Boo!

It is probably safe to assume that most feds aren’t happy with the serious talk about a pay freeze, a 10 day furlough and possible layoffs next year.

Selfish reasons (like mortgages, food, fuel and tuition) aside, it is also probably safe to assume that most feds don’t think they are overpaid, think they are doing good work and believe they are being set up by scared politicians from both political parties.

All of the above explains why we’ve been flooded (and we love it!) with comments about the anti-bureaucrat fever that is out there.

Some of the people we’ve heard from say they would be willing to take a hit if it would do any good. And if members of Congress would join them in falling on their swords.

So what’s up?

Check this out:

• “Do these sacrifices also apply to the House and Senate? How can they in honesty vote to take these things away from the working class fed when they sit back on their rumpty dumpty’s while we (Feds) keep the country running? I am really sick and tired of our government, the people we put into office using us as their scapegoats…” M.B. Long Beach, Calif.
• “I’m a fed and I do think we can withstand a 2 week leave w/o pay the same as other working sectors.

  “There are feds who work very hard and then there are those who come to work and if they put in a full 5-6 hours of work that is good day for them. There is enormous waste in the Federal Government. Whoever is directing this 2 wk leave w/o pay is Ok. I do not like the idea of a pay freeze, everything is costing more.” S.B. at the FDA

• “…it is obvious that fed workers are being set up to be the whipping post for the economic woes of our country right now. When the stories first started coming out I told my husband to just wait, they are in cahoots with lawmakers and special interests to get the public stirred up about fed workers so they can make major cuts that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to get away with.

  “A lot of fed workers are former military members/vets and there is a huge push to cut veterans benefits as well. Soon we will have many military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan…(who will be) looking for jobs.

  “Essentially, part of this country is saying thanks for risking your life but now that you’re done you’re just an expensive problem for us so we’re going to make it impossible for you to get a job and we’re going to cut your benefits.

  “What I want to know is, how come you can serve in congress… and receive a lifetime retirement and lifetime medical benefits and yet, if you serve your country in the military, your benefits are up for grabs? Congress is untouchable and yet our vets aren’t. There is certainly a huge disconnect between the legislators of our country who are never put in harm’s way and our soldiers and their families who take all of the risks.

  “I’m happy to see that someone is just as suspicious of this as I am and is putting it out there. ” – Stephanie J.

          Read more: Mike Causey

• “Hellooooo, Mike!

  “When a classic case of sour grapes meets the green-eyed monster, twin offspring of greed gone awry, a deep and abiding hunger for a scapegoat emerges, and so the angry villagers take torch and pitch-fork, and go after Frankengovernmentemployeestein. Happy Halloween! Are we scared yet? Guy in Detroit

• “I remember back in the boom 80s how I watched the price of a home became almost impossible on my federal salary (which) was not keeping up with private sector salaries… I had a friend who was shocked when she heard how much I was making back then and told me how her secretary was making more. Now things have changed a bit and people now think federal employee are making to much.” Paul Robilotti, Retired and loving it.
• “As a 30-year fed, talk of furloughs and freezes is not new. I believe it is a little of the grassy knoll syndrome and political fed bashing. The administration has over extended itself and now someone must pay. It would either be the feds or taxpayers or both. Most likely both.” J. V.
• “Your October 19 article “Layoffs/Furloughs” really, well, irked me. I worked in a private firm for 15 years, the last two as a federal contractor… I worked my butt off – practically around the clock for that federal agency during those two years. My family suffered and my health suffered, but I was dedicated to getting a quality job done for the feds. They were so impressed with my work that they asked me – again and again – to come work for them as a fed. And with the economy in a (different) slump at that time, my private sector 401(k) losing more money every month than I was able to contribute every month, I was afraid I’d never be able to retire. So, I took a $36,000 pay cut (!) to come out of the private sector to join the feds – for the relative insulation from the effects of the economy and the hope that I’d be able to actually retire some day. That was some 7 years ago. I have continued to work hard all along the way. I am, after all, the same person with the same work ethic, as I was in the private sector. And, I am proud to say that I am surrounded by very hard working feds who earn every penny they make. I never would have joined an organization – federal or otherwise – that was anything else. ” A.R.

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

Nearly Useless Factoid
by Suzanne Kubota

Debbie from DHS notes: “There is a word for the fear of turning into a pumpkin: apocolocynposis.”

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