James Q Wilson

Political scientist James Q Wilson recently passed away.  For your consideration, here is one of his thoughts on why civil servants in modern bureaucracies work and think the way they do.

First, public sector agencies are not allowed to retain earnings, and therefore have no incentive towards economizing costs. A public agency that ends the fiscal year with a surplus because of efficient operations cannot distribute those savings to its managers and employees as incentives, but rather is likely to see its budget cut for the next year on the grounds that it was allocated too much in the first place. This explains the rush to push money out the door at the end of the fiscal year whether the spending is needed or not, and why bureaucracies are so often inefficient...

How true.

We're all equal

Well, maybe not in the Crescent City:

When it comes to paying for tickets generated by New Orleans' traffic cameras, some of the biggest scofflaws are city employees driving taxpayer-financed vehicles. As of September 2011, at least 400 city vehicles had racked up fines totaling $547,580, according to records provided by City Hall in response to a public-records request. 

And five of the 20 vehicles that owe the city the most money are city vehicles, the records show.
All that is about to change. But not before the slate is wiped clean, said Andy Kopplin, chief administrative officer to Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

Kopplin said he doesn't think it would be fair to try to go after employees who have racked up tickets because the city has not spelled out clear rules thus far.

I guess that all is forgiven if you are "one of us".