The United Way? United for whom?

The inability of some executives and organizations to recognize certain facts amazes me. In the world of politics, for example, the average citizen is viewed by politicians with about the same respect they reserve for deep fried shrimp. To political office holders, John Q. Public has roughly the same intelligence level as lint. In actual practice the reverse is true. The public isn’t stupid; they’re just treated that way.

Take the current financial crisis we are going through. A few weeks ago, several hundred teachers in the Nevada School System were given their walking papers. As contracted employees they will finish out the year, but then they will have to find new jobs. Have any of those firing these teachers taken cuts in salary to save a job or two? The cynical answer is the right one. To compound the insult, a few days ago these teachers had to attend a mandatory meeting with a United Way representative asking for handouts.

Whoever planned this had to have been at such a rarified level of administration that their brain has atrophied from lack of oxygen. You do not tell employees you have just fired that they now have to donate a portion of the penny-ante salary you pay them. The United Way tells every one that every cent of their donation goes to charity, that none of it goes toward administrative costs. The one telling this manages to say this with a straight face while wearing a very expensive suit and showing a Hollywood quality video. Yes, and politicians always tell the truth.

The Nevada Legislature is now in session. At the top of the discussion is what to do about the mandate attached to Obama’s stimulus package. In order to qualify, Nevada has to replace nearly 300 million of the dollars it just took away from education. To hear some of the GOP leaders like Bill Raggio, you would think Washington was asking them to give up drinking.

I told these leaders how to solve their budget problem. I told them over two years ago. They didn’t listen and I doubt they understand how to solve it now. The problem lies in an inability to think pragmatically. To them, the public consists of a flock of sheep. Their constituencies are the campaign donors and the businesses paying for all the little perks that make political office so attractive. The flock gets sheared and the donors and politicians reap the rewards. This is the way it has always been…until now. The public has begun to hold back their dollars and the legislature is running scared. Their greatest fear is that they might actually have to do their job and do it honestly. Obama’s mandate was a superb piece of manuvering.