1
Cutting is complete.

Now for the taxes!

2 Have you read any stories about departments drastically cutting back and looking for money-saving solutions -- doing more with less, as they say, or "working smarter, not harder"?

Yes...they announced they were ordering office supplies in bulk to save money.  So there!

3 Associate Administrator for Administration

The Onion wept.

4
duh.

5 Now is the time on Schprockets vhen ve tax!

6 I don't get it.

7 Cutting people isn't going to do it. Entire departments need to go. BTW, education is the responsibility of each state. The feds need to get out.

8 "Not Much Further We Can Cut" AGREED.

9
And then God-boy said, "Here is the good news. Verily. All our problems are imminently solvable."

10 We're already running this country on a skelton crew! We can't get any leaner! Maximum efficiency has been acheived!

11 Now I'm even more glad that I never bother to try to catch any public remarks by el JEFfe.  My head might have exploded right then.  And then my wife, on top of being a single parent of two small children, would have had a mighty mess to clean up.

This is why the BBA is required- because, even if we have the votes, now*, to enact a balanced budget, we won't always.

This is also why a "Zero based/Zero base-line" budget should be part of that BBA.

What these people are doing to my children's future is unacceptable and untenable.

*- now, of course, being "any given point in time"

12 I work hard , I work very hard .

13 Lets face it, government workers will have to take a haircut.  Everyone else has lowered their standard of living.  Now its their turn.

Balance.

14 Lay off our members and see what happens.

15 I know of state furloughing that's been happening for a couple of years now in some instances (ie: CA and more recently MD), but I don't know of any federal furloughing.  And, I doubt that furloughing employees a couple of days a month is really addressing the big problem which I expect are their retirement/benefit packages. 

16 The First Lady is somehow managing to limp along with a staff of 27. We have cut government TO THE BONE. It's time for you rich people to pay your fair share.

17

This is why the BBA is required- because, even if we have the votes, now*, to enact a balanced budget, we won't always.

California has a BBA and it doesn't even stop them.  The fact is, the other side doesn't want to play by the rules when they aren't in their favor, and any judges affiliated with the other side will find wiggle room to do whatever they wat.

18 Not much you can cut?  You lie!

19 Hey come on.  We're buried in work here.

20 *cuts eyes left and right*

21
God-boy spoke from the sky, "Hear me. Be like the Navy Seals or be like the Green Bay Packers. Work as a team for the common purpose."

22

Now is the time on Schprockets vhen ve tax!

 

Whoooo-VAT?

23 There is no fat in the Federal budget. So true. Barry runs the skim soy latte of federal governments. There is probably some fat in the Italian and French federal govs, but not ours. Not since Hillary fired the White House Travel Office. Those lying bastards

24 I'm glad I bought yesterday, market is up.  Too bad I didn't have the courage to buy any Ford @ 9.90

25

Here at my office, we're cancelling the water cooler service, bringing in our own coffee, reusing every folder and other bits of office supplies we can, we've let go a third of the staff, hell, we got rid of our receptionist and we're all taking shifts answering the phone.  We're taking a survey to determine if we can cut back on phone lines.  For pity's sake, it's stupid hot down here and we're not even turning on the a/c until absolutely necessary to try to hold down the electric bill.  Why?  Because needs must.

Tell me one government agency, just one, that's actually lost 1% of its workforce.  Nothing to cut my lily white ass.

 

26 My boss says we're looking at cost overruns if we don't hire some more help around here.

27 Cutting people isn't going to do it. Entire departments need to go. BTW, education is the responsibility of each state. The feds need to get out.

Same with "environment protection." and a host of other things.

I just had a thought though- Constitutional brains please correct me on this:

Congress passes the budget, which the President signs.  However, the agencies which spend the money are Executive Branch agencies, and therefore answer to the President, not (directly, at least) to Congress.

So what if a President (obviously a Conservative, but specifics don't matter) issued an executive order that all executive departments would spend no more than, say, 85% of the amount authorized to them by Congress?

How do you think that would go over?  I know he couldn't let them spend more, but could he require them to spend less?

28 Top Men don't come cheap.

29

Remind me again why we can't return to, say, 2007 levels of funding for 2012, then 2002 levels for 2013, then burn it all down (eliminating worthless departments) in 2014.

What's that short list for 95-100% cuts?  Dept of Education, subsidy programs, HUD...

Any Republican candidates that get this need to scream from the mountains how much we'd save by going to previous years' levels and/or cutting the Federal bloat down to size.

The MFMocrats will call them terrorists, but they're doing that already.

30

Too bad...

 

you'll have your chances. 

31 Nothing to cut my lily white ass. Posted by: alexthechick at August 09, 2011 04:10 PM (VtjlW) Sounds like I could really use you on my staff...

32 Indeed, good job Kaus and Ace. There needs to be mandatory firings per annum (ugh, aphasia caused me to not remember the term for this). Also, there are agencies sitting on billions of dollars. The whole idea is that the government is running at 100% efficiency and any dollar cut would result in granny eating dog food is laughable.

33 30 Top Men don't come cheap. Posted by: toby928™ at August 09, 2011 04:10 PM (GTbGH) The Bottom Men are cheap sluts, I hear.

34 I'm glad I bought yesterday, market is up.

That was a mother of a late rally.

35 ugh, attrition. Force agencies to have 5% *attrition.* If a manager can't do it, well, get a real MBA in there to manage things.

36 Nothing to cut my lily white ass. I couldn't help but notice your lily-white ass. You know what would put some color in those cheeks? An official Empire of Jeff tattoo.

37
God-boy's people listen as He teaches with a parable, "My children, if there’s a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half price for the thing that’s going to make you well?”

38 There needs to be mandatory firings per annum

Decimation, it's not just for Romans any more.

39 It just so happens that some governmental agencies are critical to the functioning of our complex society.

40 Posted by: Bevel Lemelisk at August 09, 2011 04:08 PM (FkKjr)

The current BBA on the table is rather stronger than the CA BBA, I imagine.  Also, some District Court judge might try to see things their way, but even liberal Supreme Courts have (traditionally) blanched (not that it always stops them, but they do at least pause first) at actively opposing something written in the Constitution or Amendments.

41 More Shirley Sherrod's is exactly what we need .

42 It's also kind of hard to defend entitlement cuts to people when we send billions to Egypt,Israel, the Palestinians, etc. If you at least show some cuts with foreign aid you may be able to justify cuts to domestic aid to those effected.

43 42 It just so happens that some governmental agencies are critical to the functioning of our complex society. Posted by: U.S. Board on Geographic Names at August 09, 2011 04:13 PM (QKKT0) We agree, we don't disagree.

44 That was a mother of a late rally.

Posted by: Waterhouse at August 09, 2011 04:12 PM (pdCUF)

It was too oversold.  Stocks are behaving like commodities these days.  Actually, that makes sense - the companies have value, it is just that they are measured in devaluing dollars.

45 We tripled the deficit. Nothing we can cut.

46 Or, to put it another way, Ace, government jobs are largely another form of entitlements. At least the people showing up to these jobs are getting paid for getting up everyday and taking showers, then settling down to playing angry birds, when they're not leaking sensitive information regarding foes of obama (helen kelly jones)

47 Cut a billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you have a drop in the bucket.

48 ANYTHING LESS THAN ME IS A CUT, DO YOU HEAR ME?  DO YOU FREAKIN HEAR ME?!?!???!?

49 Once you get 51% of the voters to be govt employees or dependent on them, there won't even be fake cuts to increased spending.  Oh, whoops we are already there.

To the moon baby.  I doubt that new debt limit will make it thru next summer.

50 The private sector is for suckers.

51 Is there any evidence whatsoever that the government is actually trying to save money in any account?

No.

Does that help?

52 Market stages a comeback: Dow up +430 points for no obvious reason.

53

Not much further we can cut?

Department of Homeland Security

TSA (both of these were created by the evil Bush, so I can't see the libs having a problem)

National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Humanities

Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Put in a flat tax and fire about 90% of the Internal Revenue Service

Department of Education

Remove American troops from South Korea and Japan

End the war in Libya.

That's 30 seconds of thought. And I'm just a stupid hobbit. I think the President can do better than that.

54 and cut baseline budgeting to be GDP growth minus a few percentage points.

55

Dow up +430 points for no obvious reason.

God-boy is the reason.

56 USA Today, 12/11/2009 Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months — and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted. Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time — in pay and hiring — during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector. PRIVATE INDUSTRY: Some The highest-paid federal employees are doing best of all on salary increases. Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available. When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000.

57 56 Market stages a comeback: Dow up +430 points for no obvious reason. Posted by: joncelli at August 09, 2011 04:17 PM (RD7QR) After nearly two weeks of continuous disastrous decline? Bargain hunting, I'm sure.

