The Thurston Mittens the 3rd Veep Megathread

[Phillip V]

I am meth lord ruling over a large dominion.

[Razgovory]

I know plenty of one stoplight townships in Iowa which don't have a police force and for the life of me can't think of one that's ruled by meth lords.

So they shift the burden for law enforcement to the county, right?

[Ed Anger]

I know plenty of one stoplight townships in Iowa which don't have a police force and for the life of me can't think of one that's ruled by meth lords.

So they shift the burden for law enforcement to the county, right?

That is the way it works.

There is a town here of 6K(New Carlisle) that disbanded its police department and lets the Clark County sheriff do its policing. The nearby Park Layne CDP of 4K has no police.

The Clark county sheriff does rock however.

[dps]

I know plenty of one stoplight townships in Iowa which don't have a police force and for the life of me can't think of one that's ruled by meth lords.

So they shift the burden for law enforcement to the county, right?

That is the way it works.

There is a town here of 6K(New Carlisle) that disbanded its police department and lets the Clark County sheriff do its policing. The nearby Park Layne CDP of 4K has no police.

The Clark county sheriff does rock however.

I don't know how it works in other states, but in WV a city or town can disband its police and have the county do the job, but they do have to pay a fee to the county for the service.  I'm only aware of 1 town that's done it, though.

[Neil]

That is the way it works.

There is a town here of 6K(New Carlisle) that disbanded its police department and lets the Clark County sheriff do its policing. The nearby Park Layne CDP of 4K has no police.

The Clark county sheriff does rock however.

I don't know how it works in other states, but in WV a city or town can disband its police and have the county do the job, but they do have to pay a fee to the county for the service.  I'm only aware of 1 town that's done it, though.

Yeah, it's the same way in Alberta.  About the only cities with police departments are Edmonton and Calgary.  Everywhere else just pays the RCMP.

[Razgovory]

I've seen a town that went backrupt and the services just stopped.  It was called East St. Louis.

[Ed Anger]

I've seen a town that went backrupt and the services just stopped.  It was called East St. Louis.

Should have walled it off.

[garbon]

I am rather perturbed that you guys seem to compare Mittens to Kerry.

They both did time in Massachusetts and are both rather bland/boring.

[Phillip V]

I am rather perturbed that you guys seem to compare Mittens to Kerry.

They both did time in Massachusetts and are both rather bland/boring.

And quite rich. Though Kerry with his wife have triple the wealth of Romney or more (up to $3.2 billion).

[Phillip V]

More father-son spin from the media: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/us/politics/romney-and-ryan-dont-mind-their-contrasts.html

This picture could use a caption contest.

"Howard, are there two Republicans at our table or have I forgotten my pills again?"

[garbon]

I'm so glad the media is quick to look for differences between two white men.

[Barrister]

That is the way it works.

There is a town here of 6K(New Carlisle) that disbanded its police department and lets the Clark County sheriff do its policing. The nearby Park Layne CDP of 4K has no police.

The Clark county sheriff does rock however.

I don't know how it works in other states, but in WV a city or town can disband its police and have the county do the job, but they do have to pay a fee to the county for the service.  I'm only aware of 1 town that's done it, though.

Yeah, it's the same way in Alberta.  About the only cities with police departments are Edmonton and Calgary.  Everywhere else just pays the RCMP.

That's not how it is at all in Alberta.

You have to contract with the RCMP in order to have them act as your police.  They don't do it for free.  The province negotiates that contract on behalf of its munipalities.  The provinces does mandate a certain level of service that must be provided.

Several communities besides Edmonton and Calgary have their own municipal PDs.  Camrose, Lethbridge, Lacombe, Medicine Hat and Taber have their own.

I'll admit - I googled that - I only knew 3/5.

[Ideologue]

Never mind god, it's the mark of a civilized society.

Seedy is the one who raised the rights argument, not me.

Albeit a silly one.  Rights from nature?  Yeah, nature's just chock full of that shit.  Human rights are so natural that they cannot be meaningfully argued over and were discovered by a species that has existed for over a million years well over four centuries ago.

[Ideologue]

As to the states, you've overlooked a third option: reduce salaries. 

Whose salaries do you propose reducing?  When I look at state government, I don't see the huge epidemic of grossly overpaid courtiers running about. It's look a  lot more like Sparta than Versailles.   The other day, I was in discussion about some techincal details with a state department only to find they lacked the ability to perform basic database management functions, becuase their computer system dates from the 70s and they have to strictly ration the time of their limited technical personnel.  When I look at the state employees who are in my own profession, it looks to me like they are pretty seriously underpaid compared to the importance of their job functions.  The pay scales are generally lower than the federal equivalent and way, WAY below the private sector. 

If you cut the price offered, you will either get less quality or quantity.  So if the argument is that we should be cutting state salaries, you either have to make the argument that the quality of state public services is better than it needs to be, or that some magical way to achieve vast efficiencies will allow you to cut overall pay and increase quality.

Hm.

Joan, you realize your profession does not, by and large, make a tremendous amount of money, in or out of government, right?  And the government ones are actually doing better than many if not most (I'd say most) in private practice?

[Phillip V]

As to the states, you've overlooked a third option: reduce salaries. 

Whose salaries do you propose reducing?  When I look at state government, I don't see the huge epidemic of grossly overpaid courtiers running about. It's look a  lot more like Sparta than Versailles.   The other day, I was in discussion about some techincal details with a state department only to find they lacked the ability to perform basic database management functions, becuase their computer system dates from the 70s and they have to strictly ration the time of their limited technical personnel.  When I look at the state employees who are in my own profession, it looks to me like they are pretty seriously underpaid compared to the importance of their job functions.  The pay scales are generally lower than the federal equivalent and way, WAY below the private sector. 

If you cut the price offered, you will either get less quality or quantity.  So if the argument is that we should be cutting state salaries, you either have to make the argument that the quality of state public services is better than it needs to be, or that some magical way to achieve vast efficiencies will allow you to cut overall pay and increase quality.

Hm.

Joan, you realize your profession does not, by and large, make a tremendous amount of money, in or out of government, right?  And the government ones are actually doing better than many if not most (I'd say most) in private practice?

Yeah, from the news articles and studies I remember, government workers including state and local do much better than their similarly educated/experienced peers, especially as government workers are more likely to have healthcare benefits and defined benefits pensions. Add to that, you can retire at x years from one government locality and then start at another government locality, finishing with two or three separate pensions.