How Good *AIN'T* Your State Government?

 

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My state-of-residence (California) got a C-, tied for worst in the nation!

YEE-HAW!!!

More a-that good ol’ Californazi governmental inefficiency!

It gets even better when you break it down by the categories that are averaged to get the overall figure:

  • California’s ability to manage it’s money? A BIG, FAT D! (Shoulda been a F!)
  • California’s ability to manage its state employees? C-.
  • California’s infrastructure? C. (Yeah, okay. CalTrans does keep the roads in good order compared to other states. Hear me, Pennsylvania? Yeah, New Jersey, I see you hanging your head in shame.)
  • California’s use of information? C. (They have poor strategic planning, but what info there is can be easily downloaded by a citizen from the Internet.)

It all adds up to a C-, and that’s being generous to my mind.

Take that, California!

These grades, incidentally, are produced by some folks who call themselves the Government Performance Project. I don’t know much about them, but as long as they’re pointing out the problems with California’s state government, they gotta be on the side of the angels.

FIND OUT YOUR STATE’S RANKINGS.

(Cowboy hat tip: Southern Appeal.)

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

9 thoughts on “How Good *AIN'T* Your State Government?”

  1. I was rather startled to see Ohio given a B. Yes, there are lots of good things going on, but there’s also been lots of living above the state budget and then savagely cutting aid to local institutions; lack of proper planning has caused unnecessary trouble and hardship.

    Now, granted, having to spend millions on a meaningless recount didn’t help. But Taft has been an idiot, and I say that as a good Republican. I think the only reason we got a B instead of a C is that they weren’t grading any lower than C-.

  2. Jimmy–When I used to live in South Carolina, we had a saying–“Thank God for Mississippi, there’s always one worse.” Sorry to say, you in California can’t even claim that!

  3. I’m not sure my beloved Virginia deserves an A-, but I’m proud nonetheless.

  4. Utah was given an A-, which I found absolutely bizarre. The group’s criteria for measuring “government performance” do not seem to include the services delivered to citizens (or the quality of those services). Yes, the state is spending money on roads (including some boondoggle road projects), but most citizens would tell you that not enough money is being spent on education. And there’s currently a bizarre plan afloat to cut the corporate income tax (which goes entirely toward funding education) without any sense of where the funds will be made up or how. And don’t get me started about the state legislature.

  5. Given that the City of San Diego is part of California, I woulda thought that Guilt By Association would have dragged that rating down to an F!

  6. In a Democracy, any government’s good or bad faults are pointed directly back to the people who voted them into office.

    As a state of California employee, I have unique insight into the state’s problems.

    California’s money problems are a result of the property tax limitations that have hamstrung state government.

    California state employees are consistently paid about 10% lower than their peers in similar positions with Municipal, Federal and private jobs. Another problem may be the powerful state employees union, new state employees are required to join the union.

    Part of the infrastructure problem stems from the low pay of state employees. Many of the good state employees have left for better paying positions. Also mismanagement, such as the Caltrans fiasco building the new San Francisco bridge. San Diego’s freeways are jammed every morning and night. The roads are well maintained because they do not have the extreme weather conditions that cause an increased rate of road deterioration.

    The information problem is more serious. Try doing a file review at any state agency. The former governor was friends with the owner of Oracle. So, all working databases were replaced with Oracle databases that did not work.

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