58 When Obama was talking about shared sacrifice he wasn't talking about sacrifice being all that shared.

59

Bureaucracies are good at one thing: perpetuating bureaucracies.  It has been since Clinton that there has been any downsizing in government employment.  ThatÂ’s a long time (in bureaucrat years) for a bureaucracy to get out of control.  I would be willing to wager that there are at least 1.5 government employees for every employee actually needed in government.  A multi-year hiring freeze should be implemented across the board and a mechanism should be implemented to bring government pay and benefits into line with civilian pay and benefits. 

60 Freaking China gets US foreign aid.  China.

61

I'm one of those senior people in the private sector.  And I'm taking it one day at a time.  In days like these, one never knows what tomorrow will bring.  I've been expecting to be layed off ever since the last of 2009.

One of the most obvious signs of impending unemployment is when a company doesn't replace a person who either quits or retires.  It means that they have cut everything to the bone and now they have to start taking a look at their biggest expense.  Senior employees. 

62

Ooh, yeah, foreign aid.  Massive opputunity for cut-demogoging there.

And, yes, I'm serious.  I want to be pandered and demegoged to.  Liberals do it on every issue, it's time we started adopting some of those rules.

Bang the drum every time a drunk illegal alien runs someone over.  Every piece of waste and fraud.  Every thing that kind of looks bad-- demonize it.

Go on the offensive.  Start offending the MFMocrats.

63

Unrelated but I think it's about 9pm in England right now and tonight the riots seem to have spread even more.

Seems more rioting has started all over London, and in Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Bristol.

64

no obvious reason.

The fed just cashed in over a year and a half of announcements for that little rally.

65

And yet, in the USAF, majors that have been passed over twice were suddenly told that they're being ousted. True, their getting a decent package in most cases ($100,000 payout) but none of them will qualify for that pension, even though some are within three years of their 20 years of service. The Navy is proceding with reducing by thousands of enlisted ranks.

You want to solve this? Have the Feds treat the rest of the government the same way they do DoD. If they were treated half as bad as the military, we'd see costs go down. Health care costs too high? Veterans are told that their families are no longer entitled to health care. Still too high? Tell veterans the deal's been changed again; unless the problem is 'service related', you have to pay. Still too high? All dependents are herded into CHAMPUS and then something called Trident (not too sure; this was after I got out). This allowed them to reduce facilities that were trying to serve both active duty personnel and their dependents.

Meanwhile, PA is handing out cell phones as a welfare benefit.

66 We need a Blue Ribbon Committee composed of constipated old rich men with enlarged prostates and narcolepsy to tackle this problem.

Headed by Warren Buffet and Jeffry Imelt.

Reports will be released in 2013.

67

Posted by: alexthechick at August 09, 2011 04:10 PM (VtjlW)

Back in Ohio, I knew my IT company wasn't doing too well when the hanging medicine kits on the walls were no longer being restocked.

68

I work for the DoD (civilian). There's a LOT than can be cut before we harm the troops.

For example, travel. We all get separate hotel rooms. Two people of the same gender should room together, in a room with two beds. That would halve hotel costs.

We get to keep what we don't spend on our per diem expenses. Let's end that.

Let's end a lot of the travel and do more video teleconferencing.

It's a start.

69

Unrelated but I think it's about 9pm in England right now and tonight the riots seem to have spread even more.

Seems more rioting has started all over London, and in Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Bristol.

Posted by: Entropy at August 09, 2011 04:20 PM (IsLT6)

I have no sympathy left for them.  They won't even squirt the rioters with a garden hose fergodssake.

70

Seems more rioting has started all over London, and in Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Bristol.

Posted by: Entropy

 

This is not my work.

71

I cannot tell a lie. We spend long hours, performing vital work, for very little compensation.

72 Hey Ace, lay off my teat. I make a good living doing the work that Fed AA hires were supposed to do but can't. Shoosh. I do the work and I teach them how its supposed to be done. The great thing for them is they get to blame me if anything goes wrong. Its a good life and supports a very high level of income and security for all of us. The funny thing is most of the actual "know somethings" in Government hate Obama. We just smile and act professional when one of the more enthusiastic members breaches good conduct and praises teh won publicly. The only thing an aspiring Government worker needs to master is budgeting and power point presentations. Do that and you can rule the world.

73 Somebody find Obama's scalpel.

74 Romney knows how to cut administrative administrators of administration.

75 Because I hold grudges, you may stop reading if this is too juvenile. --- Mickey Kaus is a shithead. He does indeed think you conservatives are filthy racists at the core. Listen to David Limbaugh and Mickey Kaus debate. Search ricochet, look at March 6 2011 for the initial Limbaugh/Kaus podcast. The accusations come near the end. http://tinyurl.com/4xyfy4k

76 @57: not to mention, Kill Obamacare in it's Evil Cradle. Other things President Perry can do to stimulate the economy: 1. Order the EPA to repeal every last regulation it has passed since 2000. 2. Issue an emergency executive order to open ALL federal lands to oil, natural gas, and coal exploration/exploitation. 3. Make clear that Carbon Credit BS is deader than Bob Dole's hardon. 4. Issue an emergency executive order indefinitely suspending enforcement of Frank-Dodd, and press the new Republican Congress to repeal the whole sorry mess. 5. Issue an emergency executive order repealing ALL executive orders EVER issued by Obama, pending stringent review. 6. Issue an emergency executive order repealing ALL regulations of ANY sort issued since Obama became President, subject to stringent, speedy review. I think these steps alone would have economy humming within a couple of years.

77 72

I work for the DoD (civilian). There's a LOT than can be cut before we harm the troops.

For example, travel. We all get separate hotel rooms. Two people of the same gender should room together, in a room with two beds. That would halve hotel costs.

We get to keep what we don't spend on our per diem expenses. Let's end that.

Let's end a lot of the travel and do more video teleconferencing.

It's a start.

 

Palladine - you are talking crazy talk. Only green suits bunk together. Its called being on active duty.

78 @69. That's the point, in the military, there's attrition and performance reviews (not to mention the UCMJ). In the rest of govt, not so much.

79 (both of these were created by the evil Bush, so I can't see the libs having a problem)

TSA's been unionized, so now it's a sacred Democrat constituency.  Kinda like how Nixon was prepared to pass full-on single payer health care and Ted Kennedy blocked it because the Dems didn't want the GOP to get the welfare mooch vote.

80

"In these challenging times, when we are facing both rising deficits and a sinking economy, budget reform is not an option. It is an imperative," Obama said. "We cannot sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness, or exist solely because of the power of a politicians, lobbyists, or interest groups. We simply cannot afford it. This isn’t about big government or small government. It’s about building a smarter government that focuses on what works. That is why I will ask my new team to think anew and act anew to meet our new challenges.... We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way."

God-boy

November 24, 2008

81

Department of Homeland Security

TSA (both of these were created by the evil Bush, so I can't see the libs having a problem)

You'd be wrong.  With them in power they absolutely love agencies like this.  Its like everything else they claim is evil or hate.  They only say that because they're not in charge of it.

82 Our audit found that 99.99% of the time turning your country into an unarmed, politically correct welfare state full of uneducated godless anarchists and spoiled poofters causes riots.

83  Freaking China gets US foreign aid.  China.

Posted by: Guy Fawkes at August 09, 2011 04:19 PM (4nfy2)

 

C'mon, man.  We have to keep their ICBMs serviced.

84 Do not touch cowboy poetry.  Or cowboy/cow porn.

85 We get to keep what we don't spend on our per diem expenses. Let's end that.

I think there's a chance that you don't get much savings there, because of the added paperwork needed to document travel expenses. 

86 29 No there was a law passed in the 70s making it a felony for Federal agencies not to spend the money alocated by congress.

87 @82: I'll agree to all of that except the part about a room mate when staying at a hotel. The only fart I want to hear and smell in my room is mine own, thank you very much.

88 #81 it's what I said before. It's so simple but it won't be done because it will make the wrong rich richer.

89 Not to worry, the Super Committee will balance the budget w/o cutting ANY spending!

They are super!

90 All that shit government shouldn't be doing?

Yeah.  Stop doing it.

91 Is there any evidence whatsoever that the government is actually trying to save money in any account?

And alienate those abusing public aid, or God forbid SEIU? HahahaHAHAHA!!!!

HAHAHAHAHA!

HAHAHAHA!

Whom do you think Obama is counting on in 2012? He's lost so many already; Risk losing his two most reliable groups? No possible way. That means no cuts to government jobs, no possible action against entitlements to trim costs. Which means the marginal majority of producers in this country will hear only one solution from Obama to the debt crisis. They have to pay more.

