It was the worst of times...
First, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, showing a clear sense of priorities:
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. made judicial pay the sole topic of his second annual report, issued on Sunday, declaring that the failure by Congress to raise federal judges’ salaries in recent years has become a “constitutional crisis” that puts the future of the federal courts in jeopardy.
Just for some background, Patrick Leahy, the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has already said that he plans to push for a pay raise. Perhaps more importantly, THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT PROBLEMS FACING THE GOVERNMENT AT THE MOMENT!!!. Off the top of my head, we've got the executive branch breaking the law with regard to warrantless wiretapping, the legislative branch stripping detainees of their habeas corpus rights, the "revolving door" policy where government officials are allowed to lobby their former colleagues in what is essentially legalized bribery, congressional staffers being lobbied by spouses and other assorted family members, executive branch officers classifying information because it is embarrassing rather than secret, and any number of Abramoff linked figures still in Congress. I'll admit that federal judges probably do deserve more pay, but how about some perspective?
While Roberts may have misplaced priorities, many war supporters are going to be facing a year where their rosy predictions are disproven and their credibility shot with everyone but the mainstream media, who will continue to describe them as "respected pundits". Perhaps no one deserves less respect that Marty Peretz, the owner of The New Republic magazine, which he purchased using his wife's fortune (she's heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune). Marty, an anti-Arab blowhard, has this to say about Iraq at his blog, referred to by other TNR readers as "his padded cell":
The Sunnis Respond: These are the incorrigibles, the irreconcilables, the bitter-enders. BBC tells us that among their slogans were "Saddam is the pride of the nation" and "We sacrifice our blood and soul for you Saddam." It certainly isn't poetry or pretty. In fact, these are ugly thoughts. And, if Saddam is, in fact, the pride of the nation, what a miserable nation it is. Well, the Sunnis of Iraq were content with the tyrant's murderous rule. And, now, they must face Shi'a revenge. Which makes Shi'a Iraq also murderous and grotesque.
If this is indeed the case, then why exactly DID YOU SUPPORT THE FRICKIN WAR, WHEN EVERYONE WITH HALF A BRAIN KNEW THIS WOULD BE THE RESULT!!!
It was the best of times...
Anyway, the new year is a time for idiocy, but also for new hope. My wife and I visited Allerton Park in Monticello, Illinois this past weekend, and took some pictures. Thanks possibly to global warming, the weather was a lovely 50 degrees (10 degrees centigrade), making it an ideal winter day for a hike.
S. and the alpha Fu Dog trying to establish dominance.
Honestly, I'm pretty much convinced that if he came home with us, he'd be Karina's worst nightmare.
That's when I fell for The Leader of the Pack...(by the appropriately named Shangri-Las)
Playing groupie in the garden of the Chinese musicians.
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2 comments:
Tread lightly here, our judges are woefully paid (or if you are Scalia, with some it is woeful that we pay them). A U.S. District Court Judge makes no more than a deputy secretary in one of the executive departments. If you don't pay them well, no one would want the job and we can't have a judiciary of the wealthy or incompetent (although in some Circuit Courts of Appeal, with jobs filled by the incumbent POTUS, that's just what we have). I mean would you take a job that paid only $175,000 per year ($165,000 at the District Court level) and you had a guarantee of lifetime employment (okay, so you could be thrown out for high crimes, but we know how often that happens). I mean any good Wall Street lawyer makes 5 or 6 times that. Just ask the man/woman on the street ([s]he'd be the one walking since [s]he can't afford gas) and I'm sure [s]he'd tell you that no one would work the kind of brutal schedule (hey, they but up to 40 hours some weeks) judges keep for that kind of pay (let's not discuss benefits, it's too depressing).
It is clear that Justice Roberts understands that the more you pay the better the quality employee you obtain. If you don't believe Roberts (who makes a bit more than $200K per year) ask his boss (yeah, I know all about the separation of powers and how its is SUPPOSED to work) - W only makes $400K. And in the free market world in which we live, clearly the big makers do great jobs, just ask Bernie Ebbers, Jeff Skilling, Andy Fastow, Dick Scrushy. So all you nine to fivers out there, pony up a couple of extra bucks in fed taxes and let's pay our federal judges what they think they are worth. Or not.
Actually, what really struck me in the article was the pay of law school professors ($250,000 average). Physicists are usually happy to make something like a quarter or a third of that, and most of us assume we could always become patent attorneys if money really mattered that much, but by and large we're sick of exams and don't think enough of the Socratic method to go through law school. Apparently, there is more of a cultural divide than we realize.
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