Return to Article: Feds need more respect, better benefits, says congressman
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47397
what we need is much better reyirement $$$$$
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46752
Yes good idea. I am tired of covering for employees who are never at work.
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46609
The statement; ""One of the things that you come away with, you start to form an impression," Sarbanes said. "Having sat through the testimony of the folks at the front lines and unpersuasive testimony of people at the highest levels, it's like there's been an orchestrated attack on federal employees." He joked that it was almost as if there was "a handbook saying 'how do you undermine the reputation of good government?' I have no hard evidence that such a book exists, but I have circumstantial evidence."
Couldn't be any more truthful..
The policies that have come out of Central Office is severly distructive to the GSA Account Management Division. The amount of detail they are expecting is beyond any human management.
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46460
TigerHawk - liked your posts... great sence of humor while makeing good points...
Dan - you give me a laugh...are you such a "man" that you have to resort to name calling when you get attacked back? poor Dan...can't handle the heat from real men... GROW UP !
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46453
This comment is to the moderators (if there still are any on this...) - but please post it for all. I welcome an Editor's comments on how the postings are monitored. I am fairly tolerant of many viewpoints/opinions but I am getting fed up with the personal attacks being made, especially by poster Dan Ketter.
To Dan: All you are showing is your ignorance, bigotry, prejudices, and small mindedness when you attack the person and not debate the issue or offer viewpoints. PLEASE STOP and/or take your attacks to boards who freely encourage this type of discussion. I am least am borded with your child-like approach to life.
p.s. Dan, I would pick a "verbal" fight with you - except I don't beat up unarmed opponents...my bad - just checking to see if this gets through ;-)
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46369
I've said before that I don't really think there is a Dan Ketter, because nobody can be such a dumb provocateur and use their real name.
That said, benefits have been a large and important part of the total compensation package for several decades, both in the public and private sector. I say that as a private sector benefits manager for 10 years prior to becoming a fed 20 years ago.
WE'RE STILL WAITING, DAN. WHAT AGENCY DO YOU WORK FOR, AND FOR HOW LONG? WHAT IS IT THAT YOU DO AGAIN? Oh that's right, you don't do a darn thing except insult and rant.
I suggest that those of you who legitimately use this forum to exchange ideas simply ignore "dan". He (if that's what it is) enjoys the attention, however negative it might be, when we respond to his lunacy.
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46225
Better retirement system that's what the FED'S need.
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46201
I have been with the government long enough to realize that we have no friends in congress in any political party. They promise you things during the elections, meanwhile, take a look at what is being done in Congress.
Yesterday they finally voted for some sort of an 6 member panel to review/judge their members for ethics/morality indiscretions. Want to guess who is excluded from serving on this committee. Lawmakers, lobbyists and federal employees! Theres respect for you. Congress was certain that no one in the public would trust a federal employee to serve on such a committee! Last week John Murtha (PA) stated that they would never approve the hiring of 6000 more feds because federal employees are too hard to get rid of. He wants to hire more contractors instead. The rest of congress seems to agree and wants to keep the federal employment roles on the downward spiral that began in the Clinton administration.
Does anyone really think we have friends? Sure can can add students to the FEHB program. The rates are so high now, I am sure none of you will mind if they go even higher! I am glad my children are self supporting young adults and are buying their own insurance. I hope they don't come back to me and require to go back onto family coverage. It is much less expensive for my wife and I to have separate policies.
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46194
And Dan, your post along with your idocy makes me laugh. I want my mommy because I ask what's wrong with fair treatment? Guess the whole country wants their collective mommies, then.
I love getting insulted by the unintelligent little people of the world. Thanks for the laugh, "dan".
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46120
Machiavellian management theory is so yesterday.
Will someone please inform the government managers!
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46079
You know, one thing I've never been able to figure out is this: Just why, exactly, is it so horrible for people to want their employer to take care of them? You work for them, put your mind and, in some career fields, you life to work for Uncle Sam. So, to be responsible for our own choices, we need to shut up, collect less of a paycheck, bend over and accept the shaft??? What in *the* world is so wrong with hoping and expecting your employer to take care of you, especially when some of those careers can put you in the path of a bullet? Funny, but last I knew, bending over and taking the shaft wasn't exactly a specification of the American Dream...
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46015
Respect? Give me a break. Look at FERS, NSPS and all the other little ways the government is putting the screws to the employee and tell me anyone in power (DEM or GOP) gives a rats rear end for the empowerment of the rank and file. Face it, no one in Washington is going to do squat for us unless there is something in it for them.
