Don't you just love the Republicans? They're so malleable, so compliant, so easily intimidated...and so God-Damned STUPID.
"Seeking to dent President Obama’s refusal to chip away at the government shutdown piece-by-piece, House Republicans passed a bill Saturday to guarantee all federal employees get paid after the government shutdown — including those who have been sent home and aren’t on the job."
For the moment let's just forget the fact that these are fat times for the bureaucrats. Let's forget that federal employees make more than their counterparts in private industry. Let's forget that government revenues are WAY UP and productivity and worker participation is WAY DOWN, which of course means those of us in the private sector who are out here busting our asses are getting reamed like never before. Let's ignore the fact that the richest counties in America are within walking distance of the Capitol Building and that our exploding debt has helped finance the exploding luxury home market (not to mention Mercedes and other high end automobiles sales) in the DC area.
Yeah let's forget all that for the time being. So just what did the Republicans get for their peace offering? Abuse that's what! Dingy Harry said Republicans were "cruel" and reiterated his love and admiration for federal bureaucrats, as opposed to Republicans who treat them as "a lower class of people"... IF ONLY!
Maybe I'm the one who is stupid, but I simply don't understand Republican thinking (perhaps CW can explain it to me). In my humble opinion we should take this opportunity to point out that we are doing just fine without "non-essential" workers so why have them? We should be talking about the pay of these workers, what they actually contribute to our nation and why now is a good time to reorganize and reevaluate the civil service rules that have resulted in all this "inequality" among the public and private sectors. But kissing the ass of bureaucrats who hate and despise the Republican Party along with producers LIKE ME is beyond stupid. It's insane!
Citation please. "Let's forget that federal employees make more than their counterparts in private industry. "
ReplyDeleteYes talking up how with 85% of the gov active no body short a minor % of the people even notice a difference. Yes talking this fact up right now as the THE MAIN ISSUE the debt ceiling is coming up for debate would be the common sense thing to do.
ReplyDeleteThe repubs should play the dems game say they will OK Ocare with a delay but in return we are going to make this 85% the new norm for funding. Then after the election we can claim a mandate and eliminate out Ocare anyway.
http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/tbb-0605-35.pdf
ReplyDeleteIt's really about the assumptions you make comparing which gov jobs to which private sector jobs. The report you cite even acknowledges this issue. Should a gov job be compared to a similar job in a large corp or a small business. The choice determines the conclusion. Thanks for the link. It does raise valuable points like the difference between public and private quit rates. Job security ought to be worth some pay offset downward. With recent pay freezes I'd bet the differential has changed from 06 to 13.
ReplyDeleteAnon - while there are many very dedicated, valuable and talented civil servants, it is also useful to remember that there are many who are precisely the opposite. In industry, such people are suffered only briefly whereas in government, one can make a career, with bonuses, of such poor performance. I believe that simply streamlining the ability to discard poor performers would go a long way toward improving the notorious government inefficiency and might, might, help us reduce the size of government without hindering those Constitutional government activities we consider essential. And if those same people had to finally break suction off the public teat, they might also experience the satisfaction of a job well done. Heh, who am I kidding?
ReplyDelete