The city council passed a budget last week with hardly a ripple in the local journalistic waters. Almost unnoticed for its lack of acrimony the council had an air of stealth as it went about its business. Last year there was a demanding and thoroughly delusional city manager backed by equally delusional councilmen and women on one side of the process and the much-maligned but wiser Mayor on the other.
Somehow confused that he was sitting on a pile of money, former city manager Wayne Cauthen (yeah, they cut him loose) steadfastly insisted his misguided budget was achievable and reasonable. Never very distant from the fore was always a streak of indigence in his demeanor, as if he were felt less respected because of his minority status and was constantly brooding. Maybe because of this he was able to enlist the weaker council members in his support; hell, I don't know--maybe they just agreed with him, because most of them don't seem too bright either. He seemed to have plenty of respect, but just didn't get what services the city really needs.
In opposition was Mayor Mark Funkhauser, a former city auditor who labors under the onus of supporting the Obama administration. Nonetheless he has years of city hall experience that told him and reasonable people there was no way in hell that budget would be manageable. A nasty fight ensued. Compromises were effected, and the city is still here but the city manager abruptly was dismissed several months ago with very little said.
Can't say that I miss him. He never had the professional attitude that is demanded of someone in that line of work. He built an empire of assistant city managers, aides and assistants, actually appointing a "chief of staff." Perhaps we can make a case for the President to have a chief of staff, but a less delusional city manager might get by with two or three assistants and some good department heads. Cauthen didn't get what Funk does: The public wants cops, snow removal and pothole patching, not neighborhood development and organizing.
Despite backing Obama, Mayor Mark Funkhauser is otherwise exhibiting uncommon common sense day after day. He realizes that the livability of the city is fading, along with its tax base. Block after block of the urban inner core is worthless. No one wants to live there, among drug houses, gangs, weed-covered vacant lots and abandoned dwellings. The school district is a mess, administered by a board of union hacks and big-shots. Amid all this people want to feel safe in their homes, want their trash picked up and want the water to run when they turn the tap.
I wonder how much of this the councilmen get. Kansas City is only surviving because of a large surrounding suburban area in the extreme north and south, annexed decades ago mostly as farmland while the core city was still livable. Now it provides the heart of the residential tax base, and the council's biggest issue in three years has been the mayor's wife. Perhaps now, a year before elections, they are just getting around to genuine concerns as witnessed by the smooth budget passage and Cauthen's ouster.
Then there is Power and Light, thought to be the savior of downtown, which may become the next albatross around the city's neck if the enterprise can't make its interest payments and the city has to pick that up too. Hey, thanks Kay Barnes. (Can't imagine what kind of nonsense she would have supported in Congress.) It's a nice area but parking is rare and prices are high. Perhaps the city didn't need this debt at this time, and should have worked to bring offices back downtown from elsewhere in the city. Maybe some big retailers could have been enticed back on to Petticoat Lane. You get some people on the street and the bars and restaurants will follow anyway if the city cleans out the drug dealers and bums. Make it easy for cafes and clubs to open up, cut license fees and permits. Back the inspections off. Get government out of the way.
But that isn't what happened. Kay left a mess for the Funk to clean up. She left him debt, a deluded city manager and a rapidly escaping population and business community. I've heard Funk refer to livability for those of us left here. I hope the council is beginning to get it. Cops, snow removal, pot hole repair. A swimming pool in the summer and a growing--not shrinking--tax base. And maybe a little humility; I'm beginning to think I work for them.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Fun and games with your health
March is almost gone, slipping away faster and faster as the month proceeds. With much more going on than in the first two months of the year it is amazing how quickly this period of transition from winter to less winter accelerates through the calendar. I wanted to get one more post in before April shows up.
The fools that we have (hey, not we; I didn't vote for anyone who supported it) elected to represent us in Washington have made the largest power grab in U.S. history by passing a bill providing for national health care. Upwards of two-thirds of the constituents don't want it, at least not in its current form. I just can't think of anything that will kill off a health care system that has developed the greatest patient care in the world more effectively than turning it over to Uncle Sam.
What are these people thinking?
"Oh," you say, "It is good but what good if no one can afford it?"
Actually it is a fairly small slice of people that can't afford it. There are others who do not care to have health insurance although they could work it into their budget if they were inclined. The system we have is clogged with -- especially in the south and south west -- illegal aliens who are here to get free care. They know that they can't be turned away from an emergency room until stabilized, which is all any of them really want. Who pays for that? We The People.
The same goes for Americans who have other priorities than health care. Some have addictions that are costly and leave little room for CIGNA or Blue Cr0ss: cigarettes, alcohol, new cars, house payments beyond means, or maybe they just like to eat all their meals in restaurants which in itself is a health hazard. So when they get sick and show up at the ER, who pays their bills? We The People.