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45996
I suppose you are one of those people who actually believed Bush and the WMD lie to get us in this war ? Or maybe you think there were Iraqi's flying those airplanes on Sept 11 ? How many lives did Clinton cost this country when he was President ? If you like this pain, vote for McCain !
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45937
Some federal agencies in Hawaii are ripe with discrimination. If you complaint about discrimination, retaliation begins. If you compliant about retaliation, then the corruption begins. If you complaint about the corruption, it just continues.
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45935
Clinton-Gore sucked..... probably a federal management type and a Bush voter. Talk about sucking bad.
I have friends who work at various federal agencies, to a person they claim they're no longer respected and if their work isn't being contracted out, it's being done more and more by zero experience, lower paid new hires.
Bush has turned FAA in to FEMA with wings for example. But thank God for term limits.
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45923
I have worked in the federal government for more than 26 years with the Army, Air Force, Dept of Energy, and Navy. Overall, I have been satisfied with the respect and the benefits I've received over the years. (Much better than non-government for sure.) However, I've never understood management's objection to offering telework in the different agencies I have worked for. This has never been an "option" for me at any time, but I always thought it should be. I put a lot of pride and dedication into my job(s) and am proud to work for the government. I hope that telework will be an option for me in the near future and before I retire.
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45917
I think a lot of you need to research the colleges that your children attend. For the most part they offer group coverage that they can buy, unfortunatelly that may mean they might need to work. Susan I feel your pain imagine society not ponying up all the money your daughter needs for an education, I bet they expect her to work to help pay for her education. What a rotten world we live in. If Sarbaines wants to improve the respect FED's get I suggest that he allow for a mass RIF of all Feds and let them reapply for their positions, that way we can really get the cream of the crop
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45895
To Retired Air Traffic Controller: You must have had your head up your butt the entire Clinton Admin. The Clinton greed, lies, cover-ups and randomly attacking to cover up criminal activity was an almost daily event. Hillary couldn't tell the truth to save her own life. And they treated government employees like crap.
The only thing worse than government management is government unions.
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45877
Insurance coverage for children of federal employees should be raised from age 22 to 25. Two of my daughters have fall birthdays and we have had to get highly expensive but less covered plans to cover the gap between their birthdays and the following May when they graduated from college. Both have continued to medical school and PHD programs and also were not eligible for comprehensive insurance group plans. Young adults are discriminated. My third daughter will be 21 this fall and we face the same situation next year. All of the girls have worked part time while maintaining full time school schedules as well as making good grades and having scholarships. Even with this I prayed daily that none of them suffered catastrophic health events or accidents during these periods. One of those alone would cost far more than insurance would have begain to cover.
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45875
I am a government employee who would be satisfied with "more respect" no abuse, no sexual harassment, no discriminitory or retalitory actions by management. I have been subjected to discriminatory, retalitory actions by my government agency since 2000. I resigned myelf to "I just want to go to work, earn my paycheck and not be subjected to abuse by management.I am, and have always been, a hard working employee.The abuse I am referring to is: denied overtime, asked to meet with management in private rooms, denied union representation, demanded to meet in private room in three minutes or face disciplinary action, threatened, false accusations, threats, sexual harassment by my male supervisor,impromptu (given a day and a half or "possible termination") background check and fingerprinting, falsifying my stats, manipulating my stats and computer icons, denied to see the on site nurse per union contract. Still, my record (s) are clean and my work ethic is what it has always been.............above average. This is where our government dollars are being spent. I am on the front lines assisting the public, while management is getting paid $$$$$$$$$$ to abuse their power. I recommend eliminating every other management position, hiring more front line employees, as myself, who produce, assist the public, and reinstill the public's confidence in government. Thereby saving our tax payers monies. And STOP the abuse of power and hostile work enviornment.
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45874
I believe the health insurance should cover anyone in your family who is a dependent regardless of age. My son lost an eye at age 7, they took pretty good care of him until 22, then dropped him like a hot potato. Now at 33, the eye needs to come out and be replaced with an artificial eye but does my health insurance who covered him for years help out? NO, NO, NO. They just left him hanging in the wind and he can't get a good job with his own insurance because of his one eye. Bunch of BOLOGNA.
