Posted 1:45 PM by Gene

Yesterday Chron.com inaugurated a database for Texas state jobholders and their salaries -- all 175,000 of them. This is a perfectly reasonable thing; these are, after all, public workers. I'm a mu-ni-CIP-al worker and if someone wanted to look me up he'd find my title and could extrapolate my salary; we're all in a city directory. I'm not sure how useful such lists are but it is a small way of holding the taxpayer-paid to account. This came to mind as I was reading the MORON (just using his word) Mogul's Friend. I'd love to know his salary. I'm guessing it's at least $200,000 given he's now at the heart of what Pvt. Zell considers a PROFIT CENTER -- foisting rave reviews and advertorials and all kinds of show-biz insults on the public. We should know news hacks' salaries. Most public workers merely do a job; news hacks have the power of the word, a power that can hugely distort our nation and ruin people. They should be held accountable. Why not publish their salaries? We'd then know how many gaseous PUNDITS make seven digits for God knows what reason, and how much they underpay the few public servants really doing a job. Their bosses will shake their heads and say what a wonderful idea it is -- in theory, as they don't want to embarrass the seven-digits; and then we'd never hear a sound of it again.