92 You know, I am reminded of Shaun of teh Dead with the rioters in London, maybe zombies aren't undead brain-eating slow fucks, but unemployed car-burning fucks.

93
It's funny that Ace should say, "There is no change from business as usual."

Because Obama went on to say, "We are not going back to business as usual when it comes to the budget."

94 TSA's been unionized, so now it's a sacred Democrat constituency. That agency alone is an indelible blot on W's record.

95 You know who is still The Undisputed Hide-&-Seek Champion??

96 Do not touch cowboy poetry.  Or cowboy/cow porn.

We don't want to harm it.  We want to help you make it better.

97 The fed gov should cut travel from the President all the way down, with rare exceptions for when being in person is actually necessary.  With today's teleconferencing technology, why the hell do government employees need to fly all over the world on the taxpayers dime?

98

@82, it makes me sick of the waste every time I travel for my job (which admittedly, had been cut back quite a bit of late).

We're on a 2-year cost of living freeze, but I do recognize we are still overpaid. I work hard to give good value on what I earn, though. If a conservative ever comes to the Presidency and wants to cut federal wages, I won't complain. It's a good life.

99

Posted by: MikeTheMoose at August 09, 2011 04:28 PM (0q2P7)

Love the psycho font there.  How'd you do that?

100 90 We get to keep what we don't spend on our per diem expenses. Let's end that.

I think there's a chance that you don't get much savings there, because of the added paperwork needed to document travel expenses. 
    More crazy talk. Lets just close the Commerce Department and Department of Education. Hell, defund NPR. Fucking with my per diem will only cause me to insure I spend it all. My wife looks forward to her per diem bonuses. Do you want to make her mad or something? 

101

Add West Bromwich, Wolverhampton and Salford apparently.

102 92 @82: I'll agree to all of that except the part about a room mate when staying at a hotel. The only fart I want to hear and smell in my room is mine own, thank you very much. Posted by: CoolCzech at August 09, 2011 04:26 PM (kUaEF) Did you hear the reverb on that one? I tells ya, my cheeks were flappin'! Bwahahahahahahaha!

103 OT: There was a protest at Boehner's office here today. The progs went absolutely apeshit it seems and they (staffers) had to lock the doors. They were chanting 'break it down -- let's get him' according to some of the commenters on the article. Our local ABC affiliate may have video of it and I'll link it later if I can find it.

104 Here's a Brit liberal that blames the welfare state for the riots.

105 Or cowboy/cow porn. Stop Cattle Rape Now!!

106 @ George Orwell, What you said about Kaus goes double for William Saletan and Christopher Hitchens. The only way I'd piss on them would be after their ashes had cooled. Fuck all those Salon cockbites.

107 I still believe the only way to manage the government is to announce that all departments not established before Jan. 1, 1961 will be closed down in 30 days, and require the heads of all affected departments to appear before a panel of non-government CEOs -- real, productive CEO-types, not chair-warmers -- within that time to justify their continued existence. Failures will see their little fiefdoms wiped out.

Bye-bye NPR, EPA DoE and on and on and on....

Likewise, presidential Councils, Administrators for the White House Office of Talking on the Internet and the like are to be fired immediately. All political business to be moved out of the White House and remaining political employees to be paid by the president's reelection campaign or political party. First Lady's staff (except one secretary) to be eliminated.

Congressional staffs reduced to 1960 levels. All future travel by common carriers (coach class), all expenses but genuine official business phone and mailing cut.

Pensions? Perks? Gone, all of them. No elected official shall be allowed to get rich while in office.

Finally, we need a law that requires Congress members to personally make up any and all budget shortfalls and, if taxes are raised, they pay taxes at a rate double that imposed on private citizens.

Time clocks installed in White House and Congress. All pay to henceforth be at an hourly rate. Absences are docked.

Put all these in place -- along with brooming OsamaObamaCare -- and we will have made a good start at returning to sanity.

108 Blue Hen....
I know ship repair money is being slashed to the bone.
I agree that Enlisted ranks are being decimated.
Ships being limited to a max transit speed of 15 knots IOT conserve fuel.
Ships being told "This is your fuel ration for the quarter, don't waste it, as there ain't no more"
Ships having to decide between buying paint and toilet paper.


Yes, for major action, there is money. But the money for day to day operation of units has been slashed to the bone.

If the rest of the federal Government were tightening their belt like the military, you would see a serious drop in budget need.

109 I work with the gov't a lot. Going back a few years, I got to be friends with someone who was a GS-12 at a DOE installation. She actually ha been coming into work everyday for a year with literally nothing to do.

Early on, she told her boss that she didn't feel right about doing nothing...and he told her to keep quite because he didn't want an audit of his dept.

Apparently, he didn't do shit either.

110 Once upon a time in the infamous 60s and early 70s, each department had a separate budget line for civilian personnel so that programers and appropriations staff could control the headcount.  A department had to justify head count down to number, grade, and location, independent from the justification for its research, construction, operation, or acquisition lines.    For example, Navy intends to expand xxx naval base.  Construction line = $$$,  equipment acquisition = $$$, operations  = $$$, civpers line = $$$.  Programers or appropriation staff can see the headcount and ensure it is no more than actually required.   This changed in the 70s and 80s.  The civilian payroll was merged into each of the other lines; meaning programmers and appropriators had no way of knowing how much of the research, construction, acquisition or operations lines were actually paying for new headcount.  Being that the only thing in this witch's brew that votes is the new headcount, the potential for abuse is obvious.  

And don't forget the invisible bureaucracy.  For every Assistant Administrator of Administration, there are probably 2 - 3 contractors working existing right along side; being paid the same amount, or more, to do the same job description.   

Back in the Building, I watched senior officers from all services who had fearlessly fought and defeated Nazis, Japs, ChiComs, Viet Cong, you name it, turn to jello at the very hint that some do nothing civilian might file a grievance.  (oh the horror).  

My point is, the roots of this disaster run very deep and there will be no quick fixes. 

111 Sick thing is, Obamacare 'saved' money by just declaring an end to fraud.  Its beyond bizarre.  Fraud is constant and getting worse.  Jeez people have been starting to brag about how much free money they're getting every month because they outright lie and game the system.  Its sick.  SICK.  Our entire society is spinning out of control.  If you play by the rules, don't steal, lie, etc.. you sure look stupid!  Yep, i'm an idiot

Obama is intentionally stoking the flames by using his 'pay their fair share' crap which is code for whites.  Beck hit on this yesterday, and I never thought I'd here it.  The story he told about his time at the new planet of the apes movie was chilling.  Black couples yelling without shame and calling people around them 'crackers' and saying that the movie was going to play out in real life.  Crazy.  The thing in Wisconsin with 'youts' attacking whites, and the black flash mobs are no coincidence.  They are being encouraged by their leaders.

London is burning because the cops killed a thug that shot at them when they pulled him over.  You know it was justified because most police in Britain don't even carry guns!  They had to call a special squad in!  So 'youts' riot when we defend ourselves?  What kind of bullshit is this?

Scary times folks

112 Hello. I'm here to coordinate all of you being assigned to carry a civil servant around on your back. We call the new program Indentured Servitude For Life.

The ISFL is meant to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and allow all Americans to help shoulder the burden of government.

You will have to provide your own sneakers.

That's all. Thank you.

113 Posted by: Mr. Pink with nothing new to add at August 09, 2011 04:26 PM (VidfH)

Well, it was a good idea.  Stupid reality anyway.

Who on earth thought that law was good and/or proper?  Why would you require a government agency to spend everything allocated?  Or is it just (as would make much more sense) a 'use it or lose it' kind of law?

114 We've tried everything, but there's nothing to cut. Isn't that right, inner-city youths?

115 I looked at the job vacancies for my area and what I found was that a huge number of them were for medical personnel for VA, DHS and BIA. Starting pay is $88k growing to a max of $155K.

That's what the Government thinks a Doc should make.  A person with somewhere in the neighborhood of $400K in student loans. Frito-Lays is hiring certified Diesel Mechanics (=associate degree, more or less) for $54K a year and that person might not have any student loan debt at all.

116 The fed gov should cut travel from the President all the way down, with rare exceptions for when being in person is actually necessary.  With today's teleconferencing technology, why the hell do government employees need to fly all over the world on the taxpayers dime?

Posted by: yinzer

 

For the same reason we held a global warming conference in Tahiti. There was an urgent need.

And shut up peasant.

117 While the country is teeters on the verge of a Depression (if it has not tottered over already), the federal bureaucracy remains gold-plated and immune to cutbacks. When I was in the the Air Force we enlisteds were dismayed to note that Pres. Ford, as part of an inflation fighting initiative, skipped the inflation-adjustment-payraise for a year (it might have been 2 years). Inflation was pretty rowdy in those days. An Airman 1/c wasn't making much and missing out on that 5%+ payraise was a bitch. Now that I look back on it I realized that Pres. Ford wasn't all hat and no cattle! (I still want my missing money...)

