My mother was a low-level Democratic Party volunteer. I'm not sure where she got her original party affiliation, but by the 60's her allegiance was solid. Raised Catholic, she would have been excited about Kennedy's nomination; and she always supported civil rights. When we cleaned out the house after her death, she'd kept the Party paraphernalia, like the fake straw hat she wore to greet LBJ as a "Johnson Girl". My dad probably just voted the way my mom told him to; I never heard him discuss politics. But he was in a union.
I was confirmed as a liberal during the Vietnam War and the civil rights struggles. We lived in a fairly conservative area (York, PA, which has had a Republican Congressman for all but two years of my life). De facto segregation kept my schools all white despite a substantial black section in York proper (we were in West York) that rioted after the MLK assassination and again a year later. (Two deaths--that's a wild story in itself. Both murders were solved three decades later--and the then-mayor of York was one of those charged.) I graduated high school in 1970, so the 60s were definitely formative years for me politically. I was one of two to wear a black armband to school on Moratorium Day. (I had to put it on after I left the house--my dad did not approve of protests of any sort.)
College provided an environment in which my opinions were actually the majority ones. Student protestors occupied administrative buildings, classes were shut down with the approval of the professors, and we blockaded the Institute for Defense Analysis compound just a few blocks from the campus. I learned some economics and history, and thought myself a socialist. Still, it was the war that animated most of us, and I got a lesson in realpolitik when Nixon ended the draft and war protests collapsed. Well, it was winding down by then anyway, and it was clear that the US lost. The division over Vietnam lasted a long time. A decade later--more--some were arguing that it was not a mistake to have prosecuted that war. Echoes of McNamara and Kissinger are audible in the war cries of today's Republican candidates. There are people who are incapable of learning.
Like most people, my politics have moderated over the years. Communism was a failure; capitalism is a mighty economic engine, albeit one that needs regulation and steering. I'm a believer in the necessity for an active government, but am intolerant of fraud and incompetence in it. I'll elaborate on some of the following in the future, but here's a brief rundown of where I stand on some hot button issues:
- I'm pro-choice, but respect the pro-life position. I think Roe vs Wade was good policy, bad law, and disastrous politics.
- I'm no isolationist, but lean very strongly against armed intervention. It probably did more good than harm in Kosovo, and we didn't have a lot of options in Afghanistan. But usually, sending in the Marines hasn't really been good for anybody.
- Anything we can do to get closer to single-payer health care is something we should do. It's absurd how much we pay as a nation for health care that is not as good as it is in many other countries.
- The fight for equality is not over, but damn, we are advancing on all fronts.
- I think every nation has the right and duty to control its borders, but I don't consider illegal immigration to be a problem. I see some every day, and they are making the country better as far as I can tell. The kids are as American as I am.
- Raise the minimum wage already.
- Republicans are engaging in a profoundly antidemocratic (and anti-Democratic) effort to restrict voting. It's working. We should have fewer election days and they should be holidays. Legislative districts should be drawn by computer. I'd love to see instant runoff voting.
- If I had my way (I won't), handguns would be illegal. We'd have thousands fewer deaths every year.
- There are way too many people in jail.
- Tax capital gains and dividends as ordinary income. Restrict the homestead exemption on real property gains--it's ridiculously loose and generous now.
- Institute a small financial transaction tax. Shut down tax havens.
- Get serious about eliminating nuclear weapons.
- Push hard for real UN reform and support the UN strongly. It's gotten so bad that no one even asks why the UN isn't all over Syria and other trouble spots. No one really thinks they'd improve things.
That'll do for now.
