underfunded public pensions.  It is interesting to note that most state employee groups and unions educated the legislature year after year about the folly of this practice but to no avail.  Today’s unfunded pension obligation totals $100 BILLION for the state of Illinois alone. Most taxpayers are uneasy and think the state should renege on the obligation. That would mean that no future public employee could rely on the promise of their employer for pension benefits. And my benefits would be heavily reduced or eliminated.

-Public education systems draw ever more funding to teach our newest generation. Results are mixed. The pendulum swings from year to year, era to era; rising drop-out rates, falling drop-out rates; improving tests scores, falling test score. The problem is complex and one receiving a lot of research and attention to find workable solutions. Yet when it comes to the state legislators to solve this problem they waffle.

I found this quote on the internet the other day:

“Legislators want teachers to be paid according to their effectiveness as evaluated by student test scores. How about paying legislators according to their effectiveness – as evaluated by job creation and economic growth?”  ~Anonymous

Speaks to the problem doesn't it?  Legislators aren't accountable for long term solutions yet they want teachers and other public employees to be held to a standard they themselves cannot measure up to.  Pension debacle is one such standard of performance. Another is the decaying infrastructure throughout the state.

What is most troubling is this condition pervades most states in America.  What is even worse is the lack of agreement and compromise at the federal level of government! No agreement on national debt, annual budget, job creation, or legislation on countless levels. Examples:

-Former President Bill Clinton stated recently:

“A great democracy doesn't make it harder to register to vote than to buy an assault weapon.”

Yet many southern states continue the assault on voters’ rights making it more difficult for people to register for the vote and actually casting a ballot in an election.  And guns in our land almost number the population – 310,000,000 guns! Most are owned by fewer than 30% of the population making small arsenals building in many homes!  Who needs this? Why do they need this?

John Fugelsang shared this thought the other day:

“I like when people who were wrong about trickle-down economics, Clinton’s budget, the need to impeach Clinton, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Iraqis greeting us as liberators, having 2 wars off the books while cutting taxes for the rich, Sarah Palin and Obama’s citizenship tell me to believe their theories about Obamacare.”

Accountability is a serious matter. We are all held to standards. When will those who purport to govern us yield to similar standards? Ours are daily and objective/subjective to the circumstance. Theirs come on Election Day and then under the cloud of campaign hype! Who’s really accountable in our system? Where is the justice?

September 2, 2013