118

There was a time in human history (beggining of time - 1960s) when you were motivated to work hard and mark smart fiscal and personal choices because if you didn't, you died.

If you spent all your money on clothes, you starved to death because the government didn't hand out food stamps(which are actually credit cards now).

If you didn't save for retirement, you lived in the streets like a hobo or with your family if they would have you.

Now there is no consequence to any bad decision and we're surprised people keep making them?

What happens in America if you spend all of your income on drugs? Well you can get a free Section 8 voucher for housing, you can get food stamps to feed yourself, and almost every city offers money to the poor in some fashion or another. If you're older you can get on Medicare whether or not you paid anything into it, or you can side up for Medicaid without paying jack shit.

I think it's time we revert to a society in which people pay for their mistakes. You will find they make less of them.

Before someone calls me heartless(which i am in many ways), I'm not talking about the people who can't take care of themselves. I have no problem with out society paying for the mentally and physically disabled, but we can't continue in a society where 50% of us are considered the "least among us" who need state aid.

119 make*  not mark

120 We get to keep what we don't spend on our per diem expenses. Let's end that. Per diem is usually something like $60 or $70 a day for meals. So if you eat at McDonalds 3 times a day, you get to pocket $45 of it per day, Big Deal. Limit per diem to actual expenses, and I guarantee you that every last traveling employee will skip McDonald's and head for the full service sit down place and your savings will be exactly zilch.

121 Love the psycho font there.  How'd you do that?

MS Office, on recent releases, realizes when it is being pasted into a web composition and tries to insert the HTML coding needed to maintain formatting where allowed by HTML.

Easy answer: compose in MS Word copy and paste into comment box. Works for some fonts, and font sizes, not all.

Your mileage may vary. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Not valid in Botswana, Lithuania, or Taiwan. Some restrictions may apply.

122 Hey Blue Hen, just wanted to say you made a lot of good points earlier today.

123
Congressional staffs reduced to 1960 levels.

Why not just have each state fund its Congressional Delegation? Then they can spend as little or as much as they like.

124 Here's a Brit liberal that blames the welfare state for the riots.


The first day that groups of white British subjects arm themselves and clash with the looters and thugs will be the day the Met gets over their fear of using water cannons and tear gas.

As long as the correct people are victimized, the British government will sit on its hands.

As soon as the victims start fighting back the Met will start cracking skulls.

That country whole continent is suicidal.

125 The content we've been waiting for.

126

"Indeed, it is worth recalling Marx’s colourful description in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon of how that French ruler cynically built his power base amongst parts of the bourgeoisie and sections of the lumpenproletariat, so that ‘ruined and adventurous offshoots of the bourgeoisie rubbed shoulders with vagabonds, discharged soldiers, discharged jailbirds, swindlers, pickpockets, tricksters, gamblers, brothel-keepers, organ-grinders, ragpickers, knife-grinders, tinkers, beggars… and from this kindred element Boneparte formed the core of his [constituency], where all its members felt the need to benefit themselves at the expense of the labouring nation.’ In very different circumstances, we have something similar today – when the decadent commentariat’s siding with lumpen rioters represents a weird coming together of sections of the bourgeoisie with sections of the underworked and the over-flattered, as the rest of us, ‘the labouring nation’, look on with disdain."

 

Seems Marx was describing Obama's crowd.

127 The first day that groups of white British subjects arm themselves and clash with the looters and thugs will be the day the Met gets over their fear of using water cannons and tear gas. Cigar... do you prefer EMS or maduro? You win the largest prize.

128

When civilisation rebuilds, one thing I'd really like to see is a rule that no one can work in any combination of government jobs for more than 7 years total in a lifetime. After 7 years at the government tit, you get to expand your horizons and be freed of the drudgery of government work.

There would be obvious exceptions to this like military, computer hackers and very specialised people.

129  There was a protest at Boehner's office here today. The progs went absolutely apeshit it seems and they (staffers) had to lock the doors. They were chanting 'break it down -- let's get him' according to some of the commenters on the article. Our local ABC affiliate may have video of it and I'll link it later if I can find it.

Posted by: laceyunderalls at August 09, 2011 04:31 PM (pLTLS)

 

Honey?  Honey?  Wake up.  Do you smell smoke? 

130 Do you guys read the article about shutting down the Congressional Page program? It was costing 5 million per year. That's to house, feed and oversee 70 kids. They're not paid mind you, that's 5 million dollars for 70 kids.
Yeah I want government running my healthcare.

131 While the country is teeters on the verge of a Depression (if it has not tottered over already), the federal bureaucracy remains gold-plated and immune to cutbacks. You know, I REALLY don't know where that BS keeps coming from. We pay $270 for standard family BC/BS a MONTH. We have to contribute about 15% a year of our pay for our own 401K-type plan (at least if we ever want to retire, we do). Does that REALLY sound so "24 carat plated" to you? And the idea that the average federal worker makes twice as much as people on the outside is a tired old joke. Which CPA's drive around in BMW's: the ones parked outside of some crappy government-rented office building with bathrooms that stink of urine like a stairway in a European train station, or the ones in front of Goldsman-Sachs?

132 Can't just cut spending. Have to cut the regulations and lawsuits in order to pick up the slack. A "balanced budget" Washington is still the capitol of a country that can't drill or refine its own oil, or afford to hire its own legal citizens.

133

anybody watch Falling Skies?

that's exactly what we need right now -- an alien invasion

134 "Regarding Obama's statement yesterday that, in both the area of defense and non-defense domestic spending, there is "not much further we can cut."

Really?"

Yes, really; I already said that everything had been cut to the bone.  Yes, budgets have expanded a bit in the years since, but still, we run as lean a government as is possible.

135 Yeah, I watched Obama as he said there wasn't much more room to cut. Jaw. Drop. He's talking to the 52% who he knows are stupid.

136 That's the point, in the military, there's attrition and performance reviews (not to mention the UCMJ).

Attrition is getting ready to go way up in the military.  Already is in places (USAF passed-over MAJs).  I'm an O4 in the Navy with 14 years, first look at O5 is next year.  I guarantee I'm more nervous about the future than any non-military federal employee.

137 Why not just have each state fund its Congressional Delegation? Then they can spend as little or as much as they like.

I like that idea.

Well, modified slightly.  Cut House staff down to 1960 levels, and have States fund their Senators.  It might (might) take us a tiny step back to the days when the House of Representatives was "the People's House" and the Senate was "the States' House."

I would really love to see those days return.  I realize, now, that my parents didn't even know them...

138 The Office of Circumlocution deems that even if they could help you, They won't. That is all.

139 I know ship repair money is being slashed to the bone.
I agree that Enlisted ranks are being decimated.
Ships being limited to a max transit speed of 15 knots IOT conserve fuel.
Ships being told "This is your fuel ration for the quarter, don't waste it, as there ain't no more"
Ships having to decide between buying paint and toilet paper.


Yes, for major action, there is money. But the money for day to day operation of units has been slashed to the bone.

If the rest of the federal Government were tightening their belt like the military, you would see a serious drop in budget need.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice

 

I didn't know that things were this bad. I still stand by my idea that we should treat the rest of the government half as badly as we do the DoD. I also think that anyone suggesting bullshit like 'closing loopholes', and 'ending that silly home mortgage interest deduction' can go straight to Hell. This beast does NOT need more money. We need to do at the Federal level what Michigan did to 30,000 shits fraudently taking food stamps.

140 I think there should be fist fights on the floor of the Senate. Now get off my lawn.

141 There's no video yet but I love our local news. One of the few benefits of living in this conservative City.

The headline -- Busing members in for Boehner jobs rally.

Heh.

142 anybody watch Falling Skies?

that's exactly what we need right now -- an alien invasion Mech metal bullets

FIFM

143 Wow, this quote says so much!

"Before this last election, I was called a Citizen, Taxpayer, and a Veteran"

144 You know, I REALLY don't know where that BS keeps coming from. We pay $270 for standard family BC/BS a MONTH. We have to contribute about 15% a year of our pay for our own 401K-type plan (at least if we ever want to retire, we do).

Does that REALLY sound so "24 carat plated" to you?

I hope you're joking, I really really do.  Because compared to what I have?  Yes.

145

136 Do you guys read the article about shutting down the Congressional Page program? It was costing 5 million per year. That's to house, feed and oversee 70 kids. They're not paid mind you, that's 5 million dollars for 70 kids.
Yeah I want government running my healthcare.

