Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/343580
Ah,summeris here. We all know what that means: The rights crowd will demand that our pol- iticians pass new fed- eral laws to make paid vacation man- datory. It is true that the United States is the only advanced economy that does not re- quire employers to provide paid vacation time. It's also true, according to the Organization for Eco- nomic Cooperation and De- velopment, that the United States is in last place when compared to the paid vaca- tion time offered to workers in the top 21 industrialized countries. And it's true, reports CNN, that "not only do American workers get less vacation time than workers in other industri- alized countries, but they also opt to take fewer days off." Consider: The average American worker gets about 18 paid vacation days a year and uses only 14 of them. Compare that to the French, who average 37 paid vacation days a year and use nearly ev- ery one of them. So, the solution is to create new laws and mandates that would force private employers to give their employees paid vacation? Not so fast, argues Welch Consulting senior economist Stephen Bronars, writing for Forbes. For starters, 91 percent of full-time private-sector em- ployees already receive paid vacations. Those who do not are typically low-tenure em- ployees at small businesses — and new mandates would hurt, rather than help, such employees. Bronars says U.S. labor law is flexible enough to allow em- ployees to negotiate fringe benefits that benefit them and their employers. Perhaps an employee pre- fers higher pay and less vaca- tion time, for instance. Maybe he or she prefers more flexible hours. The current flexibil- ity allows employees to work out a range of win- win scenarios with their employers. So long as the cost of the fringe benefits is lower than the value a particu- lar employee brings to the company, lots of creative and mutually beneficial options are on the table. Paid-vacation mandates would eliminate such flexibil- ity, however. By forcing em- ployers to give paid vacations to new or part-time workers, who may not currently be re- ceiving them, labor costs will increase. Private companies, which are in business to make a profit, will have to make up for the increased costs some- where. They will have to lay off new or part-time workers and reduce the fringe benefits they provide to their most pro- ductive full-timers — hinder- ing their ability to reward pro- ductivity and performance. Bronars writes that our current flexibility "is an ad- vantage, not a weakness, of our system and leads to more employment growth and greater job security than we would have if we adopted Eu- ropean-style labor market regulations." In other words, the free- dom of an individual and his employer to work out the terms of employment them- selves generally benefits ev- eryone. It incentivizes employees to demonstrate and improve their performance and value. And it incentivizes employers to reward employees with the fringe benefits they prefer — thus increasing employee mo- rale and productivity. Happier, more produc- tive employees make Ameri- can companies more compet- itive and successful, which is key to helping the companies grow and hire more employ- ees, which increases tax re- ceipts for local, state and fed- eral governments. But none of these benefits matter to the rights crowd that is calling for new govern- ment mandates to force pri- vate employers to fund an- other "right" — the right to a paid vacation. None of the detrimental consequences matter, either. And we all know what that means: Summer has arrived and the rights crowd will de- mand that our politicians pass new federal laws to make paid vacation mandatory. TomPurcell,authorof"Mis- adventures of a 1970s Child- hood" and "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" is a Pitts- burgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Send comments to Tom at Purcell@caglecar- toons.com. Fromthedeskof... The right to paid vacation The average American worker gets about 18 paid vacation days a year and uses only 14 of them. Compare that to the French, who average 37 paid vacation days a year and use nearly every one of them. Cottonwood'swater system; problems with government Editor: We live in Cottonwood with a community water system. Our previous board totally abandoned ship years ago, fi- nally after much complaining they put together a new board. Our wells are ancient, our pipe system is falling apart, they finally raised our monthly rates which should have been done years ago. Problem is, no one wants to do the volunteer jobs sitting on the board because of all the bureaucracy. This board has gotten a $75,000 grant and loan payable in 20 years for the new well. The past two days we've had water pressure ups and downs, wondering is the wa- ter running out, what's go- ing on. After calling around it appears we're waiting on permits. Why does it take so long to get a permit so vital to so many. We have over 30 homes up here waiting, won- dering, worrying. Then can we get a driller? Wait, wait, wait. When anyone sells a home up here they have to disclose this problem. We watched a program a while back showing Hoover Dam being built in a few years. I think it was during World War II we built 500 de- stroyers, 12,000 war planes, many other types of weaponry in only a few years. What is wrong with this nation? They're so busy in Wash- ington D.C. deciding Hobby Lobby rights, which is another bag of worms, open to years more of litigation because of its complexities, they focus on the silly and stupid. Now we have thousands of immigrants on American soil illegally and most likely they'll be allowed to stay here. We can't take care of our vets, Obamacare is in shambles, the ACA people who have reg- istered, 2.6 of the 2.9 mil- lion applications can't be ver- ified, so I guess if they go to the doctor, they're in for a big surprise. President Obama is now the worst president ever I believe. He's going to Texas on a fun- draiser. We need more law- yers because everything that is passed is now in litigation of some kind forever. We're in a state of limbo forever. Mean- while, food, gas, most of ev- erything is going up except maybe big items, those stores are trying to sell something to stay in business while this president