Mean, Meaner, Meanest

Next time you hear a politician promise to make government “lean and mean,” ask yourself just what he or she is really saying. And try to remember what the current situation is regarding the administration of government programs and services.

For example, the Connecticut State Department of Social Services is either “right-sized” or “short staffed,” depending on how you encounter it. If you are on the outside, do not use its services and do not believe that government has any significant role in providing human services, you believe it is saving money by having only one or two staffers processing applications for its services.

If you are the spouse of a person with Alzheimer’s Disease, providing round-the-clock care for your loved one, who filed an application for home care services last November for the help you both need, you are still waiting for one of those staffers to dig down to your application to process it. 

The current wait has been documented by one of the home care agencies ready to provide those services once the state approves, and is 149 days and counting.

If you believe “lean and mean” is a synonym for an efficient public sector, I have a joke for you: A farmer was telling a friend he wanted to save money on overhead so he fed his plow mule 10% less feed. Since the mule plowed only 5% fewer furrows, he considered it a success, and told the friend that the next week he fed the mule 20% less feed. Since the mule plowed only 10% fewer furrows, the farmer reported that he then cut the mule’s feed 30%.

 “Wow,” said the friend, “how did the experiment come out?” 

 “Didn’t get to finish it before the old mule died, but it was such a great success,’ said the farmer, “that I’m going to try it on my new mule.”