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 OPM: Pay raises are not a given
Based upon Mr. Berry's comments, that step increases are not automatic, I can only guess he's either new to the Federal Government or woefully uninformed on how agencies really operate.
It would be nice to know the data behind reissuing this reminder. Are there agencies consistently giving within-grade pay raises inappropriately or is Berry sending this memo out as a notice to the public to look like the government is doing something different. This is nothing new and I have a hard time believing it's happening all the time. Maybe a few get processed accidentally.
Years ago, the supervisor used to have to sign off on whether employees got a raise. It was the HR community, Mr Berry - that decided to automate and thus taking the raises out of the supervisors purview - they became automatic. There was nothing wrong with that system - it should be brought back.
On Biden to unveil new plan to cut government waste
How about eliminating the $2.4B a week wasted in Afghanistan?
Oh goodie - a high ranking 'public servant' interested in cutting waste!! Hopefully - he'll begin by cutting himself out of the government hierarchy. Maybe he can take Obama with him,
What a Big Joke. This ploy has been used so many times in the past 30 years. We have law enforcement that takes care of this issue. All this is; is the Democratic Party's attempt to distract Americans from the fact we over spend in federal government. Like Ron Paul says, we need to get back to the Constitutional Government. Let the States do the rest. It is so simple.
On Agencies asked to cut performance awards
Does this seem backwards to anyone else? Why are SES allowed a max of 5% when the lower paid GS employees only allowed a max of 1%?
Explain to me and the other Gov't employees WHY "According to the memo, political appointees are excluded from the cuts. Recruitment, retention and relocation incentives, along with quality step increases, also will not be affected." Gov't appointees or not they are still collecting Federal pay checks, and they too need to take part in Budget cuts.
I'm out there on the front lines every day as a GS employee. I'd do cartwheels for a 5% bonus. Seems that SES should bear the burden equally as the rest of the GS employees and political appointees as well - which means 0.8 percent.
Why is there is a sense of shock that SES/SLs have a higher share of performance awards? After all, they are smarter and more efficient than the standard, run of the mill, federal employee. Those that produce less capacity should be thankful that they have employment on the backs of the tax payer.
always go above and beyond the call of duty, taking on projects allocated to be contracted out. Last year of my own initiative, I completed a project and saved the gov't $100k. Why is the GOP consistently hitting federal workers. Morale is low and there are no incentives to save $$ and resources. Let's oust our elected officials and start over with people that care about middle class federal employees!!!! Start cutting where cuts need to be made, make the rich pay more, take away tax breaks that help corporations, etc. There are so many other places to cut!
This seems fair. I got the highest performance rating you can get last year at the Farm Service Agency, and I received no recognition whatsoever. Not a certificate, not a thank you nor a day off, let alone a bonus. At least at some agencies you can get a day off for working hard. Seems that everyone should share the burden of budget shortages, not just staff graded GS-13 and below.
On Women, minorities make gains in senior government jobs
This is a typical government view of employees. We are not individuals, but rather members of a group: white, black, male, female, etc. The sad part is that no one really worries about individual qualifications when they are trying to reach the "goals" for the group. This kind of story just shows the empty rhetoric when the government speaks of human capital. Individual rights are trumped by the favored groups. Onward through the fog.
No mention of the percentage of people with disabilities in the government or in the senior levels. Could it be because the number is so abysmally low? People with disabilities are the largest minority in this country and the one most overlooked.
Wondered how long it would take for the hateful to speak up. Didn't take long at all. Maybe some of the thoughtless believe that employment is played on a level field. Don't forget, White males still have the majority no matter how you dice it up with minority distributions. Besides there is a mixture permutation not taken into account in these rough statistics. Ooops. From just about all responses to this point, it appears most really don't care for accuracy. Only talking points.
Having just had my career stalled for over 5 years due to a white male manager who clearly has issues with women, I hope we get even more diverse and open-minded. I don't care what color/sex you are, but you need to treat others fairly and not take out your personal hang-ups on your employees.
Notice no mention of Vets which is a federal law while the rest is just nice to have
Interesting how so many people feel their particular special group is under-represented. Our culture has become one of "blame someone else" for everything. Its amazing how many think the Government is the catch all employment net for all of society. I'm sure there are isolated cases of discrimination in hiring and promotions but by and large, it comes down to experience, maturity and attitude. Nobody likes to hear they aren't qualified for something but hey, that's life. If you can't get hired or promoted, maybe you should take a long hard look in the mirror and make the committment to bring yourself up to the standard instead of expecting someone to lower it.
On Auditor clarifies comment about missing cash in Iraq
This must be some of the money that my email Nigerian friends are wanting to forward over to me.
Look at the Army's nonconcurrence on SIGIR's audit of the Electrical Sector Reconstruction Projects. The vouchers had been scanned and were in the COE's computers in Millington Tenn but for one reason or another SIGIR never looked at them. What was missing was a visit to Millington.
On Adm. Mullen: Local groups need to take lead on services for military families
Adm. Mike Mullen is no friend to military retirees. He wants to make deep cuts to our healthcare. This goes against what we were promised if we served. This would be considered a breach of contract. Adm. Mike Mullen, shame on you.
The Adm. is showing some real leadership here. Clearly stating this is not something we should nationally fund or led. There are many great civilian run non-profits that support military members and there families on any number of problems. The USO comes to mind. This organization is effienctly run and globally recognized as a friend to active U.S. military service members and families, as well as retirees. Put the money where it is best managed. Washington proved long ago, they are not good at this kind of stuff.
News flash to the Admiral: veterans have been providing support for one another for generations. As a Vietnam vet and retired VA employee, I continue in retirement to assist and support other vets of any era with their claims and other issues. I witnessed this phenomenon in my younger days with WW2/Korea vets. There remains an unbroken chain of brother/sisterhood between vets. Unfortunately the Admiral sounds like an apologist for the current Republican rhetoric which calls for additional sacrifice for those who serve and work, while those at the top - corporate, political, military - retain and increase their benefits, etc. We're still in the field, the mud and rain, caring for and carrying each other.
This from the same guy who told us last week that military retirement and health were on the chopping block before big ticket procurement items. The man should be fighting for the troops not throwing them under the bus.
On Economic Development Agency is a waste of money, senator says
How else will Congress get their pet projects completed now that earmarks (bribes and payback) have been re-labeled as bad for the tax payer.
Farm subsidies are too but they are left alone.
What has this orginization been sleeping for 30 years?? Are you kidding EDA obviously just another empire that was created that gives no support to the very people they serve typical of government waste. I'm ure there are many more orgs that could be gutted. If there is no return or value to the American families it needs to go.
Thirty years in government service and I have never even HEARD of the EDA. Sounds like a congressional pet agency.
NEXT STORY: Agencies, Serve Thy Customers