The Week in Comments: Ron Paul, military leader speak out
The best in reader reaction to recent articles.
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 Ron Paul lays out ambitious agenda to shrink government
Paul's agenda to weaken the structure of our nation should be dubbed "Operation C.R.A.C.K.P.O.T."
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture should be included in the list.
Ron Paul is the only candidate running that says what needs to be said. There is so much overkill in the federal government. They over step there authority. Federal tax dollars were never meant to be used to bail people and businesses out when times are bad. The National Guard was never meant to be used as full-time military members to fight overseas. Government is way too big and doing things they don't need to do. It's time to cut back and scale down.
Ron Paul will get my vote. He is the only candidate willing to roll back government to its constitutional limits. Even if it means giving up my job. Although immigration enforcement is in article one of the constitution, so we'll always need an agency to carry out the laws and protect the borders. God bless Ron Paul.
Sounds simple, just stop doing everything the DOE does, like Nuclear Security and Safety; or Commerce Dept stop Patents, lose control of our Frequency Spectrum, no more Census, stop having International Trade Agreements...; Kill DOI no more national parks, no land management, no fish and wildlife services, no Mining oversight, no indian affairs; He also mentioned the end of Homeland Defense and all its services like the Coast Guard... Yup, save money at all costs/impacts. Real smart!
On Public-private pay gap widens
Looks like the plan to further degrade federal workers' pay is working. Wait until the super panel is finished with us with extended pay freezes, pension cuts, and health insurance cuts. So much for attracting the best and the brightest.
When is Congress going to have a pay raise freeze? When are their benefits going to be cut? If the Government wants to save REAL money, they should look into cutting back on Congress, not the little people. Congress can afford a pay/benefit cut and tax raise a lot easier than we can.
No one goes to work for the government - federal, state or local - with the intention of getting rich. But we don't do it with the intention of becoming poor either.
On American military leader in Afghanistan relieved of duties
He just said what everyone else was thinking, but he said it in a nicer way than I would have.
Gen. Fuller spoke out of turn. As the military leader in the area, he needs to manage up and down the ranks. Diplomacy and politics is not really his manadete and he was out of his element. There is something to be said for the strong, silent type, in this situation.
Hey, can you guys in the media find out to whom Karzai uttered the words "I want that guy fired"? Enquiring minds want to know.
On Federal managers support program cuts, fewer contractors
I am for constractor cuts and capping contractor salaries to match equivalent civil servant salaries.
Really? Why bother to ask? There are very few people out there that will be honest about what needs to be cut, as they will always take the position of protecting their own jobs rather than doing the right thing. Taking this type of survey is a complete waste.
Why ask someone who is already making $100,000 or more instead of the real working fed employees who make 1/3 or a 1/4 of what those managers are making? Why don't the congress take a cut in pay and pay into their own pension for a change?
On Five of six super committee senators see major drops in fundraising, group says
The only way this country can go forward is to pass a Constitutional amendment that limit terms for the House and Senate. Public "service", rather than a lifetime taxpayer supported position should be the emphasis as it once was.
Until corporate influence is purged from our political system nothing will change. Until Citizen's United is reversed, nothing will change. Corporations are people now. Politicians don't need real people anymore.
On Analysis: The real picture in Afghanistan
This is the type of General we need. The one who make things happen, not afraid of telling how it is. Another Casualty of politics. He knows how to describe the beautiful apple that everyone talks about, nice and clean outside but the real truth is the apple is rotten in the inside.
As long as opium poppies remain the primary cash crop for Afghan farmers, we will never have success in that country! Bring the troups home! Bless this General for telling the truth! Lay off his boss.
The military expertise in this Administration is zilch. It wants to be friends to all and no one trusts us from one day to the next. We will have wasted all those years when we depart and Karzai becomes overt in being paid off. As was mentioned so often in the areticles, these folks are illiterate and Karzai can't be trusted. Nice mess to get out of!
On Maryland Democrat is not optimistic super committee will spare feds
The FERS employees pay so little to their retirement while the CSRS is paying a huge 7% with no tax writeoff. Additinally the FERS employees get social security. It is obvious that FERS is a much, much, much more generous plan and should see substantial increases, maybe around 10% - 14%
To FERS is too generous. You have a point. The basic FERS annuity is approximately 1/2 of the CSRS annuity (1% per year, 1.1% of 62, vs slightly less than 2% per year for CSRS). By rights, if CSRS is paying 7%, then FERS should be paying about 3.5%, maybe a couple of tenths of a % higher. Also, FERS do not get a tax writeoff on their FERS deduction. They receive a 2% reduction on their FICA deduction. Since CSRS employees have no FICA, they get no reduction.
To FERS is too generous- you need to get your facts straight. Those of us covered under FERS pay into FICA (Social Security at about 6-7%) and Medicare which others covered under CSRS don't. That's a big difference. We can draw Social Security because we pay into it and Medicare. CSRS employees don't pay into it. So by far we are paying more than a CSRS employee is today.
On Budget expert forecasts more financial woes for the federal government
For those of us (2 years and counting for me) close to retirement-hallelujah! There has never been a better time to bail
You don't need to love me, just pay me!
Definition of an budget expert:
"One who supports my budget."
On Resume uploads to be next USAJobs focus, OPM says
And hiring the wrong person isn't a problem if you can get rid of them as rapidly as you hired them.
Please tell me what was wrong with the old USAJOBS? Now my resume is messed up too? It worked so well before. If it ain't broke...
If you have to offer training in how to use a customer website, you have FAILED! Usability, customer acceptance and satisfaction go hand-in-hand. I love it! ALL of my problems are due to stupid users. With an attitude (and perspective) like that, it will NEVER get well and may not get better.
The changes made the site worse. I note that the bureacrats offering platitudes and excuses for this bungle all have good, well-paying jobs themselves. Yes, job seekers, the joke's on you. Hope you like that Change!
On Obama announces new efficiencies, SAVE award finalists
So in a globalized world where location is irrelevant to productivity due to information technology, we're going to cut travel and productivity technology like laptops and smartphones. Then, after a three year pay freeze that might extend to five, we're cutting plaques or awards that might be a small token of good performance. That's brilliant...
This guidance is little late; my agency has already done this stuff.
Cut laptops and BBs for employees? There goes telework! So much for a coherent message from this administration. I can't wait for the American people to act and thrown this clown out next November!
Obama announced that he's ordered cutbacks on pens, coffee mugs, and other "souvenirs" by federal agencies, which isn't even a drop in the bucket of federal debt. Yet he and his party refuse to consider any significant cuts in the biggest federal budget busting programs, namely, entitlements such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Unless entitlement spending is reined in, our nation's $14 trillion deficit will only continue to grow, to the detriment of all Americans.
Time for a reality check in Washington.
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