I have never voted for a Republican in my life, and seeing the candidates that Party throws up lately makes me fairly certain I never will. I'm not a Hillary Clinton fan, and am unconvinced that Sanders can win in the general (or that he'd be an effective President). Despite his age, I'd sign on to Biden's candidacy in a minute. It's pretty shameful that neither Party can dredge up a really good candidate. But I don't see any Reps as good as any of the Dems in the hunt, so it's no contest.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Saturday, September 12, 2015
My End Game at the IRS
I could not have scripted the retirement any better. I'd told my management I'd be leaving at the end of calendar year 2011; they'd asked for that to justify promoting a replacement for me. I meant it, too, more or less, figuring I'd quit before the Spring of 2012. I stalled on putting in my paperwork; I was busy enough without that, and we had a trip planned to visit our daughter in Australia. But IRS offered a buyout two days before my flight, so I scrambled to put together an application and submitted it on my last day before leaving. It was approved the day I got back four weeks later, in early December. That gave me not quite four weeks to wrap everything up, and I just made it.
Fortunately, I'd done all the groundwork in the previous months. The team I led was trained, I had written detailed handbooks and desk procedures (I mean down to the mouse clicks), and had designed and created the simple database (MS SharePoint) that would house the change requests my team was responsible for. I'd also finally won the argument (after four years and several tries) to set up a technical review board to assist the execs in their decisions on the change requests. I facilitated the last executive board meeting, for old times' sake (I did it for years after I created it) and said goodbye to everyone--in a phone conference call, as these were always conducted. When my boss asked me where my retirement party should be (half the section was in West Virginia, the other in DC), I told him they could have it wherever they liked, because I wasn't going to be there. I always hated those things, and I was not about to be responsible for one myself. I think he was secretly glad he didn't have to drive to DC himself.
I called in to the first meeting of the new tech review board (after I retired--boy did some people not like that) to make sure it really did work, and it went great. The last time I asked, maybe 18 months after I left, everything was going well, and the stuff I wrote was still being used. From a professional standpoint, I could not have been more satisfied with events. Had I stayed, there were a few improvements I could have directed or made myself, but I outlined them to the team before leaving and if they want to make them, they can do it in a straightforward manner.
Socially, retirement changed nothing. I have had work friends, good ones, but by the end I was not socializing with any coworkers. I liked them and they acted as though they liked me, but we weren't really friends. I had been working from home two days a week anyway, and even on the days I did go in, most days my interactions were almost all via email or telephone. Most of my team (and my boss) worked in Martinsburg, WV, and the ones who worked in the same building (and my upper management chain) were three floors below and a long walk away. My wife didn't retire for 2 years 9 months after I did, but honestly, I was never lonely. I think I'm the sort of person who could function OK on a solo space mission lasting a very long time.
The best pre-retirement move I made was to quit drinking. (That happened 19 months previously, after a bout of self-disgust finally gave me the impetus to confront my alcoholism in a meaningful way.) Before then, I envisioned retirement as an endless succession of days sitting on my front porch sipping bourbon. I'd have spent half my life plastered, and much of the rest hung over. I kept some volunteer commitments pre-retirement figuring they'd help structure my post-retirement days, and they have. I help administer a youth soccer league, and until last year I was a Democratic precinct captain. I still volunteer for the Dems, and end up as the new captain's backup frequently. I started reading with kids at the local elementary school last January and I'll keep that up. Kids are a blast.
Financially, retirement didn't make much of a dent in our cash flow. The guys I knew who retired before me told me that I'd be surprised by how little difference there'd be in my take home, and they were right. The Civil Service Retirement System (discontinued for anyone entering the work force after 1985) was absurdly generous. Six weeks shy of my 60th birthday, I exchanged my govt salary for a pension that was roughly 70% of what I was making. But my salary had a 7% deduction for the retirement system, and I had another 10% taken out for a 401(k); those stopped. Commuting costs were very low, but that went away too. Plus, the cost of living increases for pensions always exceed those for salary; I had topped out at the highest experience level of a GS-14. If I live another seven years or so, odds are that I'll be taking home more than what I'd be making had I stayed. I can buy health insurance at the same rate as employees. It's pretty decent, too, though I've been phenomenally lucky with my health.
So that's that for the IRS. I have written a high-level summary of all the things I worked on in my 37+ years there, and some of the changes the work environment went through. (The paragraph on cubicles alone is worth the price.) If anyone wants to read it, they can ask me and I'll send a link. It has some things in it that may be actionable, so it's not going to be posted here.
