|
|
The
views expressed
on this page are soley those of the author and do not
necessarily
represent the views of County News Online
|
 |
Federal News Radio
The
fed-retirees, the politicians and the public
By Mike Causey
June 29, 2016
Back in the day, when so many people were protesting police
“brutality,” there was a popular bumper sticker that went something
like this: “Next time you get mugged, call a hippie!
Much the same could be said today about the way a large portion of the
public feels about the government. And bureaucrats. And misunderstand,
or take for granted, what the mostly unseen feds actually do.
Today’s guest column is by Fred Wells. He lives in Dallas, Texas,
served in the military and had 33 years of federal service. He’s
literally been there, done that, got the T-shirt:
Some politicians, federal employees and certainly the public seem to
have forgotten how and why civil servants became part of America.
Today, some politicians call for outsourcing the work and have even put
in place bills and budget actions punishing government workers for
doing their job. We all need to remember Congress, not government
workers, assign agency responsibilities. Blaming federal employees
because you don’t like their duties is a little like blaming a traffic
cop for the posted speed limit. To be fair, it’s only some politicians,
but their actions have adversely affected the workforce and its ability
to carry out those duties assigned to them by Congress and the
administration. Right now, the public assumes it’s the federal worker
and that needs to change.
Every successful CEO understands that the productivity, quality and
success of their business depends on their employees. Imagine if any
successful company suddenly started attacking its workforce, cutting
their pay and reducing its staffing at the same time it assigned them
more work. Well, that’s what some in Congress have done with the
federal workforce. The public does not understand this and while
current federal workers can’t speak out, the public needs to get the
message and all of Congress needs to understand what this does to the
country and the workforce’s ability to serve.
The Pendleton Act of 1883 passed by Congress created the Civil Service
Commission. The civil service was created to ensure the smooth
operation of the day to day government, even during transfer of
administrations. The civil service was protected from politics by
several acts of Congress that initially forbid civil servants to engage
in politics, but the Hatch ACT was amended in 1983 to allow most civil
servants to engage in political activity on their own time.
Some politicians proclaim they want to see government run more like a
business, even though they seem to understand government
responsibilities have little to do with profits and more to do with
serving and protecting the public. Interesting enough, in the past few
years, some politicians come into government service vowing to
dismantle government. All this has resulted in budget sequesters,
staffing reductions and political speeches by some that demonize
everyone serving in government. I read today that many Americans no
longer trust their government. It’s time someone told the public the
facts, and while active employees cannot speak out, retirees and those
in Congress or the administration can. Retiree organizations can give
interviews to radio and printed press, give talks and participate in
public forums correcting misconceptions and telling about their stories
of service to the public. It’s a product of human nature that most
citizens don’t have a clue what feds do for them unless some service is
disrupted, or maybe they get audited, arrested or prosecuted.
Every time I hear some politician state something negative about all
federal employees, I want to ask, what’s your job? Do they not
understand what these employees do, are their goals to outsource the
responsibility so a contributor can make a profit, or do they not want
the rules and laws they established to be enforced? Because some in
Congress publicly attack federal employees, it gives rise to the
public’s false impression that all government employees are lazy and
overpaid, and what they do does not matter. I want to state again not
all politicians make these false statements, but the ones that do need
to receive feedback.
Many civil servants have been injured and have even died fulfilling
their office, while others work long hours in conditions few businesses
would tolerate. It needs to be said, “No civil servant ever got rich on
their salary.” It’s never going to be possible to list what every
agency or group does for this country and I won’t try, but speakers
could address the following myths and misperceptions:
Cost: The entire annual cost of civil service staffing, travel,
facilities, salaries, supplies, etc. according to the federal budget
office in 2015 was 0.1 percent of the entire federal budget and
includes the workforce doing intelligence, law enforcement, tax
collection, justice, Social Security, Medicare, EPA and all other
programs. Contrast that with foreign aid at 0.07 percent, or defense at
16.3 percent, or interest on the debt at 6.3 percent for the same year.
