A regular feature of this blog used to be a “taxpayers vs bureaucrats” series, which featured outrageous examples of government employees getting wildly overcompensated.
I even narrated a video on the topic of excessive pay and benefits for bureaucrats.
But I stopped the series because it was too depressing. How often can read stories like this, after all, and not feel glum about America’s future?
- The chief bureaucrat of a low-income California city getting almost $800,000 per year.
- Cops in Oakland getting average compensation of $188,000.
- A school superintendent in New York raking in more than $500 thousand of annual compensation.
- A California government official raking in $822,000 of taxpayer-financed loot in just one.
- A Philadelphia bureaucrat, after working only 2-1/2 years, nailing down a guaranteed pension of $50,000 per year.
- A New York school bureaucrat simultaneously getting a $225,000 salary and $300,000 pension.
- California taxpayers being forced to pay a fired bureaucrat $550,000 for unused vacation time.
- An employee of the New Jersey Turnpike system raking in annual compensation of $320,000.
But I must lack willpower because I can’t resist writing about the latest scandal involving bureaucratic bloat.
Check out some of the ridiculous details about the woman who has earned the title of California’s Golden Bureaucrat.
Alameda County supervisors have really taken to heart the adage that government should run like a business — rewarding County Administrator Susan Muranishi with the Wall Street-like wage of $423,664 a year. For the rest of her life. …Muranishi’s annual pension will be equal to the dollar total of her entire yearly package — $413,000. She also has a separate executive private pension plan, for which the county chips in $46,500 a year.
Yes, you read correctly. She’ll be ripping off taxpayers “for the rest of her life.”
But if you want to get even more upset, check out how she’s bilking the people.
…in addition to her $301,000 base salary, Muranishi receives:
- $24,000, plus change, in “equity pay’’ to guarantee that she makes at least 10 percent more than anyone else in the county.
- About $54,000 a year in “longevity” pay for having stayed with the county for more than 30 years.
- An annual performance bonus of $24,000.
- And another $9,000 a year for serving on the county’s three-member Surplus Property Authority, an ad hoc committee of the Board of Supervisors that oversees the sale of excess land.
Like other county executives, Muranishi also gets an $8,292-a-year car allowance.
I’m relieved she’s getting a car allowance. The poor thing otherwise would have to rely on public transit. And isn’t it nice that she automatically gets a “performance bonus”? Sort of defeats the purpose, though, if it’s automatic. But what do I know, I’m just a taxpayer.
Even though I obviously lack the special insight needed to justify bloated compensation packages for California bureaucrats, I have enough common sense to know that the over-burdened taxpayers of California are being stretched beyond the breaking point – especially now that the looters and moochers have imposed a new 13.3 percent top tax rate on the state’s dwindling supply of high earners.
It’s no surprise that lots of high-paying jobs are relocating to states like Texas with better tax policy. Nor is it a surprise when pro golfers like Phil Mickelson warn they may leave the state. But when even a certified leftist like Bill Maher says he’s thinking about escaping, you know the situation is serious.
So for the umpteenth time, I will predict that the combination of bloated government and punitive taxation will lead to fiscal crisis in California.
Too much government spending and the Laffer Curve are not a good combination.
When you lure too many people into riding in the wagon and penalize those pulling the wagon, bad things happen. Doesn’t matter whether you’re looking at France or California.
[…] where fleecing taxpayers has become an art form for some bureaucrats (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and […]
[…] A county administrator getting $423,000 pensions. […]
[…] You may be thinking that’s no big deal because California is…well…California. […]
[…] You may be thinking that’s no big deal because California is…well…California. […]
[…] On another topic, I’ve written several times about the excessive pay and special privileges of bureaucrats in […]
[…] A county administrator getting $423,000 pensions. […]
Should that life be shortened!
[…] California’s Golden Bureaucrat Snags $400K of Yearly Compensation – for the Rest of Her Life! […]
[…] A county administrator getting $423,000 pensions. […]
[…] A county administrator getting $423,000 pensions. […]
[…] And while Ms. Dugger has some impressive credentials for the Bureaucrat-of-the-Year Award, she does face some stiff competition. John Geary, for instance, used his job as a welfare bureaucrat to perpetrate a welfare-for-sex scam. And Susan Muranishi managed to snag a guaranteed yearly payment of $423,664 for the rest of her life. […]
[…] California’s Golden Bureaucrat Snags $400K of Yearly Compensation – for the Rest of Her … […]
[…] California’s Golden Bureaucrat Snags $400K of Yearly Compensation – for the Rest of Her Life! | …. […]
[…] https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/californias-golden-bureaucrat-snags-400k-of-yearly-c… […]
Excellent piece and illustration of how we’re not moving toward the Greco/Cyprus model, we’re already there! My father-in-law is a retired city planner for Alameida County and I never hear him complain about these sweetheart deals, probably because he has one too!
“Alameda County supervisors have really taken to heart the adage that government should run like a business”
The above line was the part that really caught my attention. That, in describing such rank mismanagement, the author of the excerpt believes businesses run even remotely as described is appalling.
Well she should get more compensation than the average CA welfare moocher.
“When you lure too many people into riding in the wagon and penalize those pulling the wagon, bad things happen. Doesn’t matter whether you’re looking at France or California.”
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of moochers.
While this story nauseates me, I am glad when you post these, as they arm me against misguided liberal friends.
Keep up the good work –
George Pazin
At 13.3% ADDITIONAL TAX, it almost seems unfortunate, but poor Ms. Muranishi is probably going to have to move to Texas to enjoy the full benefit of her windfall.
President Obama’s favorite state must be California because they are running that state like Obama is trying to run the country. No one they have a huge deficit and the people there are trying to leave.
[…] California’s Golden Bureaucrat Snags $400K of Yearly Compensation – for the Rest of Her Life! […]