A job is a job is a job

Unless the word "blow" comes before it.

Or it is in the public sector.

At least, this is how I feel when I read or hear the news everyday.

I work in a public institution--a land-grant university, made possible by the Morrill Grant of 1862, and we receive a substantial amount of money from the state government for our operations. As with most large organizations, however, we have a diversified funding base, and we also receive a substantial amount of funding from students and parents, private donors, foundations, grantmakers, nonprofits, and other private sources. We also receive funding from the generation of products, services, and knowledge. We are accountable to all those sources for the allocation of all those dollars.

Lately, I have been feeling like my job doesn't count, and the only jobs that do are in the private sector. And specifically, in the for-profit private sector. Or, if they are nonprofit jobs, then they must be at large nonprofits such as health maintenance organizations or hospitals. Jobs at any government level, public universities, or "heinous organizations" such as Planned Parenthood (yes, a large nonprofit, but clearly one that does not count in the jobs discussion, only in the "declining liberal morals" discussion) are simply not jobby enough to be considered important.

This is what I hear as the Minnesota Legislature and Governor "negotiate" regarding the budget. This is what I hear when Planned Parenthood has to close six out-state clinics because of funding cuts. This is what I hear when a Regent of the University of Minnesota says "I don't think we're doing enough, folks" when it comes to pensions and employees. This is what I hear when, all around the country, people are saying we need to cut government, cut administration, cut, cut, cut.

They use abstract nouns like "government" and "administration," and they don't say "cut education" because that would prove unpopular, but they paint the teacher, the public worker, the civil servant as part of the problem. Overpaid layabouts who are part of an unnecessarily bloated bureaucracy.

It's not up to government, they say, to create jobs. That is the business of the private sector.

OK.

Why?

And, then, why isn't the private sector creating more jobs?

That's apparently the government's fault, too, because of the tax code and regulations that supposedly hamper hiring.

The women and men in those Planned Parenthood clinics are now jobless. Women and men in state and local governments all over the country are now out of jobs. Cutting budgets means cutting jobs. Doing "enough about pensions and employees" means cutting jobs. If I lose my job because of funding, I have lost my job. It counts. If I lose my job because of funding, I take my son out of day care, and my day care providers lose funding, and they perhaps cut a job; I cut back on expenses, cutting back on funding for the many businesses I patronize. I join all the other people who are out of a job because of budget cuts.

It matters. It adds up.

Thanks, Mr. Pawlenty!

What you have done in your terms as governor of Minnesota doesn't equal balancing the budget without raising taxes, though I am sure that will be in your stump speech in the run-up to 2012.

Many of us are poorer due to your decisions, and not just the unallotment.

Our school districts have to borrow this year specifically because you would not work with the legislature. They are borrowing to pay their teachers, costing them even more money.

That's not the least of it. Just ask the 33,000 people laid off of health care by your cuts to the General Assistance Medical Care program. Those people will either suffer or have to access care at higher rates to the system and, therefore, to the taxpayers. Someone always has to pay.

Spin it all you want. The buck stops at your desk, though it does make for a stunning trophy to show your financial supporters. Too bad it crapped all over the citizens before it got there.

What I Learned on my First Day Out

"Today is the day Liberty died."

See, now, this is the great benefit of getting out and about in the world. Had I not returned to work today, I would not have been on the bus, and I would not have overheard this pronouncement by my bus driver. Today is the day Liberty died.

Why?

It it because, on this day in 1282, the Sicilians rebelled against King Charles the First? Or because in 1296, Edward the First sacked Berwick-upon-Tweed? Or maybe because in 1870, on March 30, Texas was readmitted into the Union.

It could be because in 1945, Russian forces invaded Austria. Or in 1972, the Easter Offensive began in the Vietnam War.

No.

It's because The White House forced General Motors to oust its Chief Executive Officer.

Liberty: dead.

Methinks my bus driver is a drama queen.

Or a libertarian.

He thinks that now, the government will tell them how to build cars and what cars to build. Now, the government will install some bureaucrat who does not know anything about cars. And the dominoes of government incursion will continue to fall after that, I suppose. It's like the anti-marriage people saying that if we allow The Gays to get married, then people will want to marry trees and sheep.

Yeah, that's logical.

(and really, so what if someone wants to marry a tree. Or a sheep, if it gives consent.)

Here's the thing: during Mr. Wagoner's 9-year tenure as CEO, GM has suffered tens of billions in losses. GM has taken $17.4 billion in federal, which is all gone, and they want $16.6 billion more. That's taxpayer money, and if you want help from the government, you are going to have to play by some new rules. After all, when I want a loan, I don't get to make the terms. Oh, and I pay my loans back on time and in full.

This is not the death of liberty. Liberty did not die during the last Great Correction that started in 1929. Liberty will not die during this Great Correction. Liberty even managed to stay alive during President Bush's time in office. The government is not going to march into anyone's home and make them buy a Prius or a Zenn. Or marry a tree. This is all very unfortunate, but these companies made their beds, and now they have to lie in them.

Oh, and it happened yesterday, so yesterday was the day Liberty died.

Yay Science!

Today, President Obama lifted the limits on stem cell research. His administration will "make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology."

I haven't heard such good news since this or this.

That Tax "Rebate"

Just to be clear, so you don’t think you are getting something for nothing when that “rebate” check comes in May.

That check will be a credit based on the 2008 tax year—-the one we have just begun. Basically, it will be an advance on the refund that you will get for 2008. If you are used to sitting down with your tax guy in February and getting a hefty refund, don’t get your hopes up. The money you get this spring will come out of the money you would have gotten next spring. Plan accordingly.

What the government apparently thinks is that we are going to spend that money on consumer goods. Instead, like most people, we are going to use it to pay off debt. If we did not have debt to pay off, we would put it into savings. It’s clear to me that this is merely an election year ploy; a measure it would be politically perilous to oppose. It does not get at the type of reform, investment, or stimulus that the economy (and the country) really needs. It's a chance to look and sound good while not really doing anything to help.

By the way, if you often owe taxes in April, this “rebate” amount will be added to your bill.

I have never felt so stimulated in my life.