Sometimes, the raw data is the story. The Houston Chronicle has done a great public service, which should be repeated in every municipality in America: Posting the salaries, with names and job titles, of all the government employees in Houston, Harris County, and the school district. It’s amazing stuff: The superintendent of schools is taking in $442,556 a year in salary; there’s a police sergeant making nearly $200,000 a year. The local community college has both a chancellor and a chancellor emeritus taking in nearly $600,000 between them.

Want to know where the money goes? Call your local police department some day and ask how many of its employees are collecting both pensions and full-time salaries at the same time.