A roundup of some of the comments received this week in the GovExec.com Mailbag. All comments are presented in their original, unedited form.
On Navy recommends discharge for former astronaut
The Navy Brass looks after its own. No doubt the reason for waiting so long to take action on her discharge was to make sure that she was eligible for her 20 year tax payer funded retirement for life. They did the same thing with CDR Scott Waddell by waiting for him to be eligible for his retirement before forcing him out. If you recall he was a sub commander who was out "showboating" when his ship stuck a civilian oceanography vessel, sinking it causing a loss of dozens of lives, and created an international incident, not the mention the millions $$ that the US government had to pay out for civil claims.
Some of you morons are really disturbing: sure she's an idiot and broke the law. Her sentence was parole. Not "be fired and lose her job and pension" and she is still working. It's not like she's been sitting around the house living for free on government handouts like social security and Medicare. Good thing none of you is a judge or US would be like Iran in no time.
On Senators question Marshals Service over full-body scan images
Imagine, the government failing to keep a promise. What a surprise.
Amazing ! When we fear a miscule risk to our health, Congress gets involved. When it comes to a major risk to our freedoms and privacy, then we are unperturbed? We deserve what we get. By the way, any TSA screener with a cell phone can take the nude celebrity pictures and post them on line. The bit about "the pictures are not kept" is pure balderdash!
On Firms begin offering faster airport screening
Talk about a scam. Just call it what it is: "Pay to go to the head of the line." It doesn't matter if we have clearances or whatever, or if you're a flight crewmember with extensive background checks against you, because you are still screened the same way.
This is a bad idea. Airports are not like Disney Land, Six Flags or Sea World where you can pay the proprietor extra to jump the line in front of other paying customers. The services provided by the TSA are public and therefore belong to all of us. Access to TSA screening should be on a first come first serve basis. Access to TSA services should start at a common public point of entry with no separate access points and no jumping ahead.
On IG: Postal Service paid $6.8 billion extra to pension fund
Oh well, a first class stamp will soon be $1.10. What's else is new in the USPS.
Well Lee what you don't understand is that the Postal Service hasn't been funded by the federal govt. since Richard M. Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Act way back in 1970. Concequently we do not get any funding from the federal govt. autorized by the constitution or otherwise.
On Army cancels ground combat vehicle contract
Glad to see this pulled back! What kind of ground combat vehicle could possibly cost $27 million a copy? F-16s don't even cost that much... Strykers cost about $3 million and the MRAPS are running somewhere around $1-2 million a copy which equates to about 20-40,000 vehicles; Plenty to go around and available now!
Yes, it includes undercoating, free oil changes and bluetooth; oh, plus the contractor making more money than GOD! It is beyond out of control!! I cannot believe we have so much of our money thrown away for outrageously expensive vehicles. If I had that much money, to put into my 1993 Ford Mustang GT, I could fly it to the moon! These people who pay that money out and receive that money, at those exhorbanant levels, are criminals and traitors to our country - BOTTOM LINE!!! And I don't wanna hear about their R&D costs!!
On Lawmaker touts telework as a win-win situation
Telework is a great idea. Let everyone whose job is only on the computer stay home. Then look at the number of military bases and goverment facilities we could close because people could be aligned with a central logical command rather than located in an office to justify keeping the base/facility!
I agree with Telework at least one day a week for all employees, but your article seems more like they will be offering to new employers not us old/matured employees that need to telework at least once per week.
With all of the positive things written about those of us who regularly work from home and others who were able to work at home during the snowstorms, it is becoming a political football. When you work from home you are not longer eligiable for a closure day off when a weather related occurance closes your (former) office. The union is actually arguing that whenever there are weather related closures in a city has to apply to those who don't even work in those offices but in the comfort of their own home via a telework agreement as well. As someone in the pocket of the unions, Rep Connoly supports this position, as well.
On Observer: Managers have reason to be wary of telework
What I believe to be evident is that many managers who cannot physically see their staff automatically assume that work is not being done. Further, the lack of accountability is also an inherent weakness in overall government performance, as managers claim that they cannot assign metrics to telework productivity. Really? Is the work getting done on time or not? Is it of sufficient quality? I find that sentiment to be outrageous and poor management/leadership.
I worked with some 14s that thought as long as they were reachable by blackberry they were teleworking. Sometimes I would get return calls from the golf course or out on bike rides. I think there could be alot of room for abuse if the program is not more defined and clear structure provided.
Embracing any type of change is not an easy thing. Those managers who have a handle on things will have a far easier time implementing a telework plan. There is no doubt that the micro managers will have a tough time with this. But over time, the enactment of telework is the greatest thing to help keep committed professionals in the workforce. There are plenty of courses for the micro managers to take - to help them get over there fears and actually learn how to delegate. Once they get it - it will be a beautiful thing....
I pity the managers that are forced into approving telework.
On Telework programs can succeed with the right tools
I can't agree more. If people were to ownership of their work and managers can instill some respect and confidence in their employees, telework can be extremely beneficial for everyone. I believe in telework and I am a supervisor.
Agency official: Telework programs can succeed with the right tools - and so could pay for performance like NSPS. It's not the programs or the workforce, it's the leadership and management that has to embrace and make it successful. They some how have to be incentivized and shown the importance on morale and productivity.
On Agencies could be passing over good job candidates, survey finds
So sad that the report did not include,the problem of status quo where federal employees are hired based on "who you know", not "what you know and can do. Once on the rating list, names of acquaintances are found and then hired. After, of course, the manager who assists an applicant with the preparation of the application/resume.
Great candidates are passed over all the time because the Federal hiring process is inherently broken. Pages of KSAs so specific that only those currently in the job understand them; preferential treatment for certain categories of applicants that place those with fewer qualifications at the top of the selection list; and time lines that stretch out to half a year or more before even determining who to interview all contribute to discouraging some of the best qualified.
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