Comments on: Semantics and the Size of State Government http://www.pioneerinstitute.org/blog/news/semantics-and-the-size-of-state-government/ Public Policy Research Tue, 08 May 2012 20:17:19 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Steve@Pioneer http://www.pioneerinstitute.org/blog/news/semantics-and-the-size-of-state-government/comment-page-1/#comment-3771 Steve@Pioneer Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:10:48 +0000 http://www.pioneerinstitute.org/blog/?p=1657#comment-3771 Agree with you and the Herald's article. My blog post was not meant to question the Herald's figure, but upon rereading I can see that is not clear enough. And I agree the hiring 1,300 in the teeth of a recession is bad policy. My primary point was to take issue with the "positions eliminated" statement, which is a very careful parsing of the term, and usually confuses most people. Agree with you and the Herald’s article. My blog post was not meant to question the Herald’s figure, but upon rereading I can see that is not clear enough. And I agree the hiring 1,300 in the teeth of a recession is bad policy.

My primary point was to take issue with the “positions eliminated” statement, which is a very careful parsing of the term, and usually confuses most people.

]]> By: Michael J. Widmer http://www.pioneerinstitute.org/blog/news/semantics-and-the-size-of-state-government/comment-page-1/#comment-3768 Michael J. Widmer Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:45:57 +0000 http://www.pioneerinstitute.org/blog/?p=1657#comment-3768 The Herald was making the point that 1,300 people have been hired in the past year. Even if the total payroll has declined, the hiring of 1,300 employees in the midst of this fiscal meltdown strikes me as a very large number. Of course, there needs to be some hiring to fill critical positions, but the administration has not clarified the review process to ensure that the number is kept to a minimum. The Herald was making the point that 1,300 people have been hired in the past year. Even if the total payroll has declined, the hiring of 1,300 employees in the midst of this fiscal meltdown strikes me as a very large number. Of course, there needs to be some hiring to fill critical positions, but the administration has not clarified the review process to ensure that the number is kept to a minimum.

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