Recently the President instructed the Bureau of Labor to update current regulations regarding overtime compensation for salaried workers. This action is more evidence of a man searching for more regulation.
The addition of new overtime rules for salaried workers does little to help millions of people on their way up. This change simply tightens the grip of government on businesses of all sizes. It is a political ploy to send sound waves to listeners who infer the speculation of receiving more money. The underlying purpose is to extort more money from business owners to receive more votes from their employees.
The metric is simple; there are more employees to vote and receive increased pay than employers who pay the tariff.
As the higher minimum wage increases the hourly compensation of workers, it diminishes the number of employees and the working hours employers can afford. Government officials who lack the real world experience of signing the front side of paychecks often overlook these unintended consequences.
One of the main reasons that government officials think along these lines is that they live in the artificial world of secure permanent employment. Working for local, state or federal government usually assures a full term or a career of employment with outstanding benefits. There are broad differences between working for government and working in the private sector.
Nearly every elected, appointed or hired government worker accepts their position without specific measurable goals for achievement or a timeframe for improving performance. Campaigning for the highest political job in the world, Mr. Obama adopted the mantra of “Hope and Change.” Hope is an intellectual guessing game and not measurable. Change is subjective and is comprised of conjecture and theory.
In career federal government jobs, raises are automatic annually called ‘step’ increases based on years of service. Achievement of an increasing level of output (productivity) is not one of the requirements. An error-prone drone that makes mistakes and is guilty of missteps will usually be shifted between departments and agencies until a position and a supervisor are found that will tolerate the worker’s incompetence. Agencies start the fiscal year with a budget and request more money as perceived needs arise. When departments and agencies haven’t depleted fiscal budgets, the rush is on to make sure spending is at or above the budget limit, no restraint required.
The private sector comprised of about 31 million proprietorships, partnerships and corporations are the engine of economic vitality, the base of productive employment. The taxes paid by workers and companies fund government operations at all levels. All employees must work toward high productivity to assure profits. Waste of materials and resources is abhorrent. Wasted time is unacceptable and unsustainable.
Companies must produce goods and services demanded by consumers and commercial buyers perpetually. Creativity and innovation are at the top of the priority list. Enterprises that fail to plan, execute and follow-up risk failure.The number of annual business startups approximately equals the number of business failures (bankruptcies) each year.
A stellar example of the vital differences between government enterprise and private sector business is a comparison of the US Postal Service with FedEx and UPS. The Postal Service pays no taxes, is currently topped out at $15 billion borrowing limit (from the US Treasury), loses billions of dollars each year and has unfunded retirement and healthcare liabilities of $100 billion. FedEx and UPS pay corporate taxes and produce a profit. Guess who is on the hook for retirement and healthcare benefits of career government postal workers.
The liberal philosophy embraces the theory that central planners with a propensity for speaking in vague vernacular while acting in blundering misadventure should plan and control our lives. Government with all its real and assumed powers cannot by itself lift people economically or socially, individually or collectively. Government can only provide the milieu for individuals to rise above the dilemma of dependency and despair and into the self-determined Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness as set forth in The Declaration of Independence.
– Dick Baynton