 

You do know that Barney Frank is always cruising for new meat? $5M is a small price to pay to insure Barney's ass can talk.

146 71 Back in Ohio, I knew my IT company wasn't doing too well when the hanging medicine kits on the walls were no longer being restocked.
________

Not even with shares of stock? That's brutal!

147 We pay $270 for standard family BC/BS a MONTH.

O_O!!!

Trade ya!

148 Here's a thought, just to check if there is anything left to cut.  Tell every dept in the federal govt to cut 10% from their budget for the next fiscal year or the entire dept will be eliminated.  I bet they'd find those cuts in a new york minute.

149 Yes, it is time for haircuts.

150 and our lovelies in the GOP had 8 years under Booooshhhh....or at least 4 years under Bush plus GOP congress to rectify some of this stuff. The game is rigged and Ace is right, there's no evidence that any level of the fed government is taking any steps to cut spending. At least booosshhhhh had fed buildings in california turn up the thermostats to save money during the days of gray out davis.

151

Is there any evidence whatsoever that the government is actually trying to save money in any account?

Yes, Ace, in DoD.

SecDef Gates thought he'd get ahead of the curve when he saw the budget writing on the wall.  He started cutting last year.  He cancelled several weapons procurements, and eliminated an entire combatant command (which officially folded its flag last week BTW) among other redundancies. 

But in the wider Federal government?  No, you're spot on.

Just like always, they come looking to DoD for cuts first. 

It will be the same this time too.

152 Until recently terminated federal employees are wandering the streets of D.C. with glassy eyes, wailing and crying, we won't be close to where we need to go to.

153 Hey Blue Hen, just wanted to say you made a lot of good points earlier today.

Posted by: George Orwell

 

Thank you sir. I can be incredibly wrong, but I think that Daley moved into the White House for a reason. I think that he's the one who's going to make the call.

154 Nothing to cut. We need three gears.

155 Day Two : Perry/Palin Administration, Step One: declare a snow day in Washington - Step Two: Identify all of the Emergency Essential employees, Step Three: Order all remaining personnel to recompete for their jobs. Reduce available slots by 20% across the board. Step Four: Repeat one year later

156 Ships having to decide between buying paint and toilet paper.

For all that's holy, buy the toilet paper.

157 124 (Ben)

-- my wife and I talk about that frequently.
Back then we literally raided the penny jar to be able to eat on Friday.

As a result, we scrimped, saved, taught that stuff to the kids, etc.
We now own a house (free and clear), clear title to both vehicles, and have 3 mayonnaise jars of pennies saved up.

We keep the penny jar for "just in case".

158

As long as the correct people are victimized, the British government will sit on its hands.

As soon as the victims start fighting back the Met will start cracking skulls.

Already begun. 70 or so 30-40 year old white men chased off a bunch of ethnic youths in Enfield, with reports of racial slurs and vigilantism. Cops broke it off.

Watch what happens to Enfield tonight. Apparently some people have had enough of waiting for the cops.

159

Food Stamps are now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. What part of SUPPLEMENTAL do people not understand?

160 Don't  DoEd and Ag just basically redistribute money?

Money that we borrow?

It seems there's a good place to start.

161 145 I know ship repair money is being slashed to the bone.
I agree that Enlisted ranks are being decimated.
Ships being limited to a max transit speed of 15 knots IOT conserve fuel.
Ships being told "This is your fuel ration for the quarter, don't waste it, as there ain't no more"
Ships having to decide between buying paint and toilet paper.


Yes, for major action, there is money. But the money for day to day operation of units has been slashed to the bone.

If the rest of the federal Government were tightening their belt like the military, you would see a serious drop in budget need.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice

 

You should have been around during Carter. All tanks in Germany were limited to 30 minutes of fuel per month. Crews were able to fire their main gun once a year. This, BTW, was during the Cold War. Readiness in Korea was worse. Thankfully our enemies didn't know how bad things were.

162 12 of the top 25 counties with the highest median incomes are in the fucking DC Metro area

163 All non-entitlement spending is on a zero percent baseline. Each department can lobby congress for up to any % increase in private sector GDP but no more. BUT until the national debt is reduced to 30% of GDP congress can only increase total budget by up to 1/4 of any GDP increase (so politicians must pick some agencies to shrink wrt to percent of GDP)

164 I hope you're joking, I really really do. Because compared to what I have? Yes. Posted by: alexthechick at August 09, 2011 04:45 PM (VtjlW) There's plenty of unionized defense contractor workers out there that pay $15/month. And that's private sector.

165 but I think that Daley moved into the White House for a reason. Well, if he pulls a fast one, it will backfire. So I hope he does. It's a pity he has to hide behind the skirt of a woman. Barry must be a size 2.

166

Food Stamps are now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. What part of SUPPLEMENTAL do people not understand?

Posted by: Quilly Mammoth at August 09, 2011 04:48 PM (DoA72)

 

Awww snap, we love our S.N.A.P.!!!

167 Don't know what this blog is coming to... An AK47 toting stripper is run amok and Ace covers the economy:

"A thrill-seeking Florida stripper and her AK-47-toting siblings on a multistate crime spree yesterday ignored their heartsick mother's plea to give themselves up, authorities said"

http://tinyurl.com/3znl6pl

168 Ships having to decide between buying paint and toilet paper. ------- For all that's holy, buy the toilet paper. There is a joke in here about paint doing double duty. As long as it is brown.

169 Does someone have an eye on Eric Holder's people up in Wisconsin in case the elections don't turn out to Ed Schultz' liking?

170 anybody watch Falling Skies?

that's exactly what we need right now -- an alien invasion Mech metal bullets

FIFM

Posted by: Buzzsaw

 

"An RPG in America, with a beautiful handcrafted charge made in a busted up school. What to do with it? I know! I'll try to shoot down a moving air/space/alien/craft coming in for a landing hundreds of feet over my head. First time for everything don't ya know....."(makes no effort to track or lead target)

BOOM

"Gee; piece of cake."

Hurray for Hollywood or Vancouver, judging from the accents.

171 Let's start the lay-offs with the BATF and DOJ guys who thought "Fast and Furious" was a good idea.

172 If you have travelled to DC over the past few years...1) you'll notice the hundreds of fucking cranes, and 2) that the traffic is fucking worse than ever because of the fucking new off-ramps off the freeways they have to build to accommodate the growth

173 Posted by: CoolCzech at August 09, 2011 04:40 PM (kUaEF)

Okay, CC, I have to educate you.  I love you like a fake internet brother, but you're wrong on a few levels.

As a former BCBS Employee (not on the Federal side, but I had friends there, so I know what the benefits were years ago, and I doubt they've been reduced terribly) anyone else- in the private sector- would be paying (depending on Employer contribution) between $550 and $1000/mo or so.

The rest of us ALSO have to invest around 15% of our income if we wish to retire, because SS isn't going to be there for us, either (no matter what the Federal Government would have us believe).  The major difference there is that we're already having 6.5% (really 13%) of our income confiscated because of that ponzi scheme, so it's more like we're investing 28% of our income so we can retire.

Finally, the thing with those "median" and "mean" income numbers is that they're averages- which are never very accurate.  You have to compare apples to apples.  That said, they are a pretty good indicator of the entire public sector vs. the entire private sector.  So public CPAs may not be doing so well (in actual salary) as private CPAs, but public bus drivers, or janitors, or whatever, probably make much more than private bus drivers, or janitors, or whatever.

174 that's exactly what we need right now -- an alien invasion

Posted by: soothsayer at August 09, 2011 04:41 PM (G/zuv)

We would need a significant increase in our annual budget to address an alien invasion.  And even if we got it, those bastards over at the Federal Agency for Development of Strategies Concerning Non-Terrestrial Beings would still try to horn in on our turf.

175 Just one more Obama lie on top of all the other lies.

176 We could also cut all them czars.

177 They could cut the Department of Education in its entirety. And the entire Department of Energy. And the Department Previously Known as the IRS. And the Department of Redundancy Department. And on and on and on...

178 I want the President to explain to me how gutting the Dept. Of Education would actually cause harm to the nation as a whole. I don't care about the jobless bureaucrats, but the country as a whole.

179 Food Stamps are now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance

Yeah looked up what max benefit was on that 200$ a month. I could feed myself 2 months on that kind of money if I had to. And that's moose level calorie counts and vitamin needs. It does nothing to introduce reality to those who need to revise the methods with which they make decisions in their life.

180 And the entire Department of Energy

Naaa.  Just move that one under DoD, where it belongs.  Our Tanks still run on diesel, after all.

181 _{Watch what happens to Enfield tonight. Apparently some people have had enough of waiting for the cops.}

Now the cops will be able to fight back against those evil vigilantes.