Regardless, the real number of folks unable to afford insurance is small and once again, Washington liberals have separated us all into two groups--the wealthy 10% and everyone else. They refuse to admit there is still a large, functioning, independent middle-class out here. Maybe they do know we're here because apparently they are doing their best to destroy it.
We are told we just can't carry on like this by the same pe0ple who manage nothing well. The Post Office, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, WIC, Fannie, Freddie, Gennie, and the War on Poverty have all been horrible, wasteful and dreadfully expensive flops with no end. Again paid for by We The People.
What should we expect from a group of men and women who are mostly lawyers and have never had to meet a budget, hire and fire people, bring in a payroll, live up to a contract, or stand even for hours on an assembly line?
Think of something the government runs so well that you care to have it in command of your very life. Exclude in that consideration the men and women in uniform of the armed services, as they are folks motivated by unselfishness and sacrifice which is very much the opposite of what has motivated last week's vote.
It was a vote on a bill full of very un-American provisions, the worst of which requires each American to purchase health insurance or pay a large fine--administration of which falls to the Internal Revenue Service. Do they not have enough power as judge and jury as it is?
This hopefully will be the effort's undoing. Attorneys General of approaching half of the states have filed suit against this law as being patently unconstitutional. By what provision of the constitution does the Congress have authority to mandate that a citizen buy anything? If that stands, what else would they require of us?
And by the way, if I can't afford to buy health insurance how will I pay this $5000 fine? Gee, maybe the government will give me the money for both the insurance and the fine! And then, they'll figure they have to pony up for all the illegals in line behind me. Or maybe ahead of me, I don't know. We The People again.
We have thrown the baby out with the bath water. Probably if the government backed completely out of health care altogether we'd be better off. Without Medicare and Medicaid and general welfare, the market would seek it's own level and we'd know the true costs of staying healthy. Some of what truly makes medicine so expensive -- lawsuits, malpractice insurance, government intervention, insurance company regulation, and poor health habits of Americans -- remains ignored because of liberal political alliances or plain ignorance.
There is a case to be made that all of our industrial rivals such as Japan, China, and the Europeans have socialized medicine; that we have to follow suit to remain competitive in a global economy. I maintain these nations have traditionally had government care while we all have cared for ourselves and grown into the greatest industrial power the world has ever seen.
Japan rose in stature, not because their cars are cheaper but because they are good products. The cost of employee health care is built into every car Toyota builds either through the taxes the employees pay on their wages for socialized medicine or for what the employer pays, or both. The cost of American cars not much different. The customer pays one way or the other. If Japanese health care costs less per person there are many variables, aside from the simple fact that the government administers the plan. Having the government do something doesn't make it less espensive, even in Japan.
And with no insult intended toward the Japanese, what have their contributions been to modern health care? What supports research and development of new treatments and therapies in that great nation? Or in Canada, Great Britain, France, Russia, China? Americans--as usual--have lead the world in this too.
Better think twice, Mr. President. Incentive to go into medicine for our brightest people has sustained us well and wrought great things in the past 234 years. It isn't perfect but there are many obstacles to be swept from the path of affordable care without turning it all over to Uncle Sam. Too bad there wasn't an incentive for bright people to run for Congress as well and stuff this whole thing in the dumpster behind a hospital where it belongs. We The People need some help. This isn't help.
The fools that we have (hey, not we; I didn't vote for anyone who supported it) elected to represent us in Washington have made the largest power grab in U.S. history by passing a bill providing for national health care. Upwards of two-thirds of the constituents don't want it, at least not in its current form. I just can't think of anything that will kill off a health care system that has developed the greatest patient care in the world more effectively than turning it over to Uncle Sam.
What are these people thinking?
"Oh," you say, "It is good but what good if no one can afford it?"
Actually it is a fairly small slice of people that can't afford it. There are others who do not care to have health insurance although they could work it into their budget if they were inclined. The system we have is clogged with -- especially in the south and south west -- illegal aliens who are here to get free care. They know that they can't be turned away from an emergency room until stabilized, which is all any of them really want. Who pays for that? We The People.
The same goes for Americans who have other priorities than health care. Some have addictions that are costly and leave little room for CIGNA or Blue Cr0ss: cigarettes, alcohol, new cars, house payments beyond means, or maybe they just like to eat all their meals in restaurants which in itself is a health hazard. So when they get sick and show up at the ER, who pays their bills? We The People.
Regardless, the real number of folks unable to afford insurance is small and once again, Washington liberals have separated us all into two groups--the wealthy 10% and everyone else. They refuse to admit there is still a large, functioning, independent middle-class out here. Maybe they do know we're here because apparently they are doing their best to destroy it.