Fortunately, I'd done all the groundwork in the previous months. The team I led was trained, I had written detailed handbooks and desk procedures (I mean down to the mouse clicks), and had designed and created the simple database (MS SharePoint) that would house the change requests my team was responsible for. I'd also finally won the argument (after four years and several tries) to set up a technical review board to assist the execs in their decisions on the change requests. I facilitated the last executive board meeting, for old times' sake (I did it for years after I created it) and said goodbye to everyone--in a phone conference call, as these were always conducted. When my boss asked me where my retirement party should be (half the section was in West Virginia, the other in DC), I told him they could have it wherever they liked, because I wasn't going to be there. I always hated those things, and I was not about to be responsible for one myself. I think he was secretly glad he didn't have to drive to DC himself.
I called in to the first meeting of the new tech review board (after I retired--boy did some people not like that) to make sure it really did work, and it went great. The last time I asked, maybe 18 months after I left, everything was going well, and the stuff I wrote was still being used. From a professional standpoint, I could not have been more satisfied with events. Had I stayed, there were a few improvements I could have directed or made myself, but I outlined them to the team before leaving and if they want to make them, they can do it in a straightforward manner.
Socially, retirement changed nothing. I have had work friends, good ones, but by the end I was not socializing with any coworkers. I liked them and they acted as though they liked me, but we weren't really friends. I had been working from home two days a week anyway, and even on the days I did go in, most days my interactions were almost all via email or telephone. Most of my team (and my boss) worked in Martinsburg, WV, and the ones who worked in the same building (and my upper management chain) were three floors below and a long walk away. My wife didn't retire for 2 years 9 months after I did, but honestly, I was never lonely. I think I'm the sort of person who could function OK on a solo space mission lasting a very long time.
The best pre-retirement move I made was to quit drinking. (That happened 19 months previously, after a bout of self-disgust finally gave me the impetus to confront my alcoholism in a meaningful way.) Before then, I envisioned retirement as an endless succession of days sitting on my front porch sipping bourbon. I'd have spent half my life plastered, and much of the rest hung over. I kept some volunteer commitments pre-retirement figuring they'd help structure my post-retirement days, and they have. I help administer a youth soccer league, and until last year I was a Democratic precinct captain. I still volunteer for the Dems, and end up as the new captain's backup frequently. I started reading with kids at the local elementary school last January and I'll keep that up. Kids are a blast.
Financially, retirement didn't make much of a dent in our cash flow. The guys I knew who retired before me told me that I'd be surprised by how little difference there'd be in my take home, and they were right. The Civil Service Retirement System (discontinued for anyone entering the work force after 1985) was absurdly generous. Six weeks shy of my 60th birthday, I exchanged my govt salary for a pension that was roughly 70% of what I was making. But my salary had a 7% deduction for the retirement system, and I had another 10% taken out for a 401(k); those stopped. Commuting costs were very low, but that went away too. Plus, the cost of living increases for pensions always exceed those for salary; I had topped out at the highest experience level of a GS-14. If I live another seven years or so, odds are that I'll be taking home more than what I'd be making had I stayed. I can buy health insurance at the same rate as employees. It's pretty decent, too, though I've been phenomenally lucky with my health.
So that's that for the IRS. I have written a high-level summary of all the things I worked on in my 37+ years there, and some of the changes the work environment went through. (The paragraph on cubicles alone is worth the price.) If anyone wants to read it, they can ask me and I'll send a link. It has some things in it that may be actionable, so it's not going to be posted here.
Friday, September 11, 2015
The Dawning of a New Error
I think I'm going to get more serious about this blogging thing. While my web output is absurdly high, most of it is in responses to bulletin board posts, with some Facebook and other media responses thrown in. It's all over the place. Here, I can develop thoughts until they bulge with muscles and jump out of the screen and throttle idiocy worldwide. That's the idea, anyway. Besides, I never did replace LiveJournal when I dropped it, and maybe some of that will find its way into the blog too. I definitely am not going to confine myself to just a few topics.
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