182 Yeah, all this shit about shared sacrifice, where's the federal employees who are being sacrificed?
Steyn on Rush the other day was reading a story about how a federal employee was more likely to die than to be fired--whole agencies with employees in the 1000s where not one single fucking person was fired in a whole year!

Think about that, that not one person screwed up, lied, stole showed up drunk, etc., etc. out of thousands?

183

185

I want the President to explain to me how gutting the Dept. Of Education would actually cause harm to the nation as a whole.

I don't care about the jobless bureaucrats, but the country as a whole.

 

Are you serious in your desire to hear Sparky opine on this? Fairness my good man, fairness. The less I hear Sparky talk the better off I am. Please, don't feed the bears.

184 I work for a state government.  We haven't had pay raises for three years.

185 I think there should be fist fights on the floor of the Senate.

Now get off my lawn. Posted by: George Orwell at August 09, 2011 04:44 PM

And we should adopt the UK Parliament's "Question Time" format. I'd be glued to the TV watching a teleprompter-less Traitor-in-Chief stammering through real questions while being badgered by the opposition to a background of cries of "No!," "shame!" and "resign!"

186

President Downgrade has increased federal spending by 30% so clearly there is no room for cuts.

None.

187

The question that I'm surprised that no one has asked yet is:  Are we, as taxpayers who fund government, getting any positive return on our investment?  That is the point at which we start looking at cuts in government.  We need to completely cut anything that isn't advocating the constitutional rights of states and individuals.  This is where the government has jumped the rails.

I liked the idea of a commentor upthread (sorry, can't remember your nic) that proposed that government be trimmed back to early 1960's levels.  That would be a good starting point. 

188 An RPG in America, with a beautiful handcrafted charge made in a busted up school.

I hadn't seen the entire show just to the part where they were making bullets. I'll assume they formed the metal over the pointy end of the RPG and ignored that RPGs are effective because of the Shaped Metal charge inside.

189 @191 Be happy you haven't seen pay decreases, actual cuts which continue in the private sector if not termination.

190

I want the President to explain to me how gutting the Dept. Of Education would actually cause harm to the nation as a whole.

Oh, he'd make you believe that those Federal dollars coursing through the veins of DoEd are the only thing standing between you and a nation of sub-literate morons.  Remember, it's "for the children."

Of course, since we already have a nation of sub-literate morons, thanks to teacher's unions, he'd lose that argument to anyone who pays attention to politics.  You know, like us.

Since most of the country does not give a shit about politics, he'd win that argument.

Ain't fair, ain't right, but it is what it is.

191 Food Stamps are now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Yeah looked up what max benefit was on that 200$ a month. H8R. $200 is barely good enough for two trips to Whole Foods. The President and his lovely wife want us to be healthy so we won't be a burden on the nation's finances and organic saves everyone money. So fucking give me five times that, Nazi.

192 We pay $270 for standard family BC/BS a MONTH.

My family would save over  $1000 a month with that deal.  Yes, you are gold plated AND diamond encrusted.

193 Move Energy into DoD.

That way new nuclear power plant construction becomes a national security issue and not subject to a thousand lawsuits by the motherfucking Sierra Club maggots.
 

194 yeah well at least Obama doesn't have crazy Bachman eyes or mispronounced skirmish (of the 3 minutes or so of Jon Stewart I watched this decade, they used Palin mispronouncing "skirmish" as a palate cleanser after veering dreadfully close to actually criticizing obama). So, it's up to you, america, crazy eyes or crazy debt.

195 So public CPAs may not be doing so well (in actual salary) as private CPAs, but public bus drivers, or janitors, or whatever, probably make much more than private bus drivers, or janitors, or whatever. Posted by: AllenG (Dedicated Tenther) at August 09, 2011 04:53 PM (8y9MW) Well, most of THOSE aren't FEDERAL employees. I can't speak to state and municipal workers. But you have to remember something else, too: when I worked at a federal prison as an accountant, I was also expected to take firearms training and spent more than a few foggy days in my car with a loaded shotgun next to me, making sure prisoners didn't try to get away in low visibility conditions. There was also a commissary for the prisoners manned by female staff inside the institution. If there was ever a riot and prisoner takeover of that place, those gals would be gang raped repeatedly... maybe their pay was twice that of a cashier at the local Stop & Shop, but don't you think their work hazards and responsibilities were of a different order of magnitude? A lot of these comparisons of federal to private workers by job title is really a comparison of apples and oranges. OK, I stand corrected on the subject of of insurance premiums - though like I said, I have seen private sector premiums that hardly make me feel like I got over on that score. But federal employment was always a trade off: you will never get rich like could in the private sector, but a big part of the tradeoff was always that at least you had better job security than most other people. In good times, the public doesn't care about that too much.

196 He's not really lying when he says that.  He actually believes it. 

Ain't too smart, you know.  Actually, kinda dumb.

Dumbest preznint evah?  Maybe.

197

One thing I'm always wondering is, just when in the DOOM scenarios, do huge numbers of government employees start to get let go? At what point do the European countries finally start to get rid of all of the government departments? Do they have to hit official bankruptcy before major reforms happen?

 

198 @196  I am, believe me.
We don't fill as many positions as are lost, but yeah, I don't know anyone who has been laid off.

199 What does the Department of Agriculture do, other than hand out money?

200 An RPG in America, with a beautiful handcrafted charge made in a busted up school.

I hadn't seen the entire show just to the part where they were making bullets. I'll assume they formed the metal over the pointy end of the RPG and ignored that RPGs are effective because of the Shaped Metal charge inside.

Posted by: Buzzsaw

 

I was dazzled at the previously undicovered anti-aircraft capabilities of what was principally a cheap anti-armor/light fortification weapon. If I was standing near the tarmac or a landing zone I'd have a decent chance of ruining someone's day while landing or taking off. But if said land-ee was about 20 stories up, my chances for glory diminish somewhat.

201 I work for a state government.  We haven't had pay raises for three years.

Good.

202 Per diem is usually something like $60 or $70 a day for meals. So if you eat at McDonalds 3 times a day, you get to pocket $45 of it per day, Big Deal.

Limit per diem to actual expenses, and I guarantee you that every last traveling employee will skip McDonald's and head for the full service sit down place and your savings will be exactly zilch.

Posted by: CoolCzech at August 09, 2011 04:36 PM (kUaEF)

My school changed from a $40 per diem to all receipts.  It wastes a ton of time because secretaries now have to pour over these receipts.  Eat at a Chinese buffet?  Out of luck, that hand-written receipt with the non-Roman character doesn't count.

And this is their accounting procedure, even if the source of the money is perfectly happy with per diems.

But you're right.  I get bottled water at the airport and care nothing for the cost of the meals.  On the other hand, I'd be perfectly happy with a $25 per diem just to not have to deal with the trouble of receipts.

203 I work for a state government. We haven't had pay raises for three years. Eat it. You know who has? If you only look at one small slice of the federal government, quoted above: When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000. So, eat it. Most of us outside Uncle Sugar have seen our salaries go down. And if you're Average Joe, eat a bag of dicks.

204

Someone above mentioned foreign aid.

Oh God, cut it. At least cut it to dirtbag countries that hate us. We give aid to 174 of the 192 countries in the world. Charities and individuals should give to whom they choose, but governments should look out for their interests. Obama was trying to increase military aid to Libya a month before he went to war with it.

In Atlas Shrugged, one of the characters was a pirate who attacked ships carrying US aid to the socialist states of Europe. He was one of my favorite characters.

205 My short story - wife is a Fed.  Needed surgery - went to surgeon - told her she needed sub-specialist.  Had surgery by sub-specialist - over $3000 billed.  But first surgeon billed insurance for $161 - used surgical billing code.  Ins paid first surgeon over $1500!  Even though they honestly billed only $161 because no surgery was done.  I appealed 3 times - all the way to OPM in D.C.  Denied 3 times.  Said I could sue in Federal Court.  Now, our co-pay was only $16 for the first surgeon and that didn't change.  Was trying to save the gov't/taxpayers $1400 and they basically told me to pound sand.  I give up.

206 Seen this?

http://tinyurl.com/3lwxemh

Burgess calls for Impeachment.

Yes, it would gain the SOB sympathy, just when he's doing such a fine job of sinking himself. OTOH, he's sinking the country, and has a year & a half to do more damage. Tough call.

207 @213 First article should charge the president with lying to the American people by claiming there isn't much left to cut.

208 What does the Department of Agriculture do, other than hand out money?

Make food more expensive.
Make farming more costly.
Although the FDA helps out a bunch with those items.

209 What does the Department of Agriculture do, other than hand out money?

Posted by: nickless at August 09, 2011 05:01 PM (MMC8r)

We commission beautiful murals showing corn and wheat and shit.  You should come to D.C. and see our lobby some time.

