A veritable potpourri of political ruminations this week.
Since every commentator and politician on the planet has weighed in on the issue, I suppose I will give my 2 cents regarding the construction of a mosque a couple of blocks from Ground Zero.
First of all, the imam and his developers have every right to build their mosque/community center on that site.
It's private property. It's a free country. We have religious freedom. More power to them. I fully support their right to build what they want, where they want. That's a big part of what makes America great.
There is nothing in the world to stop them, except - and this is the second part of my opinion - their own sensibilities.
They have the right to build, but that doesn't mean they have to build.
Just because you have a right, doesn't mean you absolutely have to exercise it.
Sometimes, it's best to forego a right in order to avoid offending someone.
Take that whack job, the Reverend Fred Phelps. He has the right to attend funerals of fallen servicemen and make ridiculously rude and unjustified homophobic comments.
Tons of people are offended by him and wish he would shut up. Wouldn't it be nice if he would?
The Ku Klux Klan has the right to picket the NAACP national convention. Isn't that a nice right to leave unexercised?
A bunch of neo-Nazis have the right to show up at an Anti-Defamation League conference. Yet another right best left unexercised.
So wouldn't it be nice if the mosque developers, in deference to those who are offended, would exercise their right to build somewhere else?
*****
A week or so ago I read something in USA Today that I thought was just ridiculous.
I don't have to tell anybody that times have been a little tough lately, economically.
For everybody but government workers, that is.
Recent Bureau of Economic Analysis show that federal government workers get compensation, on average, more than twice as high as private-sector workers.
This is truly crazy.
In 2009, the average private-sector worker in America received $61,0541 in total compensation. That includes things like health insurance, pension, 401(k), etc.
But the average federal worker knocked down $123,049.
The gap between private and government pay has grown from $30,415 in 2000 to $61,998 last year.
Now, of course, public employee unions will tell you that:
A) The huge gap just shows the high level of skill and education required to work for the government; and
B) the government has contracted out lower-paying jobs to the private sector in recent years.
Bull.
A) What do you have to do at a place like Zimmer or Biomet to make $123,049 a year as an average? Are you telling me people like that aren't skilled or educated enough to work for the government?
B) Maybe some government jobs were contracted out, but government hiring was up 17 percent in 2009. Know any private sector companies that hired 17 percent more people last year?
Oh, and by the way, President Obama has asked for a 1.4-percent across-the-board pay hike for all 2 million federal employees in 2011. (At least it was the smallest increase in a decade.)
Congressional Republicans want to cancel the increase, but, of course, they will be vilified for that.
So let's sum up:
At a time when private sector wages and benefits are stagnating and unemployment is near double digits, government workers are making double what the rest of us do and are scheduled for a raise.
This would be a good time to think about where the money for those salaries comes from.
Is it only me who sees the insanity?
It's a zero sum game. Given enough time and a continued inane hiring and wage practices by the government, there won't be enough of us to pay all for all of them.
Awesome.
*****
And finally, when President Obama urged passage of the $862 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 - more commonly known as the stimulus package - the purpose was to put people to work.
I remember him talking about "shovel ready" projects and such. It conjured up images of people building things and repairing things. I thought that was a good idea. But as is the case many times in Washington the transition from idea to reality has been abysmal.
Earlier this week, U.S. Senators Tom Coburn, R- Okla., and John McCain, R-Ariz., released a 74-page report called "Summertime Blues - 100 stimulus projects that give taxpayers the blues."
The report then outlines what it deems wasteful or mismanaged "stimulus" projects:- "Dance Draw" - interactive dance software development - $762,372
- Forest service to replace windows in visitor center closed in 2007 - $554,763
- Abandoned train station converted into museum - $1.2 million.
- Ants talk. Taxpayers listen - $1.9 million. (The California Academy of Sciences is receiving the money to send researchers to the Southwest Indian Ocean Islands and east Africa, to capture, photograph, and analyze thousands of exotic ants.)
- Old abandoned iron furnace gets facelift after money squandered on same project years before - $357,710
- Mohegan Sun Casino owner uses funds for WNBA practice facility - $54 million.
- Restoration of one of nation's least visited parks, located on remote island - $13.3 million
- Jamming for Dollars - $762,372. (A Georgia Tech assistant professor of music will receive $762,372 to study improvised music. The project will involve the professor jamming with "world-renowned musicians" to "hopefully also create satisfying works of art.")
- Town replaces new sidewalks with newer sidewalks that lead to ditch - $89,298
- Monkey and Chimpanzee Responses to Inequity - $677,462. (Researchers at Georgia State University are studying why monkeys respond negatively to inequity and unfairness.)
You get the picture.
The total dollar amount of the 100 projects represented in the report is roughly $1.7 billion.
