If I understand the Trump budget, he would decrease the COLA's (cost of living adjustment) for those in the Civil Service Retirement System (like me) by .5 percent each time.
I can handle that, though I'd rather see a graduated decrease: say .1 for those with smaller annuities, 1.0 for those with larger ones.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Monday, May 29, 2017
USDA Reorganization
You can comment on the proposed reorganization here.
Apparently USDA had problems with some of the comments received, because OFR shows 9 received, but only displays the text for 3. The process is described here:
Apparently USDA had problems with some of the comments received, because OFR shows 9 received, but only displays the text for 3. The process is described here:
This count refers to the total comment/submissions received on this docket, as of 11:59 PM yesterday. Note: Agencies review all submissions, however some agencies may choose to redact, or withhold, certain submissions (or portions thereof) such as those containing private or proprietary information, inappropriate language, or duplicate/near duplicate examples of a mass-mail campaign. This can result in discrepancies between this count and those displayed when conducting searches on the Public Submission document type. For specific information about an agency’s public submission policy, refer to its website or the Federal Register document.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Hay and Peas
We've had a rainy May. It's raining again right now. It's good for our garden peas but I can't help thinking of the farmers trying to get their hay into the barn. One of the most frustrating parts of dairy farming was encountering a long stretch of rainy weather, particularly back before we had good weather forecasting. Cut hay, get it rained on, rake it,get it rained on, turn it over, more rain and then you had nothing worth putting in the barn except it needed to get off the field so it wouldn't kill the grass.
How the Bureaucracy Copes
Trump supporters believe there's a "deep state" composed of Democrats in the bureaucracy who will take every opportunity to sabotage the administration by illegal and/or unethical leaks, obstruction, and delay. It may be so. Sometimes they resign as described in this Grist piece.
However the bureaucracy is also composed of careerists, who want to preserve their careers, remain in their jobs, keep their functions going. To that end, they may over-conform, as obsequious panderers to what they perceive as the administration's wishes. The Post has an article
describing "re-branding" efforts: "While entire departments are changing their missions under Trump, many of these rebranding efforts reflect a desire to blend in or escape notice, not a change in what officials do day-to-day — at least not yet, according to 19 current and former employees across the government, and nonprofit officials who receive federal funding."
Or, as Mr. Comey did when in the fed law enforcement Oval Office meet and greet, they try to fade into the woodwork and avoid the notice of administration offices Hope it works better for them than for Comey.
However the bureaucracy is also composed of careerists, who want to preserve their careers, remain in their jobs, keep their functions going. To that end, they may over-conform, as obsequious panderers to what they perceive as the administration's wishes. The Post has an article
describing "re-branding" efforts: "While entire departments are changing their missions under Trump, many of these rebranding efforts reflect a desire to blend in or escape notice, not a change in what officials do day-to-day — at least not yet, according to 19 current and former employees across the government, and nonprofit officials who receive federal funding."
Or, as Mr. Comey did when in the fed law enforcement Oval Office meet and greet, they try to fade into the woodwork and avoid the notice of administration offices Hope it works better for them than for Comey.
Friday, May 26, 2017
Canadian Dairy and the Effects of Supply Management
This is an interesting piece by a Canadian dairy farmer, which shows how differently that country manages dairy industry. Canada uses a supply management system, which sounds similar to the system ASCS managed for our tobacco industry until this century.
To me the bottom line is that supply management can work for a number of years, as it did for Canadian dairy and American tobacco and peanuts, if "work" means maintaining smaller producers. It doesn't work if the priority is innovation and efficiency over the long range.
To me the bottom line is that supply management can work for a number of years, as it did for Canadian dairy and American tobacco and peanuts, if "work" means maintaining smaller producers. It doesn't work if the priority is innovation and efficiency over the long range.
An Understatement of the Month?
Keith Hennessey (GWB's former economist) is commenting on the Trump budget and apparent disagreements between OMB Mulvaney and Treasury Mnuchin:
"Two trillion dollars is a lot of money..."
"Two trillion dollars is a lot of money..."
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Ukrainian Skippers--Really??
The operation of the human mind (at least my mind) is a puzzle. I was reading this NYTimes piece this morning, which describes how richer people can hire boats and skippers to smuggle them into Europe:
What struck me was the "Ukrainian" bit, which was the only nationality of skippers described in the article. I was sure that the Ukraine was this land-locked country, so how in the world would they have people with expertise in navigating smaller boats?
The short answer is: the Black Sea. Ukraine is one of six countries with ports on the Black Sea.
I don't know whether I was confusing Ukraine with Belorussia, which is indeed landlocked, or just had a poor mental image of the map of Eastern Europe.
Factoid: did you know you can sail from the North Sea to the Black Sea (Rhine-Danube canal).
"The family of six had paid about $96,000 to travel from Afghanistan to Turkey. The last leg of their journey, a cramped week’s sail through the Aegean and Mediterranean seas aboard a cerulean 15-meter yacht, the Polina, piloted by three Ukrainian skippers, cost $7,000 a head. It dropped them in Sicily in relative style."
What struck me was the "Ukrainian" bit, which was the only nationality of skippers described in the article. I was sure that the Ukraine was this land-locked country, so how in the world would they have people with expertise in navigating smaller boats?
The short answer is: the Black Sea. Ukraine is one of six countries with ports on the Black Sea.
I don't know whether I was confusing Ukraine with Belorussia, which is indeed landlocked, or just had a poor mental image of the map of Eastern Europe.
Factoid: did you know you can sail from the North Sea to the Black Sea (Rhine-Danube canal).
Post Readers Are Knee-Jerk Liberals?
Not so, at least on this evidence. The background: Christine Fair is an activist who was at an exercise club where she saw Robert Spencer also exercising. She raised a stink and the club banned Spencer. Today she has a post in the Post defending her actions. When I checked about 1 pm she had drawn more than 450 comments. When looking at the comment threads sorted by "likes", the top threads (maybe 5 or 6, didn't bother to scroll down through all of them) were all anti-Fair.
Count me in their camp--as long as Spencer was lifting according to the club rules, he should be left alone. You want to protest his views, which are terrible, fine, but do it at his office or his speeches, etc. And even his speeches, I'd follow the recent Notre Dame precedent, attend then walk out, or vocally protest for 10 minutes, then allow him to talk.
Count me in their camp--as long as Spencer was lifting according to the club rules, he should be left alone. You want to protest his views, which are terrible, fine, but do it at his office or his speeches, etc. And even his speeches, I'd follow the recent Notre Dame precedent, attend then walk out, or vocally protest for 10 minutes, then allow him to talk.
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