The fed-retirees, the politicians and the public

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.

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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.

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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.

        Read more: Mike Causey

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Michael O’Connell

Hans Christian Andersen’s short tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes” was first published on April 7, 1837, in Copenhagen.

Source: Wikipedia

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