Things that make you go hmmm....
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/09/momentum_increa.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed7
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority HAS TO BE the worst run organization in the country. Those of you who don't regularly commute on the Mass Pike or through the Ted Williams and Sumner Tunnels may not take much notice of how ridiculous the changes to these tolls have been over the years, but believe me, it's absurd. When I first got my license (I admit that was nearly 15 years ago) it cost me about $4 to get to the Natick exit on the Mass Pike and back to Revere. When Chris first moved to Framingham (late 1990's) it cost about $5 or $6. Currently, when I drive to Tim and Diana's house it costs about $9. Under this proposal it would be over $15 to travel from Revere to Natick. Over 15 years that's roughly a 400% increase for a product that is entirely regulated by government. This isn't something where the price is set by a market, it's essentially just assigned by the Turnpike Authority. Sure it needs to be approved by state government, but something tells me that's not the toughest process to go through.
I will concede that I don't know all the facts and I don't really have time to look them up right now, but I know a few things.
1. Everyone is really unhappy about the idea of "bailing-out" banks and lenders like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (I'm not to thrilled with the idea either, but maybe it needs to happen). As far as I can tell, all those companies really did was what the government wanted them to do: lend money to lower income families so they could buy homes they can't afford. I don't think it's a news flash that banks and lenders aren't going to give their best terms to people they KNOW can't pay them back. That's obviously a big time over simplification, but I don't care. Meanwhile, here in Massachusetts, we bail-out organizations like the Mass Turnpike Authority, Massport and the MBTA on an almost yearly basis and no one thinks twice about it.
2. In the private sector companies that are run like these organizations go bankrupt and likely get absorbed by more successful competitors. In the public sector we (taxpayers) get hit with toll increases and tax hikes that "fix" the problem and then a few years later the same organizations run out of funds again and we get his with more toll increases and tax hikes.
3. The average full-time toll collector for the Mass Turnpike Authority makes $71,000 per year. That's the average. Some make as much as $90,000. The top starting salaries in my industry are around $60k...my industry requires that you at least go to some Grad School or you won't be able to get certified as a CPA even if you pass the exam. To be a teacher in a public school you need a Master's Degree and you'll probably be lucky to start at $30k. I'm guessing "Toll Collector" doesn't require a Master's Degree. The uneployment rate in this country is really high right now. I'm guessing it's high in Mass too. I bet you could find a lot of people who would be willing to be toll collectors for somewhere between $25k-$35k per year which is a minimum of a 50% savings over the current salary. Do you know what happens in the private sector when there are 2 people who are equally qualified for a job and 1 wants $71k while the other wants $30k? Yeah.
Like I said, I didn't do a ton of research on this, I just read an article, spent 5 minutes looking up a couple of facts and used a little common sense. I bet if I spent some time researching this (which I hope I can find the time to do) this situation would look a whole lot worse to me even than it does now.
The last bit of research I wanted to do was to find out what sort of voting record my State Senator and Representative had when it comes to organizations like these. Before I did that I decided to check to see what choices I might have for these offices in the November election. I realized that first bit of research could wait. Their voting records are a mute point at the moment since both are running unopposed. I guess I should have assumed that would be the case. Shame on me for not looking into all this earlier I guess.
I have to stop now since I need to work.
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority HAS TO BE the worst run organization in the country. Those of you who don't regularly commute on the Mass Pike or through the Ted Williams and Sumner Tunnels may not take much notice of how ridiculous the changes to these tolls have been over the years, but believe me, it's absurd. When I first got my license (I admit that was nearly 15 years ago) it cost me about $4 to get to the Natick exit on the Mass Pike and back to Revere. When Chris first moved to Framingham (late 1990's) it cost about $5 or $6. Currently, when I drive to Tim and Diana's house it costs about $9. Under this proposal it would be over $15 to travel from Revere to Natick. Over 15 years that's roughly a 400% increase for a product that is entirely regulated by government. This isn't something where the price is set by a market, it's essentially just assigned by the Turnpike Authority. Sure it needs to be approved by state government, but something tells me that's not the toughest process to go through.
I will concede that I don't know all the facts and I don't really have time to look them up right now, but I know a few things.
1. Everyone is really unhappy about the idea of "bailing-out" banks and lenders like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (I'm not to thrilled with the idea either, but maybe it needs to happen). As far as I can tell, all those companies really did was what the government wanted them to do: lend money to lower income families so they could buy homes they can't afford. I don't think it's a news flash that banks and lenders aren't going to give their best terms to people they KNOW can't pay them back. That's obviously a big time over simplification, but I don't care. Meanwhile, here in Massachusetts, we bail-out organizations like the Mass Turnpike Authority, Massport and the MBTA on an almost yearly basis and no one thinks twice about it.
2. In the private sector companies that are run like these organizations go bankrupt and likely get absorbed by more successful competitors. In the public sector we (taxpayers) get hit with toll increases and tax hikes that "fix" the problem and then a few years later the same organizations run out of funds again and we get his with more toll increases and tax hikes.
3. The average full-time toll collector for the Mass Turnpike Authority makes $71,000 per year. That's the average. Some make as much as $90,000. The top starting salaries in my industry are around $60k...my industry requires that you at least go to some Grad School or you won't be able to get certified as a CPA even if you pass the exam. To be a teacher in a public school you need a Master's Degree and you'll probably be lucky to start at $30k. I'm guessing "Toll Collector" doesn't require a Master's Degree. The uneployment rate in this country is really high right now. I'm guessing it's high in Mass too. I bet you could find a lot of people who would be willing to be toll collectors for somewhere between $25k-$35k per year which is a minimum of a 50% savings over the current salary. Do you know what happens in the private sector when there are 2 people who are equally qualified for a job and 1 wants $71k while the other wants $30k? Yeah.
Like I said, I didn't do a ton of research on this, I just read an article, spent 5 minutes looking up a couple of facts and used a little common sense. I bet if I spent some time researching this (which I hope I can find the time to do) this situation would look a whole lot worse to me even than it does now.
The last bit of research I wanted to do was to find out what sort of voting record my State Senator and Representative had when it comes to organizations like these. Before I did that I decided to check to see what choices I might have for these offices in the November election. I realized that first bit of research could wait. Their voting records are a mute point at the moment since both are running unopposed. I guess I should have assumed that would be the case. Shame on me for not looking into all this earlier I guess.
I have to stop now since I need to work.