A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage – Herbert Hoover

The state of Arkansas is taking this a little too literally, well not every garage just those that work for the government.

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette Reported Last Week:

Vehicles exceed workers at agency

Score: 658 to 613 at Game and Fish

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commissionhas more vehicles than employees, and one commissioner said this week that he sees no sentiment toward changing that.

“It’s a touchy, touchy deal,” Commissioner Ronald Pierce of Mountain Home said. “It’s been something that’s [been] done for ages and ages. It gets accepted. It’s taxpayer dollars. It’s not [the employees’] right. It’s something awfully hard to get rid of. People get used to it.”

Pierce said he doesn’t see a problem with the number of vehicles - 658 for 613 employees - but figures that “probably 10 to 15” employees could do without the privilege of commuting in vehicles provided by state dollars…

I find it interesting to the types of vehicles that our “public servants” are driving:

According to a list of Game and Fish Commission vehicles and their drivers provided by the commission in July, Goodhart drives a 2009 Chevrolet Impala; Ledbetter, a 2005 Honda Civic hybrid; acting Director Loren Hitchcock, a 2008 Dodge Charger; and former Director Scott Henderson, now assistant director for special projects, a 2010 Dodge Nitro.

Hey but not only do we pay for the vehicles we pay to insure, maintain and fuel them:

The finance department has said that from April 1, 2009, to March 31, 2010, it cost $17.3 million to maintain, repair, fuel and insure state vehicles, not counting those at the Game and Fish Commission or the Highway and Transportation Department.

State agencies pay employees 42 cents a mile for using personal vehicles on state business. For fiscal 2010, that amounted to $16.3 million for agencies that report to the governor.

During the past five years, the Department of Finance and Administration says, agencies under the governor’s control and higher-education institutions averaged $17 million a year in mileage reimbursements.

Wonder what would happen if private businesses operated this way? Just sayin~