210

What does the Department of Agriculture do, other than hand out money?

Their research function is valuable.

After that...not much.  I'd cut everything else.

211 One of the things I have learned today, is that the per diem for federal workers should be cut to equal 3 McDonalds meals.  No biggie size.

212

You should have been around during Carter. All tanks in Germany were limited to 30 minutes of fuel per month. Crews were able to fire their main gun once a year. This, BTW, was during the Cold War. Readiness in Korea was worse. Thankfully our enemies didn't know how bad things were.

Posted by: Sub-Tard at August 09, 2011 04:49 PM (0M3AQ)

 

Trust me.  They knew.  They just waited too long.  They were so shocked by Reagan's aggressiveness, that many plans were immediately dumped.  They knew with him in power, they would be paying a much much higher price for their "excursions". 

213 Tough call.
Posted by: backhoe at August 09, 2011 05:03 PM

Not so tough, unless you're an "in fairness" guy like Ed "poppin' Fresh" Morrissey or one of those thoughtful dudes at NRO.

Treason is a crime, and a good argument can be made that a number of Osama Obama's actions -- and very likely some instigated by him through agencies like the DoJ -- reach that bar.

As I recall, impeachment can be instituted for "high crimes and misdemeanors." Add a few felonies along the way (in his campaign, perjurious statements, etc.), and you'd have enough for the Chicago Jesus to leave the White House in manacles.

Remember that Nixon would have been impeached for less, and only avoided that fate by resigning. Of course Congress was full of patriotic Americans back then....

214

 I know! I'll try to shoot down a moving air/space/alien/craft coming in for a landing hundreds of feet over my head. First time for everything don't ya know....."(makes no effort to track or lead target)

When he could have just aimed at the fucking structure.

Full episodes available at TNT! New season next fucking summer!

215 It's a fucking Country Club, no other word for it. With those dumbass taxpayers paying the bill plus the tip. Then they look out across the fruited plain and called us all rubes and idiots.

216 Look.  Everybody knows this all has an easy fix.

Foreign aid and defense.  Cut them both and voila, problem solved.

Easy peasy.  Now, can't we just get a nice bipartisan agreement on this?

WTF reason for all this chit-chat?

217 218 One of the things I have learned today, is that the per diem for federal workers should be cut to equal 3 McDonalds meals.  No biggie size.
  Hey, I travel to countries where McDonalds is a treat. Go ahead a cut the per diem, but I want $50 a day for immodium. I also want business class tickets for flights of 8 hours and more. You try flying for 20 hours plus a day and see how you like it.

218 Sub-tard.

Oh boy, do I remember the Carter years.
Went to Boot Camp 01 December 1977
Retired August of last year.

But no matter how deeply we were cut in budgets, failure to perform the mission was never an option for us.
Someone upthread said to declare a snow emergency, and have non-essential federal personnel stay home.
I would love to see that.

But then again, there just has to be some self esteem issues at home when someones child naturally sees them as a hero, and then finds out that their job position is "Non-Essential"

219

What does the Department of Agriculture do, other than hand out money?

Discriminate!

Oh, wait, that's just a way to make sure we have to hand out money later.

220 Remember that Nixon would have been impeached for less, and only avoided that fate by resigning. Of course Congress was full of patriotic Americans back then....

Posted by: MrScribbler at August 09, 2011 05:10 PM (YjjrR)

Nixon was a Republican, they're not invulnerable to impeachanite.

221

Remember when, for many people, the most striking aspect of the Clarence Thomas hearings was the discovery of how thick the bureaucracy in Washington was, as evidenced by the references to "assistant to the assistant undersecretary of ..." in the testimony?

Most people have no idea.

222 Ever fired a rocket launcher? At a horizontal aim, the backblast feels like a firm swat from God. Elevating it almost vertical would seriously fuck you up.

223 Who the fuck is Justin Bieber? Seems he and his girlfriend have nude statues. Like I said, who the fuck is Justin Bieber?

224

How many private sector jobs have been lost in the past three years?  How many Federal sector jobs.

 

Try reducing Federal level employment to 2000 levels for a starter.  Eliminate the massive numbers of contractors , who do the work of the Federal government since Federal workers just gather dust.  Or fire the Feds and replace them with the contractors.

 

 

The first step is to institute some sort of civil service exam so the government no longer serves as an affirmative action program.  If you look at the per centage of minorities employed by the Federal government the numbers are so out of whack its incredible.

 

The waste in SSI is incredible and Medicaid is a joke.  Abolish food stamps and SSI.

 

Then cut off federal research grants and business subsidies, finally end federal loan guaranties of any type.

I guarantee you the budget would balance.  But our politicians will not stop spending.  Its the source of their power.

 

We need term limits and a balanced bnudget amendment that would if violated (unless there is a declaration of war-not a funding of kinetic energy, a foodfight resolution etc) would result in the immediate scheduling of elections which the sitting members of the government would not be eligible to stand for, including the president.

 

One term is enough.  Further we should insure Congress does not assemble for more than one month each year.  This would prevent the constant expansion and overreach that tells us the kind of light bulb we need, or the kind of toilets, or if we can drink soda.

225

We seem to have forgotten an important meme in all this discussion:

What if Bush did this or it happened on his watch?

Enjoy...

226 Redneck Olympics faces lawsuit over name

 

Seems the Olympic Committee doesn't like rednecks. Shoosh, Greece is bankrupt and the IOC is suing rednecks. WTF?

227 I am really late to this thread and have not read all the previous comments, but I am compelled to speak.......re the government seeking to find Medicaid fraud, Ace is right, it does not exist, at all.....I am constantly baffled @ the # of patients that present with Medicaid as their primary insurance, when they otherwise look and behave as if they could afford insurance, particularly in the OB population.....shit, if Uncle Sugar is giving away free shit, why not suck the teat, until it goes dry.

228 Fucking with my per diem will only cause me to insure I spend it all. My wife looks forward to her per diem bonuses. Do you want to make her mad or something?

I think what you'd find is that the costs in terms of personnel (and some costs associated with document storage/management) for verifying/tracking the actual expenditures might be more or about the same as the $10 or $15/day that a traveler might manage to go under on a per diem. 

Maybe not, but I suspect it doesn't represent a big savings.


Aside from the doom and gloom aspects of all this, it is interesting to see how different organizations approach cost-cutting.  (I'm not saying the feds are even trying, btw.)  Some organizations preserve personnel but try to run lean, so you have people scrounging for office supplies or whatnot. Other organizations will cut personnel, but they may differ on which type of personnel -- do you cut out admins or do you cut professionals and use consultants?  I think that any given organization the answer may differ. 

I was in a B-school during a big budget crunch and our dean (an organizational mgmt specialist as it happened) chose to reduce personnel costs by not replacing people who left/retired, but he kept our operations budgets pretty much intact.  So at least the folks who remained were not wasting time scrounging for paperclips.  In a way I think it was better for morale.  Of course, his strategy worked because they had good budget projections and knew to start well before the rest of the bone-headed deans who spent like drunken sailors until they hit a crisis. Oh, and our dean also increased revenues by leaning on (and ultimately replacing/upgrade) our   education program staff. 

229 Oh, and our dean also increased revenues by leaning on (and ultimately replacing/upgrade) our  executive education program staff.

fifme

230 No administrative assistants for administration.....

231 Re: Falling Skies - I can overlook the bit with the RPG - yeah, it was a joke he never even tried to lead the aircraft.  Otherwise, a well-done series.  I kind of like the viewers not being omniscient, and having to figure out crap as we go along just like the characters.

Plus one of the actors (Drew Roy) is from a little town about 45 minutes from me, so I have to cheer for the home team

232 Fucking with my per diem will only cause me to insure I spend it all. My wife looks forward to her per diem bonuses. Do you want to make her mad or something?

So cutting costs is OK, so long as it's not *your* ox that gets gored?

233 @240
I think he was being facetious in response to my suggestion that eliminating flat rate per diems might not represent a big savings. 

234 The amazing thing to me is that even now and even in the private sector, there are tons of lazy, shiftless non-union employees.  Tons.  Sometimes when hubby comes home with a story about someone from his office or when I deal with a particularly useless employee in whatever sector, I have to jump on the internet to double-check the unemployment rate. 

235 My farmer died.

236 You know, I REALLY don't know where that BS keeps coming from. We pay $270 for standard family BC/BS a MONTH. [...] Does that REALLY sound so "24 carat plated" to you?

Posted by: CoolCzech at August 09, 2011 04:40 PM (kUaEF)

Um, actually, yes.  That's a pretty good deal. 