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45867
Whole-heartedly agree with Gene, CAE and Rob on the issues raised in their posts. Throw in another curve ball - how about certain states taxing your TSP twice - once on the way "in" and second time after one retires? Beautiful (NOT!) state of NJ is prime example. Apparently, TSP contributions are considered as income for the state income tax purposes. Are they out of their minds?
And I know - there IS going to be someone to say - well, move out of the state if you do not like it. And I could - but this does not fix the problem. I know I am not staying in NJ after retirement - that's a given, but there are other circumstances that may prevent people from moving.
While on the subject - you want to raise morale of the federal workforce? Make it tax-exempt from federal income tax. There is a topic for discussion for you.
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45864
Changing the age from 22 to 25 for coverage under the FEHB program makes sense. My son turned 22 in November of his senior year (as do most college students) and we had to get coverage for him for his last year of school. Now my daughter is 22 and finiashing her second year of college. We just ahd to take out private health insurance for her and that is costing us $95 a month (with a $2500 deductible). It makes sense, therefore it probably won't happen!!!
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45862
I agree too that flexibility has GOT to be the easiest thing to achieve for employees. This involves trust from managers to employees. For many of us, it really does NOT matter if we work at 2 in the morning, 11:30 at night, or 10:00 a.m. on large chunks of our jobs. Of course, I agree that there are times (which need to be somewhat forecastable and frequent... e.g. weekly), that people should meet eye-to-eye. But in this day and age of e-mails, teleconferences, MeetMeHere Dial-in conversations, laptops, faxes and phones, a lot can be done outside of the office. Telecommuting can't be kept to the few priveledged friends of the Human Resources department cronies. If one person in the agency is allowed to telecommute, the information and options need to be laid out for everyone. Many people that are telecomuting have the privelege of reading a report while they get on their stationary bikes (OhMyGosh... we could even combat diabetes with more flexible schedules!), or don't have to waste time getting out of their pajamas, leading to happier employees. If more flexibility is allowed for employees, the result would be happier more productive employees. If employees are happy they produce more, and will be happier to give more when needed. Micromanaged employees milk the clock and are nowhere to be found when time to do the extras comes around (Christmas part, Org Day, monthly brithdays, or just ThisReportNeedsToDoneThisWeek days.) If supervisors can't trust employees with flexible schedules, why should employees trust supervisors when it comes to secretive pay pools?? Trust goes both ways.
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45857
What political redicule and ignorance displayed by many of those responding to this article. Both the Clinton Admin. and the current Admin. have demonstrated their failure to be very supportive of big issues (pay and health benefits) for federal employees. As for the raising the age from 22 to 25, it is just another political ploy to get young voters to vote for those who are giving out taxpayer money (it's not the federal government's money in case you didn't know). This is just another pathetic example of how people believe Uncle Sam should take care of them from cradle to grave - and not be responsible for their own actions.
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45856
What political redicule and ignorance displayed by many of those responding to this article. Both the Clinton Admin. and the current Admin. have demonstrated their failure to be very supportive of big issues (pay and health benefits) for federal employees. As for the raising the age from 22 to 25, it is just another political ploy to get young voters to vote for those who are giving out taxpayer money (it's not the federal government's money in case you didn't know). This is just another pathetic example of how people believe Uncle Sam should take care of them from cradle to grave - and not be responsible for their own actions.
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45850
If you think federal employees don't get the respect and benefits they deserve, wait until you retire. You can expect to pay additional federal income tax, thanks to the inability of our legislatures to fix the bill that allows federal employees to pay health insurance premiums with pre-taxed dollars but not retirees. The last time I checked, there were over 65 bills submitted to the Senate Committee on Finance to revise the IRS Tax Code of 1986, none have been acted on. Then there's the deduction on social security if you draw a CSRS retirement.
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45847
Raising the age from 22 to 25 for dependents covered under the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program will offer federal government employees and their dependents health insurance parity with the private sector in many states. My daughter will be 22 in 2009 prior to her graduation and prior to her obtaining work. She has a chronic condition and may not be able to obtain health insurance due to her pre-exisiting condition. She will also graduate with a $120,000.00 loan due to poor financial assistance programs that our nation and state offers. She plans to attend law school. I have another daughter in college and can not afford to pay health insurance out of pocket for either of them once they turn 22. So I am all for this proposal!
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45839
The problem is that many children are still in college after they turn 22. My child is 22 and a full time college student. She's an A student and a double major so it's not like she's goofing off in college and that's why she's still there after the age of 22.
