On being a bureaucrat

I have now been working for the state for nearly a month, both as a student intern at the Attorney General’s office and as a part-time employee at the Department of Treasury. Below are some observations and reflections, in no particular order:

• I have to be careful about state budget, wasteful spending, or bureaucrat comments.
  
  
• I don’t want to go to prison.
  
  
• There are hundreds of cases pending at the Treasury Hearing Division. We take consolation that it’s not in the thousands, like at the Tax Tribunal. What other business would not panic at a two year backlog?
  
  
• Drug convictions are messy.
  
  
• Some defense counsels write bad briefs.
  
  
• Some companies write bad briefs.
  
  
• If you think the tax manuals are hard to follow, just be glad you don’t have to deal with the statute:

For tax years after the 1988 tax year, the maximum cost incurred by a claimant for heating fuel during a tax year shall be adjusted by multiplying the maximum cost for the immediately preceding tax year by the percentage by which the average all urban Detroit consumer price index for fuels and other utilities for the 12 months ending August 31 of the tax year for which the credit is claimed exceeds that index's average for the 12 months ending on August 31 of the previous tax year, but not more than 10%. 

(MCL 206.527a(1)(d))

Yes, you read that right. One sentence. Minimal punctuation. I’m glad we know, though, that’s it’s not more than 10%. Heaven forbid if it (whatever it is) rises above that.

• I’ve actually turned to the worksheets and manuals in order to understand what the statutes are saying.
  
  
• Michigan has a flat income tax. Yes, it’s still complicated.
  
  
• I got my grades back from last semester. They’re not kicking me out . . . yet.
  
  
• For as well intentioned as they are, legislatures tend to make a mess of statutes. Especially tax statutes. How does one interpret (and then apply) a statute that was partially amended and now includes contradictions?
  
  
• It’s really nice to be contributing to an office environment again. For as academic as I tend to be, classes get really old quickly.
  
  
• 40 hours a week in an office is more work than being a full time student.