'National Security' Part Of Bush Plan To Gut Civil Services

Boston Channel ^ | 9-4-03 | Helen Thomas

[Lance Romance]

'National Security' Part Of Bush Plan To Gut Civil Services

POSTED: 4:19 p.m. EDT September 3, 2003

The Bush administration is evoking "national security" as a powerful weapon to accomplish its twin goals of privatizing thousands of federal jobs and taking a whack at government unions.

The administration's sales pitch is to raise the specter of terrorism and 9-11 -- a surefire way to scare Congress into backing plans to gut the Civil Service system.

Congress passed the Civil Service Act in 1883 to end the spoils system, which based federal employment on nepotism and cronyism.

The bad old days may be returning. I note the lack of competitive bids on some government contracts to rebuild Iraq and the appearance of favoritism in the administration's decisions to award contracts to politically influential companies.

John Gage, President of the AFL-CIO's American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), sees a trend. He predicts "a return to the spoils system for politically connected corporations and campaign contributors."

The administration's drive to cut down the size of the government and shift federal jobs and services to private contractors is a process known as "outsourcing."

Halliburton, the oil-field construction company, comes to mind as a firm that has perfected outsourcing.

Once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, Halliburton has received contracts for rebuilding Iraq totaling nearly $2 billion, not to mention the multimillion-dollar billings for cells it built for the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The White House Office of Management and Budget has given federal agencies until Oct. 31 to designate 15 percent of their jobs as "not inherently governmental" and, therefore, available for competitive outside contracts.

Strangely, despite all the concerns about airport security, the air traffic controllers were put in that category.

That would seem to be one area where the government would want to have more control on personnel selection. After all, before 9-11, airport security screeners had been employees of private companies.

Congress and the public later woke up to the fact that these private firms weren't up to the job of reliably protecting travelers.

The result was that Congress forced President Bush to accept new government agencies -- the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration -- to increase the federal role in safeguarding the public.

Even then, Bush held out for his personal goal of cutting the strength of federal employee unions in the new department.

The workers in 22 agencies who were shifted to the new Department of Homeland Security lost their basic collective bargaining rights.

Gage said the assault on the Civil Service system was "shocking and wrong."

"Our people are scared to death they'll lose their jobs and the Bush administration will try to dismantle the system," he said.

Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., voted against creation of the Homeland Security Department in that form as part of his efforts to preserve the workers' union rights.

He paid the political price when he failed to win reelection last year after Bush went to Atlanta six times to campaign against him.

The Republican opposition played hard ball, calling Cleland -- who lost both legs and an arm in the Vietnam war -- "unpatriotic."

The administration is also locking and loading against any involvement of unions in the civilian workforces of the Pentagon and the Transportation Department.

In a power grab, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has drafted a plan that bars collective bargaining for the Pentagon's 640,000 civilian workers, eliminates due process in the workplace and promotes public-private competition for defense work.

Gage said the plan amounts to "contractors in, federal workers out."

The Rumsfeld plan was rammed through the House but was rejected in the Senate. The issue will be resolved in a conference committee.

Rumsfeld should stop tampering with the job security of Pentagon civilians and pay more attention to the two wars he is trying to run.

Gage said the moves to privatize the government payroll were a "grand slam" blow to the Civil Service system and organized labor.

Beyond what looks like a bow to big business, Karl Rove, the president's political guru, tipped the administration's hand on why the administration thinks federal workers are suspect.

In an interview in The New Yorker magazine on May 12, Rove said: "Bigger government strengthens the Democratic Party.

It generates federal employees who will mostly vote Democratic ... conversely, smaller government helps the Republicans."

And if the message hasn't sunk in, the president has more Labor Day good news for them.

Citing a national emergency, he plans to hold government civilian pay raises to 2 percent instead a 2.7 percent. Also ruled out was a proposed salary hike to make it comparable with the private pay scales in certain geographical areas.

As the nation's chief public servant, Bush should be protecting the rights of government employees who serve all Americans, not undermining them at their workplace.

(Helen Thomas can be reached at the e-mail address helent@hearstdc.com).

Copyright 2002 by Hearst Newspapers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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[Lance Romance]

John Gage, President of the AFL-CIO's American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), sees a trend. He predicts "a return to the spoils system for politically connected corporations and campaign contributors."

And who would know more about a graft and spoils system than our brothers at the AFL-CIO.