Civil service is a real bargain for America. Some in Congress make it
sound like civil servants are a liability and not the asset they really
are.
Some in Congress have cut funding and resources in an effort to stop
regulations, curtail enforcement, programs, and I suspect this is to
protect sponsors. Congress has the power to simply change a law,
eliminate an agency’s responsibilities, but instead seem to have chosen
to make sure some agencies don’t have the resources to carry out the
responsibilities. This does not make good policy or fiscal sense and
harms the country and its citizens. Some examples of unproductive
decisions that are harming this nation:
The U.S. Postal Service was mandated to prepay future liabilities by as
much as 50 years by Congress. Congress has not imposed this on any
other organization and the impact on the annual postal budget has been
disastrous. Added to that, electronic messaging has severely curtailed
mail volumes that further cut into the postal budget. Budget solutions
were found and rejected by the same group who seem intent on destroying
this agency. The public only sees a drop in service.
Environmental Protection Agency: polluters and politicians supported by
polluters love to attack this agency. Imagine a world where we could
not breathe the air or drink the water and where toxic chemicals flowed
freely. The cost of toxic chemical clean-up is costing the public
millions annually.
Centers for Disease Control: These employees have protected Americans
for generations from AIDS, polio and many other diseases. Remember the
Ebola outbreak when private hospitals could not effectively treat the
ill and protect the health care workers or the public? It took the CDC
to get it under control. For over a year now politicians have denied
funding to protect new mothers and babies from Zika. It’s only a matter
of time before the outbreak occurs here as it has overseas and it’s
certain when it does these same politicians will blame the CDC and its
employees.
Federal Emergency Management Agency: These employees have directly been
the savior of many people and communities when storms, explosions and
tragedy hit a community. You probably remember Hurricane Katrina,
when FEMA tried to pre-position themselves for immediate response
and were forced by a political appointee and administration to wait
four days before engaging.
Corps of Engineers: These professional engineers manage major projects
such as tunnels, bridges, dams, levies and more to protect the public.
They issue reports to Congress warning of pending disasters in order to
give the Congress time to fund and prevent them. Sadly, Congress
ignores many of these reports until the disaster happens.
Department of Education: Some politicians and organizations seeking
private profits have starved this department of funds for years. People
the world over still come to America for an education and to model
their systems after this program. For over 200 years, the system turned
out doctors, engineers, scientists and business graduates that helped
generate an economy in this country that no other country could match.
Sadly, today, after politicians force rules on public schools, they
advocate for citizens to move to private schools to avoid those same
rules.
Social Security Administration: No private insurance or investment
organization operates as cheaply and provides more return on investment
than the Social Security program. More than 85 percent of America’s
elderly have no other source of income. But even here some politicians
and private groups call for eliminating this program and turning it
over to the for-profit industry. It’s well understood that costs would
rise and service and payouts would drop, but still they call to kill
the program. Studies have shown that any one of several small changes
in the law would fully fund SSA for another 100 years, but has any one
seen a politician act on them?
Internal Revenue Service: Everyone seems to hate these guys. They
directly bring in the funds that the entire federal budget operates on,
including all defense programs and even the funds flowing from the
federal government to the states. While some in Congress every year
talk about elimination of the current tax laws, simplifying them and
cutting taxes for their sponsors, yet every year Congress adds hundreds
of pages to the tax code. Many years they assign new responsibilities
and tasks to this agency, while at the same time cutting the agency’s
resources. Studies and hearings have confirmed billions of dollars in
revenue have been lost annually directly from the cuts in resources
that could be used to pay down the debt.
Today the CDC warns us of the coming Zika crisis or the Corps Of
Engineers warns us of failing infrastructure, both of which will cost
lives and yet some politicians stop all preparation to prevent the
disasters and most certainly will blame the various agencies when the
worst happens. TSA was forced to downsize and now is criticized because
of long lines. Someone needs to tell the public. Budget cuts, politics
and search for profits are creating these crises, not the federal
workforce.
|
|
|
|