is praising how well America is doing. He needs to really get out and rub elbows with the common man, the guy he's trying to make things better for, yeah, right. I know first hand of people in Red Bluff who have those cluster boxes near Jellys Ferry who would put a light near the boxes but it's too expen- sive and hard or impossible to get a permit. They have their mail boxes vandalized, pack- ages stolen, units destroyed on a yearly basis. I thought the system is suppose to ac- commodate the public, this re- quest isn't frivolous, it's neces- sary. What has happened with working together for the bet- terment of the public. We recently attended a Tea Party meeting, a probation of- ficer spoke, I was really im- pressed. Someone asked when you find a person a job, how do they get to work. He said, we give them a bicycle. My husband donated a really nice bike that night, he's tried to sell it with no takers. If all departments ran like this one, we'd all be better for it. Too many times the depart- ments are allocated a certain amount of money, if they don't spend it, they lose it so they'll throw it at anything, which is a waste. Nothing new. Some- thing else that needs fixing. When money is tight, as al- ways, they look at the taxpayer for more. This isn't right, they're working on the wrong end of the problem. Cut their spending first, get rid of waste first. Cut salaries like we've had ours cut. Mine was cut 20 percent. I voted for our super- visors a raise, usually I don't but I did. Not sorry yet, they listened to the State of Jeffer- son people, more than I can say for Shasta County. Shame on them. — Bernice Cressy, Cottonwood The poor Clintons not needed back in the White House Editor: They must actually believe the public is stupid, conjuring an insatiable palatal tolerance for the garbage they are trying to peddle. Is the media so enwrapped with these idiots that any- thing goes? Their admittance to finan- cial inability and responsibil- ity should be enough to deter a vote of confidence. We need them back in the White House as much as a skunk needs more odorant. Where are the millions for campaign jaunts? You may swallow their gar- bage but my palate refuses. — Thad Blanchard, Gerber Minimum wage increase harms California Editor: The inflationary 12.5 per- cent minimum wage increase takes $1 from the pockets of hard working Californians and retirees and puts it in the pocket of another Californian. This is a zero sum game. Employers will need to ei- ther decrease jobs for low skill workers, or increase costs for already overtaxed consumers. Recent high school grads and dropouts, who need en- try level jobs, will be the big- gest losers. — Joseph Neff, Corning Your opinions Cartoonist's take Here's hop- ing your Indepen- dence Day was beyond terrific. You have to love the loudest and most American of all holidays. One of the moments that makes a person prouder than papaya punch to be a cit- izen of this fine country. The greatest country on the planet, which is why we have all those darn problems with our bor- ders. After all, you don't see a lot of stories about the teem- ing humanity streaming across the border into Kazakhstan. Or Kyrgyzstan. Which many ex- perts claim are two entirely different countries. The Summer Solstice may have checked in weeks ago, but the 4th of July is still dead solid summer. It means base- ball and hot dogs and pic- nics and suntan lotion and ice cream trucks and road trips in the back of a station wagon bouncing around like fleshy pinballs, begging Dad to turn up the air conditioning and screw the gas mileage. The Durst household is used to celebrating this noisy and sweaty occasion by intensely charring immense amounts of flesh, both ours and as- sorted animals, then drink- ing a cooler full of brewskies while shooting off firecrack- ers. That's right, we drink beer and handle explosives, which explains why the 4th christens many nicknames like "Lefty" and "Patch." No matter what side of the political spectrum your team plays on, this is a non-partisan party. Hippies and hawks both exercise their freedoms by flip- ping Frisbees and firing up the grill although it's a lot easier to keep a rack of baby backs from slipping through the grates than bean sprouts. Hard to think of a snapshot of the USA more iconic than a small town 4th of July pa- rade with kids stringing bun- ting in their bicycles spokes and streamers doing their streaming thing from the han- dlebars. Where tricycles and Big Wheels careen between crawling convertibles con- taining beauty queens wav- ing with one hand and hold- ing tight their tiaras with the other. Where hardware stores sponsor floats and politicians are booed. Speaking of which, 4th of July also signals the apex of the marching band season. Good marching bands and bad marching bands. A difference which is razor thin. These poor people practice all year long and get one lousy day. Se- riously, how many John Phillip Sousa albums do you own? Even in San Francisco, we do the red white and blue thing so big and bad, the ghost of Pat- rick Henry slaps us imaginary high fives. It's the perfect time to forget the troubles facing this nation and concentrate on the good things. Food, family, friends and fireworks. So get your summer licks in. Buy a new bathing suit. Fly a flag. Wear white shoes. Eat a roasted cob of corn and let the butter slide right down your arm and drip off your elbow. Snore in a hammock. And blow some stuff up real goooood. Be- cause it won't be long before we're stuffing the flip- flops back in the closet and hauling out the school backpacks and pumpkin carving kits. Happy 238th birthday America. And you should know, in the right light, you don't look a day over 189. Will Durst is an award- win- ning, nationally acclaimed po- litical comic. Go to willdurst. com to find about more about the new documentary film "3 Still Standing," and a calen- dar guide to personal appear- ances including his new one- man show "BoomeRaging: From LSD to OMG." Email Will at durst@caglecartoons.com. Visit to willdurst.com to find about more about his new CD, "Elect to Laugh" and calendar of personal appearances. Another view Dead solid summer: 4th of July and American past times GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. 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