Swing by any construction site and notice how hard those Union members are working for their dollar.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Citing a national emergency, he plans to hold government civilian pay raises to 2 percent instead a 2.7 percent. Also ruled out was a proposed salary hike to make it comparable with the private pay scales in certain geographical areas.

If the economy is so terrible, wouldn't it be logical that the government would have to impliment spending cuts, especially while we are at war?

[Az Joe]

Whew, for a moment there I thought Helen Thomas was a Leftist political hack. I'm glad she cleared that up.

[Sloth]

'National Security' Part Of Bush Plan To Gut Civil Services

I wish.

[Eala]

The title should have carried a "Helen Thomas Barf Alert."
That way I wouldn't have wasted any time clicking through to this...

[joesnuffy]

LOL.....yeah if only....sigh......
start with the USPS for one and anything for "The Arts"

[headsonpikes]

"I wish."

Exactly.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Spending cuts by government will slow economic recovery. Tax cuts are the way to go. Spending cuts would be more effective when there is inflationary pressure.

[Gil4]

My favorite quote about the Civil Service, from "Dave Barry Slept Here" (possibly the funniest book ever written):

(The old system) was very unpopular because it resulted in an unresponsive government filled with overpaid drones and hacks who...could be removed from their jobs only by the unelected bosses. The result of this discontent, the Reform Movement, produced the modern "Civil Service" system, under which drones and hacks can only be removed by nuclear weapons.

[dighton]

The title should have carried a "Helen Thomas Barf Alert." That way I wouldn't have wasted any time clicking through to this.

Oh, I don't know. With that kind of headline, it's fun playing "Guess Which Idiot."

[q_an_a]

The administration has given the departments until Oct 31 to FIND 15% of their jobs to contract. Does this not sound like cutting spending? I would like a couple of Bush bashing conservatives to address this. Is not 15% reduction in force a cut?

Next fiscal year 15% of staff and 2% of programs will mean smaller government. Thsi can all be done in the name of the Bush briar patch...spending and tax cuts.

[Lance Romance]

The Republican opposition played hard ball, calling Cleland -- who lost both legs and an arm in the Vietnam war -- "unpatriotic."

Just for clarification, Cleland dropped a grenade and blew himself up in Vietnam.

[wildbill]

This is amazing chutzpah! It was the Democrats who successfully undermined the Hatch act which forbade political activity by government employees. They argued that the Civil Service prohibitions on political activity, made experessly to end patronage and partisan sneaky politics by government employees, were depriving civilian employees of their rights to be activists.

The Dems gutted this protection from a spoils system during the Clinton administration.

[StriperSniper]

has given the departments until Oct 31 to FIND 15% of their jobs to contract. Does this not sound like cutting spending? I would like a couple of Bush bashing conservatives to address this. Is not 15% reduction in force a cut?

It is not a 15% reduction(contraction), it is 15% to be done by outside entities. It would only be a 15% contraction(reduction), if they don't pay the contracts.

[q_an_a]

If you have a short term contract that has no future retirement benefits you have a savings. If you look at the outsourcing and find that they are doing a better job for less than you have a savings. If the outsourced work is better and you find another 10% than can be done then you have another savings. This is how you make government more efficicient.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Speaking of corruption and the spoils system, which president became the first in history to demand the resignation of ALL US Federal District Attorneys immediately upon taking office?

[StriperSniper]

100% correct, I was mostly just busting spherical objects. ;-)

[MonroeDNA]

Line 'em up all alphabetically, and fire every-other-one.

For a start.

[mabelkitty]

AWESOME!!!
END CRADLE TO GRAVE CUSHY JOBS PAID FOR BY SOAKING THE TAXPAYERS!!

[mabelkitty]

BJ

[MEGoody]

"The Bush administration is evoking "national security" as a powerful weapon to accomplish its twin goals of privatizing thousands of federal jobs and taking a whack at government unions."

This is a good thing!

[Diddle E. Squat]

Bingo.

[presidio9]

[BabsC]

AND -- He was never called "unpatriotic", his voting record was listed in detail for all to see. They then saw for themselves.

[presidio9]

I can only have potato skins from sweet potatos these days.

Really?

Why is that?

[BabsC]

He also says: The administration's drive to cut down the size of the government and shift federal jobs and services to private contractors is a process known as "outsourcing."

