The Hashers: California’s Budget Crisis Resembles a Self-indulgent Frat House

California Political Review ^ | December 16, 2002 | Assemblyman Ray Haynes

[ElkGroveDan]

A friend of mine was recounting his college frat house days not long ago, and his story told the tale of California’s current budget crisis better than I can.

My friend was a “hasher” in his frat house. “Hasher” was the name given to the members of the house who served food to the rest of the fraternity. Hashers got two benefits for doing this relatively menial task. First, they paid less for their food service (about one-third less, $100 instead of $150 paid by the rest of the fraternity members). Second, they got to eat first. They would arrive early, eat their meal, and then serve the rest of the fraternity.

It turned out this was a very good deal for the hashers. For anyone who knows anything about young men, food is a big deal (quantity, not quality), so getting to eat first, and eat until satisfied, is a major benefit for college men. Paying less for that privilege was just icing on the cake, and the work was not too difficult, even if it was menial. My friend thought that he had died and gone to heaven when he got this job.

So, he started telling his frat friends about this deal, and they all wanted the same job. They hit up the fraternity leadership to get more hashers, allegedly because there were just not enough of them to “provide the service” necessary for the frat house.

The leadership agreed, and so tripled the number of hashers. It didn’t take long for the meals to come up short on food for the rest of the frat house, requiring the house leaders to increase the fee for food service. The hashers used the extra money to order expensive ice cream and other goodies. Then they ate all the best of it first, and left the mediocre stuff for the rest of the fraternity. A great deal for them, but very expensive for the rest of the members.

In addition, as the number of hashers increased, the less each of them had to work. Several of them took to showing up early, eating all the food they wanted, and then leaving, because there was no work to do. Since all the hashers were buddies, no hasher complained, and, in fact, these hashers tried to get even more of their friends on the “payroll” as hashers. Soon the fraternity saw more and more cost and less and less food for the money they paid for food service. The hashers insisted, however, that they were doing difficult, but important, work for the fraternity. My friend ultimately quit as a hasher because he was eating so much he was getting fat.

Sounds like government. It seems the more government we get, the more expensive it is and the less service we receive. But government workers insist their jobs are important and difficult, and that poor service is simply the result of too little money to hire enough people to give good service. The story never changes no matter how much money we give. State government hashers get fat, suck up our money, and won’t admit that much of our problem is that we have too many of them — California government to a “T.”

A $57 billion budget became a $77 billion budget in four short years, adding more than 43,000 new state employees to the payroll while the state lost 230,000 manufacturing jobs (actually, that many were lost in the last year alone). The hashers are eating first and their leftovers are dwindling.

It’s time to dump some hashers.

[ElkGroveDan]

Nothing left to say...

[Thebaddog]

It tells me that the guys running the frat were dopes. We already know about Davis and his cronies, but they got voted in again anyway.

[ElkGroveDan]

PING

[SpaceBar]

This reminds me of the observation that their are four ways money is spent:

1) Spend your own money on yourself

2) Spend your own money on someone else

3) Spend someone else's money on yourself

4) Spend someone else's money on someone else


Using a car as an example, 1 leads to a New Toyota Camry, 2 a used Honda Civic, 3 A Rolls-Royce, and 4 a Yugo.

Arguably 2 and 4 are interchangable depending on the buyer's regard for the recipient.

[NormsRevenge]

Gubba'mint by FiaT ...Bump

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Good one!

calgov2002:

calgov2002: for old calgov2002 articles. 

calgov2002: for new calgov2002 articles. 

Other Bump Lists at: Free Republic Bump List Register

[snopercod]

Nothing left to say...

Well, there is this: If every state employee were imediately fired, there would still be a $6 billion shortfall over the next 12 months.

The fiscal irresponsibility of the Davis (mal-)administration is unequalled in America history.

[NEWwoman]

Good article. Great analogy!

[Lancey Howard]

Great post.

BUMP

[Flashman_at_the_charge]

A more apt comparison for California would be if some in the fraternity were eating for free. These free nose baggers (for want of a better term) would then vote for more and more increases in the fees for food in the hope that they would eventually eat better, even after all the hashers had had their fill.

What’s happening in California is just a smaller version of what the Dems would do to the US. The only difference is that people can leave California and still live in America. I wonder what would life be like if there was nowhere else to go?

I always tell people at every opportunity that what’s happening in California is what will happen to the rest of the States under a Democrat government.