PSE of WWU

Reform or Outsourcing? Decide with your vote in November.

http://www.robmckenna.org/newdirection/government-reform

Here is Mr. McKennas plan for you as a state employee (Promote Competition and Innovation)

Competition is good; it promotes and rewards innovation while driving out wasteful costs.
Monopolies in any form or setting are bad; they invariably discourage innovation while driving up costs and increasing wasteful spending.
As consumers, we don't tolerate monopolies and we demand fair competition in the private sector, whether among for-profit businesses and industries like telcom and energy, or among large non-profit enterprises such as hospitals.
Why, then, should we tolerate wasteful, innovation-stifling monopolies to control many government services that agencies are forced to pay for, such as data services, printing, workers compensation insurance and facilities maintenance?
Managed competition is the answer. It doesn't assume privatization is the best solution but rather empowers and trains public employees to compete with private providers (including small businesses and non-profit organizations) to provide specified services and products.
Many times, the public employees will win the contracts because they don't have to show a profit or pay shareholders; but they will always find ways to provide the service or product more cost-effectively than before because the competition will require them to do so.
When private enterprises are the successful bidder, whether they are a for-profit small business or non-profit agency, they will produce substantial savings and efficiencies and more private sector jobs will be created in the process while reducing unnecessary state government positions.
Managed competition has been implemented successfully by governments across the nation. Because of their expertise, state employee groups are competitive bidders in this process. In one of the most studied examples of managed competition, the City of Indianapolis saved an average of 20% in functions put out to competitive contracting, regardless of whether a business or government employees won the bid.
Like performance evaluations, competitive contracting is already allowed under state law. We just need a governor who will actually implement it.
Again, higher productivity and greater quality will result from these competitive processes, and the resulting savings will be reinvested in what should be state government's highest priorities: promoting job growth and building world-class K-12 and higher education systems.

Tom's Tirade:
We all know there is waste in government but there is also waste in private enterprises, especially large ones. Those jobs that McKenna wants to create that will be such a "boon" to the state taxpayer, well, won't they be offset by the loss of a job from one of you? And those savings to the taxpayer, well, won't that simply be the "savings" in lower wages and little or no health benefits "enjoyed" by the private employer who then is able to transfer those "taxpayer savings" in the form of contract fees into the business shareholders bank account! Exactly the plan. Instead of PEOPLE working and earning incomes that can sustain their family and their communities, corporate profits will swell instead. Oh, and perhaps you'll be able to get one of those "great", "new" jobs "created" by some corporation when your state job was "outsourced".

Oh, and I forgot, by outsourcing your career, the wealthy 1% can continue to hoodwink much of the 99% into believing that we don't need a state income tax on high earners making over $500,000/year (or will entice you with delusions that your income will ever rise to those levels where you would actually pay such a tax OR prey on the unfounded fear that any legislature could ever politically survive lowering the bar far enough so that you and I would pay such a tax!

People need to wake up and stand up!
(the water in the pot is getting warmer, froggies)