Sequestration & Conservation

[Ben Lamb]

Interesting article about how sequestration will affect state Fish & Game agencies. Worth the 5 minutes to read.

http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyl...cle_41581567-6eda-5ad0-808f-75ecd7c73c93.html

 

[smarandr]

Chickens coming home to roost. I don't want to be overly pragmatic, but we're on an unsustainable spending path and everyone's got to tighten their belts. Yeah, it sucks these agencies are going to be getting fewer federal dollars but spending has to go down and revenue has to come up.

At the risk of being called a pinko-commie, I'd be willing to foot some of the bill with an increase in license and tag costs.

 

[shoots-straight]

Chickens coming home to roost. I don't want to be overly pragmatic, but we're on an unsustainable spending path and everyone's got to tighten their belts. Yeah, it sucks these agencies are going to be getting fewer federal dollars but spending has to go down and revenue has to come up.

At the risk of being called a pinko-commie, I'd be willing to foot some of the bill with an increase in license and tag costs.

smaradr, I don't think you understand how these funds work, or where they come from. These funds are taxes on our equipment through excise taxes. They are only dedicated for one thing, and don't need to be cut.

Read the article please.

 

[jryoung]

Not to mention conservation dollars are very well spent with a very high ROI. There are three items in our budget that make up our problems. Unfortunately, when those items get mentioned those wanting to protect them say we will become a nation without a military and any social safety net.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Chickens coming home to roost. I don't want to be overly pragmatic, but we're on an unsustainable spending path and everyone's got to tighten their belts. Yeah, it sucks these agencies are going to be getting fewer federal dollars but spending has to go down and revenue has to come up.

At the risk of being called a pinko-commie, I'd be willing to foot some of the bill with an increase in license and tag costs.

Because they way the the law is written, those funds will sit in an account unspent until they are reappropriated to their earmarked causes. That means these funds do nothing but gather interest. They don't help pay dwn th debt, etc.

More telling:
cuts from sequester: $83 billion
Subsidies to latge banks: $83 billion

 

[theat]

In Washington, the across-the-board spending cuts could slice $3 million from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s budget. Idaho stands to lose an estimated $850,000. Montana will lose more than $161,000 in addition to reductions in what it would have received from two federal programs.

Anyone know what criteria is used to determine how much $ each state gets? Population? Obviously not based on land mass or how many wolves we have

 

[Big Fin]

Anyone know what criteria is used to determine how much $ each state gets? Population? Obviously not based on land mass or how many wolves we have

The P-R excise taxes are mostly reallocated to states based on license sales. Only makes sense, the place selling the most licenses is probably generating the most excise taxes. I think there is some other smaller component for the P-R funds, but it is mostly based on license sales.

 

[brymoore]

More telling:
cuts from sequester: $83 billion
Subsidies to latge banks: $83 billion

Link?

 

[theat]

Interesting...I am surprised that Washington sells over 18 times as many licenses as Montana (3mil/161thousand). I would guess that would mostly be fishing licenses?

 

[Jon Boy]

Interesting...I am surprised that Washington sells over 18 times as many licenses as Montana (3mil/161thousand). I would guess that would mostly be fishing licenses?

Hunt a washington general season deer or elk hunt and you wont be so surprised

 

[smarandr]

Read the article please.

Busted. Shoulduv known shooting from the hip will get BS called on this site.

 

[Ultrahunter]

Chickens coming home to roost. I don't want to be overly pragmatic, but we're on an unsustainable spending path and everyone's got to tighten their belts. Yeah, it sucks these agencies are going to be getting fewer federal dollars but spending has to go down and revenue has to come up.

At the risk of being called a pinko-commie, I'd be willing to foot some of the bill with an increase in license and tag costs.

I'll be one that is "tightening my belt" more than most. This precious sequestration could be costing me 22 unpaid days off this year. If I thought it was going to do any good I wouldn't mind so much about doing my part, but I just don't know.