In private industry it's called "outsourcing", in government it's called putting power back into the hands of the citizens and being able to hold someone accountable. Unlike the government where all is done by committee.

Also he says: Strangely, despite all the concerns about airport security, the air traffic controllers were put in that category.

Remember when the liberals claimed "In order to professionalize you must federalize"? How many have forgotten to plug in machines and have been found sleeping on the job. Are they required to be American citizens? And why can't the airlines secure their own industry? Oh, that's right, Gore let them off the hook back in the '90s.

Also: That would seem to be one area where the government would want to have more control on personnel selection. After all, before 9-11, airport security screeners had been employees of private companies.

Weren't half of these untrained bozos ex-criminals?

And the final insult: Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., voted against creation of the Homeland Security Department in that form as part of his efforts to preserve the workers' union rights. He paid the political price when he failed to win reelection last year after Bush went to Atlanta six times to campaign against him. The Republican opposition played hard ball, calling Cleland -- who lost both legs and an arm in the Vietnam war -- "unpatriotic."

Cleland was never called "unpatriotic", his voting record was listed in detail. I'm sure he also doesn't know the facts behind Max's war injuries.

Socialist colors sure shine through here: As the nation's chief public servant, Bush should be protecting the rights of government employees who serve all Americans, not undermining them at their workplace.

In other words, "sock it to the tax payer", they have no rights compared to "public servants".

bold off?

[SamAdams76]

They say regular potatos have too many carbs and I'm trying to take 100 pounds off my fat body (3/4 there so far). Sweet potatos are much lower in carb.

[RightWhale]

15% of their jobs to contract

That means to contract out to the private sector. It will end up costing more.

[Maria S]

This is from Drudge; so somebody explain all of this to me, please.

Report Finds Size Of Government Up Sharply Under Bush
Thu Sep 04 2003 12:53:44 ET

The Bush Administration has brought the era of big government back, say a Brookings Institution scholar and a growing number of conservatives dismayed about such growth under the Republicans' watch.

The Wall Street Journal on Thursday reports:

"While the number of official government employees declined slightly after President Bush took office, the Brookings study to be released Friday finds the number of full-time employees working on government contracts and grants has zoomed by more than one million people since 1999, bringing the overall head count to more than 12.1 million as of this past October."

The "eight-page report is likely to fuel debate about the administration's approach, at a time when budget deficits are ballooning and Mr. Bush is pressuring Democrats to hold down federal spending." The report "finds that the growth is happening entirely outside traditional civil-service hiring channels.

'The Bush administration is overseeing a vast expansion of the largely hidden federal work force of contractors and grantees,' according to the report, written by Paul Light, who directs the Center for Public Service at Brookings, a nonpartisan think tank."

[edchambers]

The situation in CA is a perfect example of why govt workers unions are a very bad idea.

[AdamSelene235]

Spending cuts would be more effective when there is inflationary pressure.

Soaring Cattle Prices Curing Years of Ills

Home Prices Are Out of Reach for Many

Oil prices rise as gasoline tightness sinks in

COMEX gold jumps to 3-month high, options, IMF eyed

[WOSG]

nah, Helen Thomas is a liar, she makes common sense outsourcing sounds bad.

This changes are tiny compared to the cuts we SHOULD MAKE. we are still spending lots more money, spending increasing above inflation. Excessive spending is why our deficit is so high.

[merry10]

I am a federal employee - I bet we have quite a few civil servants. Outsourcing 15% of the jobs is nothing, and the trend started with that years ago. Much of the administrative staff is contractor driven now. SOme of us civilians hire contractors because we know we will get a product as opposed to giving the project to a person whose been "in the job" for 20 years and never produced a thing. I manage a small team where I needed a tech editor. I was assigned a GS-09 (45k a year) who knew NOTHING, but got the job because she had been a technical editor five years ago. People get in civil service and basically languish. We have one guy who views the news every 20 mins and then wanders around telling everyone what is going on in the world. My husband does the same type of work as me, and we do talk about who we think is worthless on our way home. It's sad but true. One guy runs a construction business on the side (which he conducts via a cell phone at his desk). I agree, civil service should be cut, and as to the pay raise, I think civilians should be glad they even have JOBS. Lots didn't deserve a pay raise. (saying these things does not make me popular). We have a 401K, we have good holiday benefits, sick leave, etc.etc. Excuse the rant. What is Helen Thomas's email and I will forward this to her.