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45838
I have a daughter that turned 22 in October of her senior year of college. She graduated the following May. For almost a year after her 22nd birthday, she was without insurance. Since she has some medical issues, and takes medication which costs several hundred dollars a month, this was quite devastating to our family economically. From what I have seen, most students are cover till age 23. I understand the reality of haelth care costs, but just because we are federal employees,I don't believe we should we have inferior coverage to anyone in the private sector.
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45835
I foresee no change in the prevailing attitude relative to the Federal workforce particularly at the highest levels. The white house's disparaging commentary(ies) relative to federal workers during this administration has emasculated federal workers as a whole, while the performance/achievements of those in authority has been too low or undignified to be worthy of decrying civil servants. The benefits package as a whole for the federal workforce as well as salaries commensurate with those in the private sector is depreciative and continues on a downward spiral. Federal workers for the most part take pride in their abilities and strive to attain by effort in a prodigious manner surpassing the less than ideal performance exhibited by contractor personnel elicited to supplant the federal workforce at an alarming rate. The increase in deployments of federal workers over the years has increased dramatically and our achievements downplayed. Yes, the time for appreciation, respect and better benefits of the federal workforce has been suppressed for far too long and not only considered but, contemplated not only by Congress but, the White House as well.
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45823
Sorry guys/gals, I totally disagree with raising the age from 22 to 25. The age was set at 22 to cover students until graduating from college. Let them get their own insurance after that point. I did and I'm still paying. We can't continue to subsidize everyone out there. Be responsible for your own choices in life. That's why our country is in the turmoil it currently is. BE RESPONSIBLE.
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45821
Of the 3 keys to improving morale and performance at federal agencies, it seems workplace flexibility must be the easiest one to achieve. That seems to be where there has been some improvement. Strong leadership is frowned upon in an environment of empire building that promotes "yes" men and women and rejects anyone who fights the status quo. That said, the predominant public face of federal employees is our leadership. How can we expect the public to respect us if we have little respect for our so-called leaders. Until our management changes from weak "followership" to true stong leadership, I see little hope of an increase of respect for federal employees.
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45816
As a parent of a child who will be 22 beginning her senior year of college, I would like to know what the OPM has against raising the dependents age from 22 to 25. When I queried OPM on this recently they said it was not up to them but would take an act of congress. Well, they have an act of congress now that they can support!
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45815
"I regard unions and an organized workforce as one of the best sources of creative thinking that there is when it comes to improving the productivity and competitiveness of the American workforce,"
He's got to be kidding. Unions killed the steel industry and they're choking the life out of the auto industry in Michigan. Once a bastion of jobs and wealth, Michigan now leads the country in unemployment - thanks to Unions and their refusal to adapt to change.
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45804
Once we get rid of this adminstration and everything it stands for....like greed,lies,cover-ups and this worthless war, maybe just maybe the Federal worker stands a chance to regain the respect of the American people and the Govt they work for. Unfortunatley there are people out there, like Dan Ketter ,that still live in the stone age. He actually thinks Bush is doing a good job. If you like this pain, vote for McCain !
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45640
My politics actually lean towards the right, yet agree in full with the congressman's comments.
"The system" in general is anti-employee and the "reason" for that appears to be totally antagonistic in nature. EVERYONE is treated like a potentially bad apple rather than a good (or potentially good) employee. The few bad apples that do exist should be effectively dealt with on an individual basis. Those of us who consistently do good work should feel that our agency is on our side rather than conspiring to make out lives more difficult.
My workplace is total chaos with a prevailing atmosphere of ruthlessness. It is abundantly clear that neither the employees or the taxpayers matter in the least in the "grand scheme," which is seemingly all about power grabs, empire building and securing funding through misleading political maneuvers.
I have been employed at my agency for 19 years and have watched moral and workplace efficiencies decline steadily throughout that time. The latest culprit is NMCI - a highly flawed computer network that is being rammed down our throats at the cost of $400 per MONTH per EMPLOYEE! Everyone knows it's ludicrous, yet no-one can stop it.
Half the "buildings" we work in are nothing more than 60 year old warehouses with cubicles in them. There are no ventilation systems of any kind, yet it's somehow "forbidden" to even mention that fact. OSHA would have a field day with it if they were actually obligated to enforce their standards on Federal agencies.
I work and watch do-nothings and/or thugs get promoted - largely due to cronyism and or perceived "political correctness" (e.g. the whole hiring and promotion of a specific ethnic group). This is anything but "equality" (which I fully support when it's legitimate).
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