"Teabaggers in Washington should not enjoy health care" (DainBramaged)

[TVDOC]

I certainly provide a valuable service, and I should be fairly compensated for that service.  If that compensation includes medical benefits, retirement benefits, etc., then those shouldn't be subject to whatever other income I might have (in my case, military retirement).

From this I assume that you are a government employee,,,,,,and you may be the exception, but in all of my years I've never met or worked with a government employee (except for military, emergency services, or law enforcement) that I thought rendered a "valuable or essential" service yet.  The vast majority of them just get in the way.

My son,, who works for a large DC consulting firm that does a lot of work with nearly all of the agencies, has told me repeatedly that the federal government could easily get by with HALF of the employees that they have currently........by simply abandoning affirmative action, political nepotism, preferences, and seniority.....ending up with the RIGHT employees.  His favorite expression for the average DC drone is "chair warmers".

doc

[Delmar]

From this I assume that you are a government employee,,,,,,and you may be the exception, but in all of my years I've never met or worked with a government employee (except for military, emergency services, or law enforcement) that I thought rendered a "valuable or essential" service yet.  The vast majority of them just get in the way.

My son,, who works for a large DC consulting firm that does a lot of work with nearly all of the agencies, has told me repeatedly that the federal government could easily get by with HALF of the employees that they have currently........by simply abandoning affirmative action, political nepotism, preferences, and seniority.....ending up with the RIGHT employees.  His favorite expression for the average DC drone is "chair warmers".

doc

One way to get rid of a lot of government employees would be to do away with a bunch of government regulations.  In my agency, more than half of the employees are eligible for retirement.  They won't retire because they have gravy jobs enforcing stupid regulations.  My job BTW, is specifically authorized by law.  A lot of these agencies wouldn't be so bad, but they balloon out of control once the bureaucrats start writing regulations.   

[notaDUmmie]

From this I assume that you are a government employee,,,,,,and you may be the exception, but in all of my years I've never met or worked with a government employee (except for military, emergency services, or law enforcement) that I thought rendered a "valuable or essential" service yet.  The vast majority of them just get in the way.

My son,, who works for a large DC consulting firm that does a lot of work with nearly all of the agencies, has told me repeatedly that the federal government could easily get by with HALF of the employees that they have currently........by simply abandoning affirmative action, political nepotism, preferences, and seniority.....ending up with the RIGHT employees.  His favorite expression for the average DC drone is "chair warmers".

doc

Yes, I am a government employee, and I agree with you that there are lots of federal employees that are a waste of  not only money, but of oxygen as well.  Having said that, there are far more, at least in my agency, that are valuable public servants that provide a valuable service to the citizens of this country.   While your son is certainly welcome to his opinion, I don't happen to share it. 

[TVDOC]

Yes, I am a government employee, and I agree with you that there are lots of federal employees that are a waste of  not only money, but of oxygen as well.  Having said that, there are far more, at least in my agency, that are valuable public servants that provide a valuable service to the citizens of this country.   While your son is certainly welcome to his opinion, I don't happen to share it.  

I can certainly understand that.....it's your ricebowl.....from the prospective of most of us out here in the hinterlands, we just don't regard government services (other than the ones that I emphacized above) as particularly valuable.......

I can certainly exist just fine without:

EPA
HUD
DoEd
DoEnergy
Health and Human Services
DoAg

Just off of the top of my head.......eliminating just the ones listed would balance the budget in two years.......

doc

[jtyangel]

They ARE treated like every other federal employee, and they have the same choices that we do.  There isn't some super-special health insurance/healthcare plan for Congress.  They use FEHBP just like we do.

I did not realize that we get to maintain it AFTER our federal employment is over or if we retire a couple years in.  I know I don't have that option anyway.

[jtyangel]

Yes, I am a government employee, and I agree with you that there are lots of federal employees that are a waste of  not only money, but of oxygen as well.  Having said that, there are far more, at least in my agency, that are valuable public servants that provide a valuable service to the citizens of this country.   While your son is certainly welcome to his opinion, I don't happen to share it. 

Agreed. I know I'm busting my hump. My experience in this capacity is if you show you have aptitude and competence for anything you will be overloaded with work, not the reverse. Although there are some in my area that are dead weight and I think if we could dispense of some of those people then people like myself wouldn't be quite as overloaded with the work we have. but the majority, imo, work their hindquarters off for this country in whatever capacity they do and they take their mission very seriously. I work with a consulting agency in DC too...always responsive, timely and willing to help get the mission accomplished. Unfortunately, the bad apples and the incapability to rid ourselves of the bad apples gives an impression of the entire work force that is untrue.

[MrsSmith]

I am sure some current Federal employees would be terribly unhappy if the Federal government - as a whole - was run as a private company is run.  Dead weight doesn't often survive "in the real world."  My son is a Federal employee now, and his tales of how he was finally hired...and the "skills" of those that have been promoted ahead of him...tell me a lot about why our government is bloated and inefficient. 

My own employment in healthcare gives me perspective on one segment of government regulations, and I see tons of stupid regulations written "for safety" that do nothing for safety at all.  They waste thousands of man-hours writing this bilge, and then we are forced to waste thousands of man-hours following it...and while government rails at increasing healthcare costs!!  They are one of the largest burdens on healthcare in the country, both through idiotic regulations and by extremely low compensation for medical care.  What private company could get away with sending you compensation that only covers 65% of your COSTS???

And this is only for one industry, not even an industry targeted for destruction, like our energy sector!  Our country will fail, and it will happen because our government has borrowed, spent and grown until we just can't carry the massive bloat any longer.

[Karin]

DainBramaged  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jul-30-11 11:16 AM
Response to Original message
6. I called, his lackey says without a balanced budget amendment, he will not help America 
 and he claims Harris has PRIVATE health care yet offered no proof.

 

Is the congressman supposed to fax you his insurance card, complete with account number and group number?   So that you can turn around and commit fraud with it? 

He continues..

Call his Washington office, he has a lackey on duty now.

It takes a special person to man the phones at a politician's office, don't you think?  You would need the patience of Job, and a healthy sense of humor.