 

[DreaminofMT6X6s]

I'll be one that is "tightening my belt" more than most. This precious sequestration could be costing me 22 unpaid days off this year. If I thought it was going to do any good I wouldn't mind so much about doing my part, but I just don't know.

Ultrahunter - I hear ya'! You're looking at a 20% cut for the remainder of the year. For the majority of americans, that's tough. It pretty much sucks. We're going to more then likely start furlough fridays where all civilians will be on furlough...thousands of people. Work will be at nearly a complete stoppage, so not only will folks not be getting paid, those left at work won't be able to do much at all because the civilians have all the continuity...AWESOME!

This sequester has the potential to to do some good, but not without hurting good people and important programs.

 

[JLS]

Hunt a washington general season deer or elk hunt and you wont be so surprised

Actually, the number of hunters in Montana and Washington is not all that different. If I remember correctly, Idaho sells MORE hunting licenses than Washington. The bulk of these would be fishing licenses, and probably a good share of shellfish licenses.

 

[1_pointer]

Not to mention conservation dollars are very well spent with a very high ROI. There are three items in our budget that make up our problems. Unfortunately, when those items get mentioned those wanting to protect them say we will become a nation without a military and any social safety net.

Yep! That was the message I recieved from a talk by an Ag Economist on the upcoming Farm Bill. All conservation monies could be scrapped and we'd see little to no change in the deficit. Those damn pink elephants...

 

[1_pointer]

I'll be one that is "tightening my belt" more than most. This precious sequestration could be costing me 22 unpaid days off this year. If I thought it was going to do any good I wouldn't mind so much about doing my part, but I just don't know.

Not only that, but IIRC, sequestration also keeps in place the cost of living increase freeze that was put in about the same time mucho dinero was going out in the form of bailouts for various industries...

 

[LopeHunter]

The nature of special interests is "do not cut my funding" and after all this is not the biggest budget item plus the money we get is used prudently to the last dime.

Bloat and ineffective directives and inefficient (not to say are not hard-working) employees are in every part of the government. I have spent 30 years interacting with the workers and watching the way the funding is applied. Much, much harder to fire someone in government job than in a private company. The focus of the managers is not to create a more efficient department that yields better results but rather to mostly not screw something up that gets you in danger of losing your pension in another few years.

Here is an example. Public schools. Kids are assigned to teachers. How many parents cringed when they saw a known ineffective teacher is asigned to their child for the next school year? What do you do? If you hear of an ineffective dentist, you avoid taking your child there, right? Schools fight tooth and nail if a parent tries to have their child reassigned to a teacher with a reputation of getting better results. Not culling the herd of laggards leads to a weak teaching team where the new members get "trained" in the "correct" way to go about teaching. New techniques are not embraced and the admin is bloated. What is your incentive as a teacher or admin to cut costs? To take a risk and try a new technique? No profit motive. Minimal fear of getting a reward for taking a risk but if you "fit in" you are marking the years until your pension. The system grinds up the motivated team members by this lack of reward for being creative. FIt in and everything will be okay...for everyone but your child, of course.

This plays out over and over. Identifiying the issues is easy but when managers and workers alike are demotivated to be inventive, industrious, and efficient...you only see "miracles" when a non-conforming player emerges that is willing to risk failing and being fired. The incentive is too small. The risk too large.

When is the last time you saw a Post Office worker at the service window sprinting back to get your mail item that required you go to the post office to sign for to pick up? We have a regional retail tire company out in the NW that hustles but every employee benefits when a penny is saved or a penny is made. What is the incentive for the Post Office clerk to hustle? The worker to the left and right will galre and them and tell them they are making everyone else look bad.

Profit motivation without constraint is a brutal system, also. Assign a worker at an insurance company a bonus opportunity of 20% if approved heart transplants fall by 10% and you will see transplants fall.

Remove profit motivation from entire sectors of our society and you get our education system. Ask this, why is college not June of Year One through May of Year 3? No summer breaks...keep those buildings occupied and in use. Students become degreed sooner with almost the same amount of class time and probably average student debt falls 15% since are no longer paying rent for that extra year, etc.

