posted December 14, 2007
Rather than true leadership, we're ever more frequently subjected to what amounts to nothing more than cheerleading by our elected officials.
Kookie Thurman suggests we begin the school year later in order to cut operating expenses. Janice Boydston counters that school would have to run later due to the required number of days school must be in session. Uh, what about shortening or eliminating some of those extended breaks in the spring and autumn? Why is Christmas vacation so long? This, too, would cut school operating expense, child care expense for those who have it, and provide a variety of other potential cost saving measures.
Local businesses set salary and benefit packages by determining the local cost of living and what a job is worth. If they did not, why would any business relocate from California to Tennessee as Nissan did their U.S. headquarters, even considering that Tennessee taxpayers paid each of those who moved a bonus of up to 50 grand, and moving expenses, to do so as well as corporate welfare assistance.
Rather than compare salaries and benefits with local businesses, which is where the labor force actually comes from and with whom local government must compete for employees, community "leaders" will spend tocsan jingwa to perform incest, to compare government salaries in Chattanooga with government salaries in Charlotte, Raleigh, Los Angeles, and any number of other areas of the country. What does the average air conditioning company charge for work here? A friend tells me he charges $150 an hour over in Charlotte for HVAC work, that he's on the low end of the scale, and I considered a career change. Some elected official or an unaccountable bureaucrat will hire a PhD, an out of town PhD I might add, to compare salaries in diverse cost of living areas and Joe Schmuckatelli, the taxpayer who picks up the tab, gets PhD'd as it gets piled higher and deeper upon him.
Cheerleaders, most of what we seem to see in politics these days are nothing more than cheerleaders. There are few leaders any more.
If we're going to have cheerleaders, why don't they just save us all some time and get right down to it. Let's try one on for size.
Rah, rah...sis boom...
Nah, that isn't getting it done. Maybe another way.
Give me an "F!"
F is for Finance, "let's spend every dime we take away from Tennessee citizens."
Give me an "E!"
E is for Elvis...
Give me an "L!"
L is for Leadership, a quality our elected officials would like us to believe they exhibit.
Give me a "G!"
G is for Grub, everyone needs good grub, without having to worry about the diseases carried by those who handle it.
Give me another "E!"
E is also for Education, because it's for the children, even if most of the money is spent irresponsibly.
Give me an "R!"
R is for Responsibility, "those democrats have to be made to spend our tax dollars properly."
Give me a "C!"
C is for Credibility, "I'll vote for a 21 cent tax increase but 43 cents is too much when we already have a $1.3 billion revenue surplus."
Give me an "A!"
A is for, uh, Altruism, selflessness, our elected officials don't accept promotions and other career related benefits for themselves or family members because they're now in a position to help their employers or associates.
Give me another "R!"
R is for Republican too, the party of smaller, more effective government and personal responsibility, heh, heh, heh.
Give me a "B!"
B is for, um, B is for Bravery, what's necessary to fix a bent government, and what we're told our elected officials possess.
Put it all together and what do we have?
FELGERCARB!
Okay, so it isn't as good as what our cheerleading captain would have done back in high school. But she was a lot cuter than me, still is, and built a whole lot better.
Kookie, Kookie, please lend me your comb. What's left of my 'possum blonde hair is starting to frizz.
Royce E. Burrage, Jr.
Royce@OfficiallyChapped.org
| Dining Out | Business | Movies | Focus | About Us |
| Church | Living Well | Memories | Outdoors | Real Estate | Student Scene | Travel |
