A taxpayer advocate?!?!?

So the Mayor's Task Force on Tax Competitiveness recommends we create a new position - a "Tax Payer Advocate."

Last I checked wasn't that the City Controller's job???

Okay, Just One More Post

As this was originally a Phillies blog, I don't see the harm in returning to its roots for one last post.

So, how about Chris Wheeler?

I know I'm beating on a dead horse here. But, the dude is annoying. He seems to have mistaken the job description of "Baseball Color Analyst" for the job description of "Voice Over Talent for Baseball Instructional Video." It's as if Phillies broadcasts are just one giant teachable moment and Chris Wheeler is Pres. Obama.

But the real reason I wanted to break my silence was to comment on a certain exchange that happened a few weeks back between Wheels and McCarthy. The exchange featured several mentions of the term "Upper Tanker" in response to to some Phillies player hitting an upper deck home run. As I ditched the whole DVR thing about a year ago in an effort to break my TV addiction, I unfortunately have no direct evidence of this exchange. So you're just going to have to take my word for this.

Needless to say, I was stunned to hear Wheels and McCarthy refer to an Upper Deck home run in such a fashion. And judging by their willingness to repeat the phrase over and over again, I suppose they had no idea of the phrase's origin.

I'm not going to explain it here but let's just say that to "Upper Deck" is a bit of slang that refers to a certain unspeakable act that has literally nothing to do with hitting a baseball to the upper deck of a stadium. Whereas, the phrase "Upper Tanker" would actually be more literally descriptive of the certain unspeakable act in question.

Being blessed with having both dirty and idle minds, I'm going to assume that baseball players must have created the term "Upper Tanker" as a play on the term "Upper Decker." After all, the phrase "Upper Tanker" makes no sense unless it is a play on the word "Upper Decker."

Now, the fact that Wheels would make use of the term "Upper Tanker" considering its obvious etymology demonstrates his overall cluelessness. He probably overheard some players making reference to an "Upper Tanker" and in his solicitous pursuit of being perceived as a baseball insider, adopted the term without understanding what it meant or its NSFW implications.

All of which is a very long way to explain why I suppose we won't be again hearing Wheels and T-Mac refer to an upper deck home run as an "Upper Tanker."

740 Posts is Enough

So, I'm ditching Phillyville for new digs. To keep up with me and my thoughts, you'll have to visit my new blog: philavore.com.

I doubt I'll ever be as prolific as I once was while "being the inkblot." I plan to post way less frequently, three or four times a month. The idea being quality over quantity. And, to be honest, I've already worked through the low hanging fruit so it's just a lot tougher for me to come up with material.

What a novel concept...

Forcing corporations to obey the rules.

Discussing a New York State Court judge who refuses to approve foreclosure motions unless the bank first proves things like the fact it actually owns the mortgage in question, Boalt Professor Katherine Porter explains:

“His rulings are hardly revolutionary; it’s unusual only because we so rarely hold large corporations to the rules.”

The quote appears in today's NYTimes.

While Mulling Over the Rationale for Paying High Salaries to Government Employees...

... I remembered an observation made by John Dean in his book "Broken Government."

Addressing the differing approaches to government service taken by Republicans versus Democrats, Dean observed:

"There is a rather consistent pattern of those who work in Republican administrations going on to join businesses, and profiting from their government experience, while those from Democratic administrations continue with some for of public service, whether returning to academic life, affiliation with nonprofit and charitable foundations, and even further government service."

Later in the same paragraph, he addresses Republicans specifically:

Few are driven to assist their fellow citizens, or to serve their country.

While he does not go on to state that Democrats are driven to assist their fellow citizens, or to serve their country, the implication is plain to see.

From this language, Dean seems to posit two fundamental reasons why folks get involved in government despite the poor pay: (1) altruism; or (2) a means to obtaining future wealth outside of government.

As applied to federal politics, I think Dean has it right for the most part (after all he is not attempting to define the universe, just simply illuminate a difference in the governing styles of Republicans versus Democrats). To extend his description to the local level, I'd posit third variety in addition to Republicans and Democrats: those who wish to have their cake and eat it too.

The basic theory of these "third way" types posits that if a city wants to attract top leadership, it must pay competitive salaries thereby necessitating massive increases in the salaries paid to top city officials. Or as I like to put it, the fancy folks who third-way proponents believe to be needed to run our cities must be provided sufficient cake to have and eat.

Interestingly, under Dean's model, proponents of the third way are neither Republicans or Democrats. Proponents of the third way depart from the model set forth by Dean in their belief that a less-than-market government salary plus either (1) the warm and fuzzies of altruistic behavior or (2) the prospect of greater future earnings are insufficient to attract top-tier talent to the business of running our cities.

While I admit that paying an Assistant District Attorney less than $40,000 per year may go too far in relying on either that person's (1) warm and fuzzies or (2) prospect of greater future earnings, I'm not prepared to join up with the Third Way types.

ADAs, Planning Directors, Press Secretaries or any other person engaged in public service should never be paid the equivalent of what their counterparts in the private sector earn. Folks engaged in public service should expect to take a substantial pay cut as compared to what they could possibly earn in the private sector. Even if the warm and fuzzies of altruistic behavior don't do it for them, the prospect of greater future earnings should.