We are told we just can't carry on like this by the same pe0ple who manage nothing well. The Post Office, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, WIC, Fannie, Freddie, Gennie, and the War on Poverty have all been horrible, wasteful and dreadfully expensive flops with no end. Again paid for by We The People.
What should we expect from a group of men and women who are mostly lawyers and have never had to meet a budget, hire and fire people, bring in a payroll, live up to a contract, or stand even for hours on an assembly line?
Think of something the government runs so well that you care to have it in command of your very life. Exclude in that consideration the men and women in uniform of the armed services, as they are folks motivated by unselfishness and sacrifice which is very much the opposite of what has motivated last week's vote.
It was a vote on a bill full of very un-American provisions, the worst of which requires each American to purchase health insurance or pay a large fine--administration of which falls to the Internal Revenue Service. Do they not have enough power as judge and jury as it is?
This hopefully will be the effort's undoing. Attorneys General of approaching half of the states have filed suit against this law as being patently unconstitutional. By what provision of the constitution does the Congress have authority to mandate that a citizen buy anything? If that stands, what else would they require of us?
And by the way, if I can't afford to buy health insurance how will I pay this $5000 fine? Gee, maybe the government will give me the money for both the insurance and the fine! And then, they'll figure they have to pony up for all the illegals in line behind me. Or maybe ahead of me, I don't know. We The People again.
We have thrown the baby out with the bath water. Probably if the government backed completely out of health care altogether we'd be better off. Without Medicare and Medicaid and general welfare, the market would seek it's own level and we'd know the true costs of staying healthy. Some of what truly makes medicine so expensive -- lawsuits, malpractice insurance, government intervention, insurance company regulation, and poor health habits of Americans -- remains ignored because of liberal political alliances or plain ignorance.
There is a case to be made that all of our industrial rivals such as Japan, China, and the Europeans have socialized medicine; that we have to follow suit to remain competitive in a global economy. I maintain these nations have traditionally had government care while we all have cared for ourselves and grown into the greatest industrial power the world has ever seen.
Japan rose in stature, not because their cars are cheaper but because they are good products. The cost of employee health care is built into every car Toyota builds either through the taxes the employees pay on their wages for socialized medicine or for what the employer pays, or both. The cost of American cars not much different. The customer pays one way or the other. If Japanese health care costs less per person there are many variables, aside from the simple fact that the government administers the plan. Having the government do something doesn't make it less espensive, even in Japan.
And with no insult intended toward the Japanese, what have their contributions been to modern health care? What supports research and development of new treatments and therapies in that great nation? Or in Canada, Great Britain, France, Russia, China? Americans--as usual--have lead the world in this too.
Better think twice, Mr. President. Incentive to go into medicine for our brightest people has sustained us well and wrought great things in the past 234 years. It isn't perfect but there are many obstacles to be swept from the path of affordable care without turning it all over to Uncle Sam. Too bad there wasn't an incentive for bright people to run for Congress as well and stuff this whole thing in the dumpster behind a hospital where it belongs. We The People need some help. This isn't help.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Sunday March 7.
Something has changed.
For the last couple of weeks I have seen weak, tired sunlight on the other side of the shades early in the morning. I also have noticed that when I drive home after work I am in daylight. It is never something that I notice in increments. It just hits me that its not dark any more.
Here in the waning weeks of a very long, cold, dark, winter rich in snow and bitching about snow, the lengthening days give hope that there may yet be a day when we can venture outdoors without life support. Even yesterday and today we could get by most of the day in a light jacket. It is only a temporary respite. There are more days ahead of cold, cold rain, maybe some snow, and low temperatures. But it does appear our annual venture around the sun is still operating--not stalled permanently in late January.
In a month it will be close to tolerable outdoors; in two the trees will have their veil of fresh light green and high school seniors will be cleaning out lockers. And in only a couple of weeks the much-anticipated northern Missouri severe weather season will begin, a sure sign that we are into Spring. If not in name, at least in fact.
Some things break loose in March: the KC Auto Show, the Big 12 Basketball Tournaments, the NCAA 'Big Dance, Lent, Easter; all of them pointing toward more sunshine and warmer weather. As Thanksgiving usually leads us into cold weather, the Final Four lead us out of it.
As I write this the Academy Awards are on, that annual festival of celebrity self-appreciation. Although I don't have a lot of use for the aloof, liberal stars that sneer at our way of life and deride our wonderful country, the Oscars are good for one thing--they mean winter is almost over. Normally I'm not in that big a hurry for it to finish but this March 7 I am cold, tired of being cold and ready to sit in the sun like a reptile and warm up.
