A State of Total Insanity

By Gary Jason

Two recent stories out of California show that what is already the most stupidly governed state is slipping into outright insanity. The first is a new illustration of the crazy compensation levels of all too many state employees. It turns out that the chief psychologist for the state's prison system earned $838,706 -- last year alone! To be precise, the shrink earned somewhere between $261,408 and $308,640 in salary, with the remainder coming from bonuses or cashing in unused sick leave. This is not an anomalous case. Of the ten highest-paid California state employees (all earning more than a half-million bucks a year), seven worked for California's grotesquely dysfunctional prison system. Of those, four were prison doctors or dentists. Other high-paid officials include the federal receiver who monitors the California prison system, Clark Kelso, at $508,140, and CalPERS chief investment officer Joe Dear at $548,142. Clark Kelso, by the bye, was hired because in 2005, a federal judge actually took over the California prison system's medical system. This development came.... (Read Full Article)