237 244.............it is not Gold-plated and sounds like a good price.....3600/yr, depending on what it covers,. not bad.....what we all need is to pay more out of pocket, for everyday things and have insurance for the bad stuff, it is really quite simple......

238 Um, actually, yes. That's a pretty good deal.

It's way the fuck better than "pretty good."

I'm not on my wife's policy, because I'm rich, bitch, but if she got pregnant, thereby automatically kicking in a "family" policy (that still doesn't include me), her required monthly contribution would increase by more than twice $270.

Of course there's no reason anyone who works for the government would know how horribly they're ass-raping everyone outside it, every day, over and over again. Parasites' odds of survival would be hindered by empathy, so they don't have it.

239

A quote I read this morning from Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi (he was talking about the Vicksburg National Cemetery)--it was all I could do not to scare the commuters around me from my laughter:

 

"The grounds are nobly situated; being very high and commanding a wide prospect of land and river. They are tastefully laid out in broad terraces, with winding roads and paths; and there is profuse adornment in the way of semi-tropical shrubs and flowers,' and in one part is a piece of native wild-wood, left just as it grew, and, therefore, perfect in its charm. Everything about this cemetery suggests the hand of the national Government. The Government's work is always conspicuous for excellence, solidity, thoroughness, neatness. The Government does its work well in the first place, and then takes care of it."

240

@133: "Cigar... do you prefer EMS or maduro? You win the largest prize."

Please, every one knows to ask for a Le Winsky.  It's a presidente.

241 Seems the Olympic Committee doesn't like rednecks. Shoosh, Greece is bankrupt and the IOC is suing rednecks. WTF?

They'll have to do what East Dublin, GA did. Change the name to "redneck games".

242 Great point by Ace regarding "the dog that didn't bark."   As a trial attorney, I have often run into the evidentiary problem of making a point that certain evidence ought to exist, and the fact that it doesn't exist is telling.  If the plaintiff is right that they told and told their stock broker (or trustee, or lawyer, or investment adviser, etc.) that they didn't want to invest in risky stocks prior to the downturn in 2000 (or 2008 or 2011), shouldn't there be some document somewhere that documents that?   A letter?   A memo?  An email?   A note to self?   Something?  

How come the mainstream media doesn't notice the same lack of evidence of a federal government bureaucracy cut to the bone?  Oh, right, because they, like an adversary in litigation, are too busy zealously advocating for their client, which in this case is Obama or, more precisely, Big Government, Inc.

243 The dog that didn't bark...like O's sternly worded letter written to the Treasury back in 2008? (Or Freddie, or Fannie, or whoever)

244

@207: "I was dazzled at the previously undicovered anti-aircraft capabilities of what was principally a cheap anti-armor/light fortification weapon. If I was standing near the tarmac or a landing zone I'd have a decent chance of ruining someone's day while landing or taking off. But if said land-ee was about 20 stories up, my chances for glory diminish somewhat."

We respectfully disagree.

245 Wait: Did anybody notice that the JEF is a stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure?

246 “Not much further we can cut” seems like a hanging curve ball,

No, not really... there's some hope that someone might miss a hanging curve ball; not much but some.

It's more like putting a tee out on the plate and setting the ball on it... anyone from the age of 6 and up can come have a swing and be pretty confident of smacking something here.

247 There are so much to learn from your post here, Uma, well done.

248 Medicare go to many people besides the elderly. MANY

249 Blue Hen {post 69} - I was in {USN} until '91, when I got a medical discharge: base pay x 2 x years of service. Lump sum under $30,000, of which the IRS took a 3d of off the top. I had over 11 years in and was an E-5 - a BU2.
Years later, after it was too late, I got a letter saying "Ooops, we weren't supposed to take that 3d, you have until {date that had already come and gone} to file and get it back.
While I was getting my medical discharge, I saw healthy E-5's and up getting MORE {don't know their formula} to either separate/not re-up. And they changed the rules re; VA health care - the ONE thing I didn't get screwed over on!!!
This decimated our military, and set us up for 9/11 IMO. And I predicted elsewhere that they would repeat this under Pres. Obama.  Sounds like I was right, sad.
If they attempted this with unionized Fed. workers? Yes, it would help, but because they are unionized, they'd raise SUCH a stink, it would be chealer to just keep them!!!
Attrition is {IMO} the only way to resolve this imbalance, but since Pres. Obama changed the baseline, it wouldn't make much difference.

250 This thread may be dead but I'll stick my two cents in anyway.

It's not that they don't TRY to weed out the fraud, it's that they don't have the personnel/resources to thoroughly vet every application.

I once had to have a kidney operation. I was broke and in a low paying job, no liquid assets, no family and no credit.
I also had previous bills for the hospital stay that discovered the need for this operation. (unpaid)

This qualified me for medicaid. You have to be in arrears for medical services (which isn't as easy as you might think) to a certain amount AND be indigent AND need the procedure (no free boob jobs or penis implants).

Again, I qualified. Still I was visited by an investigator because I owned a decrepit sail boat (bad shape, unable to sell and unable to scrap as it cost more than I could afford to pay. Enviro concerns ya know) and it was registered in another state.

I had to jump through hoops to show that I did live where I said I did AND  the condition of the boat etc.

I was surprised by the visit as like most everyone, I assumed that unless you gave and address in a well to do neighborhood or tried to say you earned less than you actually did, they pretty much approved anything without oversight.  Well they do.

However given the time this inspector had to take just more my piddling little case, I can see how they wouldn't be able to look at every app only the ones with discrepancies and probably not all of those.

251

"Has there been any grousing that federal employees are missing expected pay raises and promotions, being forced to work at their old salaries through this crisis?"

Actually, federal salaries (at least in my Department) are frozen for the next three years.  No salaries increases.

Not hearing any/much grousing?  Probably because we know it's necessary during these tough economic times.

252 Get rid of BaseLine Budgeting.

"Shared Sacrifice",
How bout we start w/ the politicians in D.C.
Cut there benefits, make them pay for everything.
Stop their pay until our credit rating is back to AAA.
Then drop their pay down to $100,000.....it is almost $200,000....which is about 4 times what the average American makes.

Get rid of some of Obama's Czars.....

Plenty of other places we could cut.

253 @Consul-At-Arms

Your pay may be frozen...but can you move up a pay grade??
Or up a step level within your pay grade??

GS11 to GS12 perhaps??
So yes your pay is frozen at GS11, but if you get promoted to GS12, well you got a pay raise.

254 ....in both the area of defense and non-defense domestic spending, there is "not much further we can cut."

Bullshit.

I can think of five things to eliminate right off the top of my head: Dept of Energy, Dept of Education, HUD, and DHS.

255 Woops, that's four

256 You can cut the war department in its entirety back to the end of the clinton presidency. That saves half a trillion per annum right there! fat chance with every congressional district involved in war pork, and the committees involved in thos appropriations entirely bankrolled by the war industry. eliminate the bush tax cuts, in about a year they will be gone unless renewed, and another 1/4 trillion in savings. social security pays for itself, the amount of sheer ignorance about the simplest matters that one finds on blog posts would even make a sheep blush.

257 @MightyMax (264)

"Your pay may be frozen...but can you move up a pay grade??
Or up a step level within your pay grade??

GS11 to GS12 perhaps??
So yes your pay is frozen at GS11, but if you get promoted to GS12, well you got a pay raise."
Actually, since I'm an FSO, I'm on the FS payscale, which (like the military) is an up-or-out system.  Promotions aren't frozen (just like the military) and I think step increases are still possible, but no cost-of-living, &tc. annual increases.   As for the civil service folks on the General Schedule (GS) payscale, rank is in position rather than person.  That is, you get paid at the grade of the job position you hold.  In only relatively few jobs is it possible to get promoted within a position; those I've heard of have been in the 9 to 12 range where a recent graduate is put through a sort of training and apprenticeship and they receive promotions up to the higher grade limit of the job.   Otherwise, if a GS civil service employee wants a higher paygrade, they have to find a job vacancy at that grade and apply for the job.   In the Foreign Service, like the military, assignments are for a set number of years/months and then you move on, usually to another foreign deployment but spending (on average) about one-third of your career in a domestic assignment.  The maximum time you can spend in the U.S. at a stretch is, I believe, five years.   There remains a shortage (dating back to the "peace dividend" of the Clinton administration) of officers in the middle grades of the Foreign Service, so stopping promotions would be rather stupid actually.

258 Cuts maybe Depts. of Education, Energy, Commerce, Homeland Security,  Labor, Transportation,  National Institute of the Arts just a few off the top of my head. Sell the Post Office, Freddie mac, Sallie Mae,  Fanny Mae, NASA, & A few others I can't think of off the top of my head. That should save billions of $ and only be a start. After that we could go after the real cuts, say in about a month.

259

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