Budget

Ineffective Government: Are Politicians The Problem?

Are politicians who say federal workers are underworked, overpaid and out of touch onto something or do they have another agenda? And, asks Senior Correspondent...

Federal News Network Staff

March 15, 2011 4:00 am

3 min read

Are the anti-fed forces in Congress and the media actually onto something? Is government really as bad, bloated, indifferent and as out of touch as they say? Or…

Are they – perish the thought – doing this strictly for political purposes or as part of an agenda that will make money for their friends and political contributors? Or…

Are they actually creating the kind of government they are warning us against and about?

Letter from a fed:

“…As I write this I know my salary has been frozen for two years and we are told the freeze may be extended for another three years. As I write this we have been sparred one, perhaps two, shutdowns but another is just over the hill. When and if it happens how long will we be forced to stay home? Will be be reimbursed this time, or will Congress declare it a furlough without pay? I know you don’t know I am just asking…

“Consider me a typical federal civil servant. My office brings in money to the U.S. Treasury. Big time. By my count the average worker in my office puts in a 9 to 10 hour day. Nobody makes a big deal out of it. They just do it. In fact, the issue is hardly ever raised. We have one guy who never took vacation until we teased him about not having a life. He said he genuinely liked to work, liked his work and felt like he was giving back (like being a Vietnam vet wasn’t enough.) He got remarried and now takes vacations, but he also takes work with him!!!

“The bottom line is that I consider myself a good citizen. I’m a veteran (twice deployed National Guard) and, would you believe it, I’ve even coached my daughter’s soccer team. I’m an ‘average’ American and an ‘average’ federal worker.

“So why are these (I refuse to use the word ‘clowns’) in Congress attacking us? They obviously don’t have a clue what we do for this country which is our country too.

“Nobody in my office joined the government to make big bucks. Is this why the politicians who seem to hate us hate us? You recently had a column in which you said more than 200 members of Congress were millionaires. So how did they happen? Did they make it the old-fashioned way? Did they marry money? (That’s a rhetorical question I know the answer) Or did they become millionaires after they became public servants – again rhetorical question because the answer for some is YES.

“By criticizing us unfairly, either out of ignorance or as part of some agenda, they may be creating the kind of government they say they hate. What if we become so demoralized that we start behaving the way they think we behave? Have they never heard the phraise ‘self-fulling prophecy’?” Fed Up

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

Nearly Useless Factoid
by Suzanne Kubota

What do Bill Cosby, Michael Landon and Lee Majors have in common? According to LifesLittleMysteries.com, they’ve all starred in prime time TV shows in three different decades.

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