“Nice try.”
You were waxing poetic about the hard working state employees, so I had to ask.
Still, as Gov. Daniels has gone in the right direction with your state on taxing and spending, you and he both are still wrong in thinking that public sector employees all deserve a “bonus” that effectively spends money that should be sent back to the tax payer.
That would have been the right thing to do, and I’m surprised that a business owner such as your self would miss something so obvious.
As a business owner I understand why bonuses are given to employees at different rates also, especially employees that have had no raises, most have had their pay actually cut, and are paying more for their benefits. Since my rates both here and at home have dropped and the state is now about $1.2B in the black I would much rather build up a kitty for a couple of years, especially with the way the economy is looking, than having them rebate me this year and raise the rates next like a sea-saw. Spending .013% of the surplus, not the budget but just the surplus, to bonuses for the employees that deserve recognition is well within reason. Government needs to be run like a business, Daniels understands that far better than most governors and its why we have the surplus we have. By giving someone a $500 or even the top $1k bonus who has worked hard to get us from where we were when he took office to where we are now is perfectly acceptable even to a penny pincher like me.