Someone tipped me off on a fun little database that that state has, one that allows you to figure out what anyone, anywhere, is making.
How much are Montana state workers paid?
Anyone that’s come to this site for some time knows that I like to talk about money. Perhaps that’s because I have so little of it.
And could it perhaps be that I choose to highlight how much those in plum positions make because I’m:
I’d say those are all great arguments, and what’s so good about them is that they inflame passions and desires and other things that cause you to grow red in the face and put your foot in your mouth.
And could it perhaps be that I choose to highlight how much those in plum positions make because I’m:
- Angry and resentful;
- Feel entitled;
- An asshole;
- Care about Montana;
- All of the above.
I’d say those are all great arguments, and what’s so good about them is that they inflame passions and desires and other things that cause you to grow red in the face and put your foot in your mouth.
| | There are few things as entertaining as seeing that happen, and those are the moments we live for, the fuck-ups. Life can be rather dull, but when you see a good fuck-up, boy, it puts a smile on your face. What am I talking about? |
- Saluting a member of the military with a coffee in your hand, that’s a fuck-up;
- Getting caught on camera saying you’re going to throw a reporter off a balcony, that’s a fuck-up;
- Not sending anyone to France for displays of patriotism and solidarity, that too is a fuck-up.
Now, not all fuck-ups are things that we enjoy reveling in. That one on not sending anyone to France this week is one that makes you shake your head. But all of them have you nodding, realizing that you have one more notch on your bedpost, one more chip in your pile when it comes to beating them.
Money talks and bullshit walks, and when bigwigs at the state are making serious dough, but your family isn’t, how can you believe what they’re telling you on the campaign trail? When the head of the teacher’s union is making six figures, how can you argue that education and the spending for it hasn’t become bloated?
It’s hard to argue from a defensive position of excess, especially when the troops you’re trying to rally are making so little. Hell, most of the people that the Democrats claim they’re talking to are living in poverty. And yet their leaders are making bank.
But that’s not quite true. Sometimes it’s the advisors that are making more, the Richelieu’s in the corner and the Rasputin’s behind the curtain. These people come and go, and there is no accountability for them, mainly because we often don’t even know they exist. And yet the power they can wield is immense. The experience needed to get to those positions? Not so much.
It’s hard to argue from a defensive position of excess, especially when the troops you’re trying to rally are making so little. Hell, most of the people that the Democrats claim they’re talking to are living in poverty. And yet their leaders are making bank.
But that’s not quite true. Sometimes it’s the advisors that are making more, the Richelieu’s in the corner and the Rasputin’s behind the curtain. These people come and go, and there is no accountability for them, mainly because we often don’t even know they exist. And yet the power they can wield is immense. The experience needed to get to those positions? Not so much.
Eric Stern, Montana
Take Eric Stern, who’s some kind of personal staff member for Secretary of State Linda McCulloch’s office. He’s taking home $48.46 an hour, or $387.68 a day. For the week that’s $1,938.40 and each month that’s $7,753.60.
For the year, Eric Stern is making $93,043.20, if you go by those calculations. If not, he’s probably making more, and we know he’s making more than the $86,018 his boss is making.
That’s weird, huh?
For the year, Eric Stern is making $93,043.20, if you go by those calculations. If not, he’s probably making more, and we know he’s making more than the $86,018 his boss is making.
That’s weird, huh?
Adam Shafer, and the women the elected women that are paid less than him.
How about Adam Shafer, who makes $56 an hour as an auditor, although I think that was under Monica Lindeen. Now he’s Bullock’s main advisor, and I personally think someone that’s making $116,480 a year, I don’t think you have a fricking clue what most people in this state go through each day, your head’s so far up in the clouds it is! (This Butte Standard article from December has the pay at $85,000).
I think this is an important issue because I’ve heard about state agencies that really go to hell when political appointees get in there. That’s when you see lines on the carpet. You walk by and ask what they hell they are and someone tells you they’re from the filing cabinet that’s been sitting there for the past 20 years – the bastard moved it!
That’s what political appointees do – they come in and take something that’s working and make it so it doesn’t work anymore. Or if it does work it’s just doing so at about half the efficiency and twice the cost.
So when you’re feeling a little bummed and thinking the state isn’t really working for you, you’re right. Go figure out what that dipshit in so-and-so agency is making, and talk about it at the water cooler. Eventually the dipshits a little higher up will hear about it and they’ll get nervous. After all, the pitchforks could be coming for them soon too.
That’s how you keep Montana on its feet, and maybe toes.
That’s what political appointees do – they come in and take something that’s working and make it so it doesn’t work anymore. Or if it does work it’s just doing so at about half the efficiency and twice the cost.
So when you’re feeling a little bummed and thinking the state isn’t really working for you, you’re right. Go figure out what that dipshit in so-and-so agency is making, and talk about it at the water cooler. Eventually the dipshits a little higher up will hear about it and they’ll get nervous. After all, the pitchforks could be coming for them soon too.
That’s how you keep Montana on its feet, and maybe toes.
