Mar

More money for government workers!!!

This is the first of six policy proposals I have written for conservatives looking to accomplish our long-term objectives of more freedom and less government.

Public-sector bonuses: Conservatives should promote a policy that gives all public-sector workers the right to identify wasteful spending and collect personal bonuses equivalent to one-third of the public spending saved, up to $100 million per individual. Because the bonuses would result from individual initiative rather than collective bargaining, none of the bonus money could be taken for union dues.

This idea, developed from a suggestion by Pittsburgh talk-show host Jim Quinn, would instill responsibility and initiative in a workforce plagued with a lack of accountability. It would also give civil servants the ability to defend their jobs and pensions from the small number of their corrupt colleagues who rob the system with impunity. The average government worker, after all, knows that pink slips won’t be distributed fairly when the axes fall.

If enacted, public-sector bonuses would win converts to the Republican Party from a group of voters who now resist conservatism because they fear losing their jobs. This would help split Democrat Party’s most reliable voting bloc.

Even more important, this idea will change the culture in Washington and state capitols across the nation: Once employees hear about a low-ranking DMV clerk or school administrators becoming multimillionaires by saving taxpayer money, it will inspire them to do the same. This will cause a wave of accountability, self-interest and responsibility to sweep the public sector. Government workers will start acting like everyone else in the economy, focused on the bottom line and efficiency, rather than just punching the clock until their pensions kick in.

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