A Merry Christmas For the Bureaucrats

Find the State Workers in this EBT Line and Win a Free Gift

During this season of reflection, many of us try and focus on the good that we see in each other - our family, friends, neighbors and fellow citizens. We throw an extra dollar in the Salvation Army bucket or a sawbuck for the newspaper delivery boy. We over-do it with our grandchildren, knowing that we shouldn't, but give way to the spirit of the season.

This year, while many grateful are for their health and the love of their family, a growing percentage of our citizens are mired in worry. Will a job be there next year or can a job be found? Will a parent have to move in because of costs or lack of options for care? How will a high school graduate find the means to higher education?  How much more will we have to pay in taxes? These are all the questions of the day for many of what used to be called the Middle Class.

There are no such fears in the political or government class - for every day is Christmas. For the state employees who pad their pensions with overtime or hazardous duty pay, there is no thought to the impact it has on those who end up carrying those commitments for 20, 30 or 40 years. For the employee who is overweight, a smoker or a drinker, there is free health care -endless supplies of Lipitor - while a taxpayer would be lucky to pay $30 for a month's supply. 

If you work at the University of Connecticut, well, your ship always comes in. Tired of teaching 18 kids at a time? Santa is bringing another 300 professors to Storrs.  The freight for this gift to higher education will be passed to parents in the form of a 28 percent tuition hike over four years.  Those retreating to some of the Branch Universities will likely face a similar fate.

Maybe you are a state worker who works with the poor and indigent. You make a high five figure or low six-figure salary processing claims, keeping the welfare hamster cage running when one day you see a easy way to grab a few hundred dollars. No one will miss it. In fact, this opportunity should be shared with other brothers and sisters in the union - even those who wear a uniform and carry a gun.

In the Legislature, Christmas stockings are always being filled with favors and handouts to people who are unemployable. Only in Connecticut can a part-time job as a Legislator get you full health care benefits and an average salary of $30,000 before you get into mileage or the grand titles that get you another tidy vig. In the State Senate, everyone's a leader. And, only in Connecticut, can 10 years of "service" get you lifetime benefits at little cost.

You can be a spouse or a significant other of a Legislator or staffer and the world is your oyster. Need a gig for the Session or maybe a Task Force? No problem, just be ready to work on a campaign.

The House Democrats lose 15 seats in the 2010 Election, but didn't lose a body. And if you work for House Speaker Chris Donovan, D-Meriden, you can spend your lunch hour making fundraising calls for his Congressional effort to show your appreciation. 

Gov. Dannel Malloy has also been good to those who know their place. He has brought some discipline to the political world simply based on a winter-clear premise - follow his direction or pay the price. It is refreshing that Malloy is capable of delivering coal with a smile on his face.  Aside from Donovan, Malloy has been pretty benevolent, which makes the ungrateful attitude of state employees to their boss so puzzling. Jobs are guaranteed, health care benefits are abundant, pensions with little asked in return.

Yes, it has been a good year for the state employees, their Democrat sponsors in the Legislature and Executive Chambers and the non-profits who employ those who can't get a job with either group. For the rest of us, it's finding loose change in the sofa and asking the newsie if a couple of cookies will make everything square.