Solve education challenges and you can apply that approach to conservation, too.

My rant is over.

 

[WV Hunter]

The nature of special interests is "do not cut my funding" and after all this is not the biggest budget item plus the money we get is used prudently to the last dime.

Bloat and ineffective directives and inefficient (not to say are not hard-working) employees are in every part of the government. I have spent 30 years interacting with the workers and watching the way the funding is applied. Much, much harder to fire someone in government job than in a private company. The focus of the managers is not to create a more efficient department that yields better results but rather to mostly not screw something up that gets you in danger of losing your pension in another few years.

Here is an example. Public schools. Kids are assigned to teachers. How many parents cringed when they saw a known ineffective teacher is asigned to their child for the next school year? What do you do? If you hear of an ineffective dentist, you avoid taking your child there, right? Schools fight tooth and nail if a parent tries to have their child reassigned to a teacher with a reputation of getting better results. Not culling the herd of laggards leads to a weak teaching team where the new members get "trained" in the "correct" way to go about teaching. New techniques are not embraced and the admin is bloated. What is your incentive as a teacher or admin to cut costs? To take a risk and try a new technique? No profit motive. Minimal fear of getting a reward for taking a risk but if you "fit in" you are marking the years until your pension. The system grinds up the motivated team members by this lack of reward for being creative. FIt in and everything will be okay...for everyone but your child, of course.

This plays out over and over. Identifiying the issues is easy but when managers and workers alike are demotivated to be inventive, industrious, and efficient...you only see "miracles" when a non-conforming player emerges that is willing to risk failing and being fired. The incentive is too small. The risk too large.

When is the last time you saw a Post Office worker at the service window sprinting back to get your mail item that required you go to the post office to sign for to pick up? We have a regional retail tire company out in the NW that hustles but every employee benefits when a penny is saved or a penny is made. What is the incentive for the Post Office clerk to hustle? The worker to the left and right will galre and them and tell them they are making everyone else look bad.

Profit motivation without constraint is a brutal system, also. Assign a worker at an insurance company a bonus opportunity of 20% if approved heart transplants fall by 10% and you will see transplants fall.

Remove profit motivation from entire sectors of our society and you get our education system. Ask this, why is college not June of Year One through May of Year 3? No summer breaks...keep those buildings occupied and in use. Students become degreed sooner with almost the same amount of class time and probably average student debt falls 15% since are no longer paying rent for that extra year, etc.

Solve education challenges and you can apply that approach to conservation, too.

My rant is over.

I like it.

 

[jryoung]

When is the last time you saw a Post Office worker at the service window sprinting back to get your mail item that required you go to the post office to sign for to pick up? We have a regional retail tire company out in the NW that hustles but every employee benefits when a penny is saved or a penny is made. What is the incentive for the Post Office clerk to hustle? The worker to the left and right will galre and them and tell them they are making everyone else look bad.

Let's be honest, if most postal workers behind the counter attempted to hustle surely they'd pull something and have to go on disability.

 

[brownbear932008]

Yeah at the present we are sitting on 11 days of fulough here we will also have what is called fulough Fridays it appears. I would much rather work than have that type of 3 day weekend. I have worked for various govt. agencies over the years 6 to be exact and there is entirely too much waste in all of them in my opinion. For example the agency I work for now here is the scenario once the cuts begin here. Our district received almost a half million dollars this year to aid local departments and pay for overtime work on those employees days off for the local departments. We struggle to get those departments to spend this money which is given to them by Congress. Okay here is the kicker we are still gonna be paying these local employees to work overtime on thier days off yet we as federal employees are getting sent home without pay at least 1 day per pay period which is a 10% cut in pay and also loss of annual time ect. during this time off which we have no control over. What is wrong with this picture? I asked my supervisor yesterday why is this happening? Answer that money is only for those programs and we can't change where it goes right now.... WTH!!!!!