Trend I'm noticing

Anyone else noticing the lack of recognition between cause and effect among politicians?

I'm not talking about Michelle Bachmann's odd belief that everything she says is right, even when science, logic and even a kindergartner proves that's she wrong. More along the lines of simple every day decisions.

Case in point: the governor of Iowa is facing what a lot of governors are facing. High unemployment rates, tough job outlooks for folks, brutal economy. But this genius (or "the moustache" as he is referred to around here), decided to save money by closing the workforce development offices and replacing them with automated kiosks in libraries that folks who need jobs can go and visit.

Let's break this down.

He is going to TERIMINATE the employees that currently work in the offices, thus adding to the ranks of unemployment. Given, these are folks with education and job experience, which should help them find new work. But it's counterintuitive to completely shut down state offices without plans to help the staff relocate during a time of economic hardship.

The big one. IT'S THE OFFICE OF WORKPLACE DEVELOPMENT. These are the folks who help the unemployed find work. And it's not just giving them job descriptions. It's interview coaching, it's resource sharing, it's an extra set of eyes for a resume. We have a governor who is concerned about the unemployment rates in his state and is therefor shuttering the offices charged with helping people find jobs. Uggh.

Kiosks. Kiosks call for a certain amount of technological savvy. I'm not talking about coding or creating a web page but there is certain expected skill set that one must have if they are going to successful in navigating a computerized system. Where are these kiosks going to be, you might ask? Libraries. Malls. Public spaces. No staffing if there are issues, no one to help walk through the process. Libraries, in fact, weren't consulted in this decision. Just told, "Hey..we're going to put up this kiosk where folks are going to go. They may have questions but it's not your job to help them so just tell them to follow the commands on the screen." What crap.

I know I'm a liberal democratic. I don't hide that. But show me how this solution fixes anything? Sure...the state save $ on the bottom line because they don't have to pay for offices or staffing. But what's the human cost? How will this help the bigger issues of unemployment or unequal distribution of resources?

This annoys me.