For the last couple of weeks I have seen weak, tired sunlight on the other side of the shades early in the morning. I also have noticed that when I drive home after work I am in daylight. It is never something that I notice in increments. It just hits me that its not dark any more.
Here in the waning weeks of a very long, cold, dark, winter rich in snow and bitching about snow, the lengthening days give hope that there may yet be a day when we can venture outdoors without life support. Even yesterday and today we could get by most of the day in a light jacket. It is only a temporary respite. There are more days ahead of cold, cold rain, maybe some snow, and low temperatures. But it does appear our annual venture around the sun is still operating--not stalled permanently in late January.
In a month it will be close to tolerable outdoors; in two the trees will have their veil of fresh light green and high school seniors will be cleaning out lockers. And in only a couple of weeks the much-anticipated northern Missouri severe weather season will begin, a sure sign that we are into Spring. If not in name, at least in fact.
Some things break loose in March: the KC Auto Show, the Big 12 Basketball Tournaments, the NCAA 'Big Dance, Lent, Easter; all of them pointing toward more sunshine and warmer weather. As Thanksgiving usually leads us into cold weather, the Final Four lead us out of it.
As I write this the Academy Awards are on, that annual festival of celebrity self-appreciation. Although I don't have a lot of use for the aloof, liberal stars that sneer at our way of life and deride our wonderful country, the Oscars are good for one thing--they mean winter is almost over. Normally I'm not in that big a hurry for it to finish but this March 7 I am cold, tired of being cold and ready to sit in the sun like a reptile and warm up.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Doin' any hiring?
My luck has run out. After thirty years in the airline business I will be out of work May 27. Our company executive board can no longer endure the losses and is closing our station. Kansas City airlines will be left without a full-service commissary for the first time since modern air service has emerged.
That isn't so much of a shock. There isn't a demand for these services on the short-haul flights which arrive and depart at MCI. The public has long ago given up the luxury of inflight dining. Flight attendants run a drink service, then hold down jump seats during the time they used to serve passengers. That isn't totally unfair, as some have endured pay reductions, downsized crews and layoffs all in the name of survival. A two-hour flight may carry food for first-class passengers, but only on the longest hauls is a complimentary meal served to the rabble in economy class. For several years we have survived on boarding food, ice, and elaborate meals for NFL and major league baseball charters during their seasons.
The 17 of us that are left of the 400-plus employees who once serviced airplanes here have steadily watched service decline as fuel, security and payrolls have gone through the ceiling. The public demands have shifted and with this the air carriers are only too pleased to oblige.
I wonder what some of the folks I have worked with will do. A few are barely literate, having poor reading and writing skills with little prospect of improving either. To what kind of work can they look forward? One is caught with 15 months to retirement. Another is not physically prepared to take on unfamiliar labor. Yet another is partly disabled and has become a creature of routine upon which he depends.
So here we are, victims of change. Not so long ago one might assume that he or she could join a firm, create some value for it and expect to stay there for 30, 40 or more years and retire. Today's climate no longer supports that; just a fact of life. And now I get to close down a second shop in seven years. Maybe that should be my new work--closing down businesses who have outlived their usefulness. Now that is a job I could expect to keep indefinitely.
That isn't so much of a shock. There isn't a demand for these services on the short-haul flights which arrive and depart at MCI. The public has long ago given up the luxury of inflight dining. Flight attendants run a drink service, then hold down jump seats during the time they used to serve passengers. That isn't totally unfair, as some have endured pay reductions, downsized crews and layoffs all in the name of survival. A two-hour flight may carry food for first-class passengers, but only on the longest hauls is a complimentary meal served to the rabble in economy class. For several years we have survived on boarding food, ice, and elaborate meals for NFL and major league baseball charters during their seasons.
The 17 of us that are left of the 400-plus employees who once serviced airplanes here have steadily watched service decline as fuel, security and payrolls have gone through the ceiling. The public demands have shifted and with this the air carriers are only too pleased to oblige.
I wonder what some of the folks I have worked with will do. A few are barely literate, having poor reading and writing skills with little prospect of improving either. To what kind of work can they look forward? One is caught with 15 months to retirement. Another is not physically prepared to take on unfamiliar labor. Yet another is partly disabled and has become a creature of routine upon which he depends.
So here we are, victims of change. Not so long ago one might assume that he or she could join a firm, create some value for it and expect to stay there for 30, 40 or more years and retire. Today's climate no longer supports that; just a fact of life. And now I get to close down a second shop in seven years. Maybe that should be my new work--closing down businesses who have outlived their usefulness. Now that is a job I could expect to keep indefinitely.
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