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liberal N proud Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sun Mar-20-11 06:51 PMOriginal messageFuzzy Privatization Math On May 31, 2010, Governor Chris Christie’s New Jersey Privatization Task Force reported that more than $210 million would be saved by privatizing work that had traditionally been performed by government workers. The report even set out specific figures for some of the cost savings it identified, while others said savings were “TBD†– “To Be Decidedâ€.Who crunched the numbers to show that private contractors would do a better job or at least the same job for less money than public employees? The Privatization Task Force Report says that no one did. On page 14 the report says it did no analysis “due not only to the fact that the actual cost of a privatized alternative will often not be known until the end of a full fledged competitive bidding process, but also because New Jersey state government agencies have difficulty calculating with precision the full cost of functions currently performed at the state level.†So, the sunny claims of big savings for the people of New Jersey are a guestimate, at best. and “To Be Decided†is the most accurate statement in the report.<snip>The truth is that in all too many cases work is privatized without any comparison at all of the cost and nature of public versus private work. And, according to studies by the Government Accountability Office and others, even when there is a cost comparison, major costs that the public bears are not taken into account. One study found that costs not included were costs of hiring consultants to conduct the cost comparisons, costs for unemployment benefits when employees are replaced by contractor employees and vice versa when work is contracted back in, declines in productivity associated with the process of deciding whether to contract out work, declines in productivity when new employees are learning how to provide services and operate in a new system, the loss of institutional memory, and accountability oversight to ensure that the contractor is not shirking, to name just a few.<snip>Before rushing to privatize, we need to remember what math teachers tell their students, “Show your work.â€For example, we need know: Will the work cost less because it is done more efficiently, or because wages are lowered and benefits are eliminated? Paying workers less does not provide better quality. It just impoverishes workers. And having workers unable to get health care for themselves and their families means coming to work too sick to do a good job and being worried sick about medical care for their families. It also means pushing costs off on hospitals, doctors, charities, and, ultimately, on the government and taxpayers.<snip>http://www.truth-out.org/fuzzy-privatization-math68612
deaniac21 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sun Mar-20-11 06:57 PMResponse to Original message1. Truth-out had a great article about Karl Rove's indictment.
"The nation that couldn’t be conquered by foreign enemies has been conquered by its elected officials" odawg Free Republic in reference to the GOP Elites who are no difference than the Democrats
Nothing exciting in the OP this comment however,
By the way, only 53 more shopping days until Fitzmas, May 12.
I think that may also be the anniversary of when the lousy freepers froze the andyscam PayPal account.
Is there a good synopsis of the scamdal somewhere? I remembered finding something, somewhere, but I don't remember if it was here, on CU, or freerepublic.
I tend to procrastinate.Probably wait twenty-four business hours before doing my Fitzmas shopping.
I think the DMV is doing a much better job in NJ now that's it's privatized, sure the office is busy but it runs pretty smoothly, and the employees are much nicer than the state workers were.
