Rocket Scientist

That’s right, I am.  It’s my turn to speak my mind on the discussion of the bonuses for employees of the companies that have accepted billions of taxpayer dollars.  The general public is outraged.  So am I.  Some reporters have noted that this is just a blip, a distraction from the big picture.  The public has not agreed.  Neither do I.  It’s a matter of principle.

When I read stories in the New York Times about business leaders complaining that taxing or retracting  those bonuses, making wild (and utterly unconvincing) predictions of losing masses of “brainiacs” and “talent” (and doom predictions that their knowledge would be destructive when they were “snapped up” by someone else), that companies will have nothing to do with government run businesses, that they have no choice legally but to provide those bonuses, I have to call BS.  Then, when that was ineffective, they started in on how those employees, facing the loss of million dollar bonuses, came into their bosses office “in tears”.  Boo hoo.  To face the loss of their unearned gain at the taxpayer’s expense when millions of people have faced job loss as a result of their incompetent/greedy/dishonest behavior?  Let me tell you how sad I am for them.  The individual with a $25 million bonus (Merrill Lynch) has already spent his bonus on a $37 million dollar apartment.  Boo hoo.  Just like hundreds of thousands of people in this country who face the loss of their homes, and have done less to deserve it.

Yeah, I’m with the outraged public.  I always thought a bonus was all about a reward for going above and beyond the expected, the normal.  It bothers me already that we give restaurants leave to short their wait staff on salaries because it’s expected we’ll happily cough up an additional 10-25% tax  so they don’t have to pay them even minimum wage.  Instead of being an indication of gratitude for extraordinary service, it’s an obligation or an opportunity to indulge in a little malice at the waiter’s expense.  Likewise, bonuses have been come obligations instead of what I believe they were originally intended to be:  a reward for exceptional service, over and above the original job one was hired to do.  For a company to go tens or hundreds of billions of dollars into the hole over a year and then think that millions (or, like Merrill Lynch, billions) of dollars of bonuses are justified just demonstrates how far from realities these “brainiacs” really are.

But it’s more than just the bankers.  I’d like to see this carried forward into government contracts in general.  It is disheartening for someone who loves and believes in the space program to see contracts written in such a way as to reward failure.  To get the contract, a company often drastically underpredicts how long a task will take, what they can deliver and what it will cost - and they can do so confident that if things run somewhat over or somewhat long or not what was asked, the government usually responds by pulling out its checkbook.  I’ve seen a major contractor deliver hardware that notably didn’t meet well established requirements, only to be provided beaucoup more money to fix the deficiencies.  I’ve seen sole source contracts awarded to companies because “only” they have the expertise to do a particular job in a particular timeframe, only to see them complain after the award how they can’t deliver what was asked and demanding requirement changes (and let’s not forget delivering it late and over budget).  I’ve seen companies with abysmal ratings from the government who still walked away with 90% of the “award” fee, effectively a bonus over and above the contract itself.

In the “real” world, accountants who mismanage your money are liable, perhaps criminally.  In the “real” world, people who contract to perform a service will go out of business if they don’t deliver what they promise, not only not getting paid, but not getting future business. 

As a taxpayer, I don’t mind paying for a space program or to assure our economy doesn’t take a nosedive, for the good of all, but I still deserve to get value for my investment.  My interest in space or the economy (or defense or any other program for the good of all) should not be used as a windfall with nothing in return. 

I’m hoping the government takes on the role of a discerning customer and begins to demand value.  I know we can deliver if only we are held to it.  I look at our history and I see how we’ve accomplished so much when so much has been demanded of us.  Here’s another opportunity if we only take it.

Sometimes I never see where these blog postings are going until I get there.

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