Suspicions Confirmed Department?

For many years politicians of both political parties have felt that the majority of federal civil servants were Democrats. The federal family vote is big, and concentrated in the so-called toss-up states.

The Washington Post last week reported that, based on campaign contributions, feds favor Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in tomorrow’s election.

Earlier we had reported that all of the federal-postal unions that had made endorsements went for Obama. That was not a surprise. But the lop-sided pro-Obama cash-flow from feds is an eye-opener. The data was compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. It said Justice Department workers gave the most – more than $268,000 to Obama. Donations to McCain during the period measured were $97,400. Defense Department civilians gave $127,300 to McCain from January 2007 through August. Their donations to Obama were $92,240.

My unscientific, semi-educated guess is that many feds vote very much like their neighbors, and also that there is a political divide between, say, folks who work for DoD and the Department of Homeland Security as compared to their colleagues at EPA or Health and Human Services.

What I would like to see, and I’m sure many feds would appreciate it as well, is a list, by individual name or by news organization, of the political donations of reporters, editors, photographers, publishers and network presidents. I’ll start with me: Donations to McCain $0.00. Donations to Obama $0.00.

So Vote!

Time Off

When it comes to having a window of time off to vote, federal and postal workers have one of the best views in the nation. While many private companies give lip-service to exercising the franchise, some play hardball when employees dare to ask if they can come in late, or leave early to vote and still be paid for that time.

Under normal rules, government employees are supposed to have at least three clear hours to vote without being required to use annual leave. For example, if a fed’s voting place was open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and the work was on a regular 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. schedule, that individual would be entitled to 30 minutes of excused leave to vote – if the employee requested the time. If the polls were open until 8 p.m., however, an employee with the same 8 to 4:30 schedule would not be granted time off.

The 3-hour rule sounds like a lot to some people, but in many parts of the country lots of folks, many of them government workers, have long commutes. It is not unusual to see cars in the Pentagon parking lot in Northern Virginia, or at the IRS facility in the Maryland suburbs of D.C., with license plates from Delaware, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Last week two Northern Virginia congressmen, Tom Davis and Jim Moran, asked the Office of Personnel Management to open the time-to-vote window with an additional 2 hours of excused leave. In some cases, for people with long commutes, that would mean up to 5 hours time off to vote. Moran is a Democrat who is up for reelection. Davis is a long-serving Republican who is not running for reelection. Both of their districts are packed with federal workers, federal retirees, and both active and retired military personnel and their families.

Here is OPM’s response:

If employees do not have a clear, 3-hour block of time, agencies may grant excused absence to supplement the normal time off before or after the end of the workday. Usually only 30 minutes to 1 hour of excused absence would be needed to provide an employee with a 3-hour window of opportunity. Because polling places are usually open for extended periods of time, excused absence is usually not needed at all. This historic arrangement allows for a strong balance of keeping the Federal Government functioning while providing time necessary for employees to exercise their right to vote.

Based on your concerns, we will notify the Federal Chief Human Capital Officers and Directors of Human Resources to remind them of the existing excused absence flexibilities and of their responsibility to support Federal employees in voting in this year’s elections…

Nearly Useless Factoid

The Chevy Volt has been named one of Time Magazine’s 50 Best Inventions 2008, which is nice. It won’t be available on the market until late 2010.

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

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