Stimulus Czar

There's a quick story with no details whatsoever in the Review Journal today, just mentioning we may be getting a Stimulus Czar. Oh, okay, that- Wait. What!? Who's bring idea is that?

Jim. Gibbons. The Captain Hammer to my Dr. Horrible.

The text reads, "Without an endorsement, the three-member Board of Examiners unanimously sent the request by Gov. Jim Gibbons to the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee for consideration." Why?

This is telling me, with all the money we pay in taxes, we don't have a qualified grant writer who can absorb some of the duties presented by keeping track of the stimulus money?

Many of the people I talk to who own or manage businesses are in the middle of a hiring freeze. Every time they lose an employee, the survivors in the department just have to pick up the slack. It's hard. It isn't any fun, but it's necessary because it saves money. Why doesn't the State have a similar mentality?

Also, I've paralleled the Federal Government with George Orwell's 1984 numerous times, now I'd like to draw your attention to Franz Kafka's The Castle. The Castle is a satire, playing out the evils of bureaucracy. In the story, for every elected official there are two or three appointed ones, sound like the definition of a Czar to you?. They're trusted experts in their fields, appointed for their expertise. and they spin a web of red tape to prevent the protagonist from accomplishing even the simplest tasks.

What makes the stroy such a powerful metaphore is not the total lack of progress, but eponimous Castle itself. The town in which the story is set is poverty stricken, wood buildings, shacks for homes, and a single, grimy, dirt road for a street. But the government building, sitting at the head of the town like Oz's Emerald City, is opulent, grandiose in its extravagence. The officials, and their attending czars, live in The Castle, conduct their business there, and rarely leave its confines. So, they lose touch with the outside world, and use every resource to expand and improve.

The Castle is an obvious metaphore for the establishment. If the government appoints Czars, who of course hire aids, then they, in the interest of self preservation, have to say, X-ammount of dollars should go to the hiring and retention of czars. It behooves them to make their superiors think czars are an excellent idea. Thereby, they expand and use up more resources, and it turns into a vicious circle.

So, excellent readers, now we come to the point where I ask for your input. What's your opinion of appointed officials? Do you trust Jim Gibbons enough to have him just appoint someone to manage the money Nevada's federal stimulus dollars? Am I just being paranoid because bigger government gives me an itchy trigger finger? You tell me.