February 28, 2014

Deeply Upsetting: Report Details Abuse of Taxpayer Money at Treasury, and Supervisors Who Did Nothing About It
— Ace

I don't even want to link things like this. It's too maddening.

There is political agitation, and then there is stuff that really agitates you, and sends your blood pressure shooting up.

Officials in two Treasury Department bureaus fraudulently enriched themselves at taxpayer expense, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.

The assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Public Debt who supervised 108 employees in the bureau's West Virginia office “was committing egregious time and attendance fraud," depriving taxpayers of nearly $100,000 in salary for hours she did not work, according to one of several Treasury Department inspector general documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, most of which had previously gone unreported.

The official, despite being paid an average yearly salary of nearly $170,000, "arrives at work approximately two hours late and/or takes two-hour lunch breaks and departs work at approximately 4:00 P.M. and does not take leave," and "consistently conducts personal business involving the Humane Society during work hours," IG investigators found after verifying a tip from an employee who said the top official "abuses her power by being absent whenever desired."

Her supervisor, the deputy commissioner, knew about the absences but did nothing, the investigators said.

...

Another inspector general investigation found that at the Office of Thrift Supervision, a GS-15 employee -- one of the highest ranks a federal career civil servant can obtain -- agreed to be transferred from an office near Los Angeles to an office near San Francisco and took $10,000 in relocation expense reimbursement, but then never moved.

She also submitted massive travel bills for routine travel to her new office, including hotel stays, to the OTS, which approved them.

She “submitted travel vouchers costing the OTS ... $87,047 in travel that would not have incurred if she had relocated," investigators wrote.

As with the Hines case, supervisors were aware of the wrongdoing, but did nothing to correct it.

There's more at the link.

Each of these ladies seemed to think they could get away with fairly brazen actions.

That doesn't bother me so much: You know my basic philosophy-- People Are Awful.

Here's what does bother me: They were right to believe that they could get away with brazen actions.

How did they know they could get away with this? What is so wrong with this system that federal workers know they can do whatever they like without having to worry about losing their jobs?

Posted by: Ace at 10:39 AM | Comments (268)
Post contains 440 words, total size 3 kb.

1 And nothing will be done about it.

Posted by: Y-not at February 28, 2014 10:40 AM (zDsvJ)

2 Imagine if these gub'mint slugs had to show up at a real job every day and produce actual results.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 28, 2014 10:41 AM (8ZskC)

3 Where do I get a job like this?

Posted by: Hobbitopoly at February 28, 2014 10:41 AM (fk1A8)

4 They're both Democrats, no doubt.

Posted by: LGoPs at February 28, 2014 10:41 AM (L7t3w)

5 Nothing shocking.

Posted by: NCKate at February 28, 2014 10:41 AM (4KFgL)

6 #2 What are you, some sort of sexist racist!?!

Posted by: aka.john at February 28, 2014 10:41 AM (zPa3K)

7

Each of these ladies seemed to think they could get away with fairly brazen actions.

That doesn't bother me so much: You know my basic philosophy-- People Are Awful.

 

-

 

The answer isn't getting rid of fraud and abuse.  The answer is getting rid of entire federal departments.  Government can't do anything efficiently, so it has to be limited    to those activities that are authorized by that old piece of paper.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 28, 2014 10:41 AM (sBUAE)

8 Forget about it Jake, its Chicago on the Potomac.

Posted by: Angel with a sword at February 28, 2014 10:42 AM (hpgw1)

9 Double dipping is for pikers.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 28, 2014 10:42 AM (8ZskC)

10 IamshockedshockedIsay

Posted by: eleven at February 28, 2014 10:42 AM (fsLdt)

11 You rubes still have too much money if you are still on the internets.

Posted by: Feds at February 28, 2014 10:42 AM (nsOJa)

12 Now that we have the Papacy, let us enjoy it....

Posted by: Richard McEnroe at February 28, 2014 10:42 AM (XO6WW)

13 What does a scorpion do?  I can't remember.

Posted by: eleven at February 28, 2014 10:42 AM (fsLdt)

14 How did they know they could get away with this?

Were they in a union?

Posted by: HR at February 28, 2014 10:42 AM (/kI1Q)

15 Shit she should have just told them she was working for the CIA and that she couldn't make it to work.

Posted by: The EPA's Highest Paid Employee at February 28, 2014 10:43 AM (Aif/5)

16 There is political agitation, and then there is stuff that really agitates you, and sends your blood pressure shooting up. In many ways, isn't this also the story of Barack Obama?

Posted by: Citizen X at February 28, 2014 10:43 AM (7ObY1)

17 It's Friday. I am not looking.

Posted by: Joey Biden at February 28, 2014 10:43 AM (RJMhd)

18 She “submitted travel vouchers costing the OTS ... $87,047 in travel that would not have incurred if she had relocated," investigators wrote.


Taxpayers should be grateful that they didn't also have to pay for cab fare between her office and her non-existent Los Angeles home.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 28, 2014 10:43 AM (8ZskC)

19 Maybe she was late to work every day because of her secret career with the CIA.

Posted by: Gristle Encased Head at February 28, 2014 10:43 AM (+lsX1)

20 Sheriff Joe and AG Holder will get right on it.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 10:43 AM (XUKZU)

21 They should pull any protection workers the average person does not get.

When I become dictator, er- president- that would be my first official act.

Given their position, they should be even more accountable than average to the taxpayers.

Yet they continue to fleece us because they are arrogant and know they can't be fired.

Posted by: Marcus T at February 28, 2014 10:44 AM (GGCsk)

22 The Left honestly believes it's ok to defraud the taxpayers if you are a woman, or black, or gay or can make a plausible claim to be an "oppressed" group. You are just getting some back for all the times The Man you are your people over in the past.

Posted by: Flatbush Joe at February 28, 2014 10:44 AM (ZPrif)

23

The answer is simple:  The system is broken.

 

Some type of revolution must occur.  Whether it's an Article V convention, whether it's the death or rejuvenation of the GOP, and all French GOP are purged.  And I don't mean those we disagree with 10% of the time, I mean the fucking Specters; Crists; Lugars.

 

And we need new leadership.  McConnell and Boehner have to fucking go.

 

And we need to stop calling idiots like Rubin, Noonan, and yes, even fucking Krauthammer "intelligent."

 

Just like w/ judges, where do you go to find true conservatives???  Right back to fucking Reagan.

 

Mark Levin can lead the fucking charge.  I have heard no one with his insight or intelligence on these issues.  Krauthammer can keep fucking Mondale.

Posted by: prescient11 at February 28, 2014 10:44 AM (tVTLU)

24 I bet the second lady walks, if she kept management updated on a reason, like her house didn't sell and they approved the travel ....

Posted by: Jean at February 28, 2014 10:44 AM (4JkHl)

25 Can't talk...golfin' and dismantlin' the US military! //Bronk O'bama America's Golf Pro and Surplus LIquidator

Posted by: sven10077 at February 28, 2014 10:44 AM (TE35l)

26 This is a story? Seriously?

Posted by: Michelle Obama, Face Smeared with Wagyu, Lobster and Drawn Butter at February 28, 2014 10:44 AM (8ZskC)

27 Stimulus, people. Just think of the,jobs tbis fraud generated.

Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at February 28, 2014 10:44 AM (6bMel)

28 a hundred or two hundred k???... what pikers

Posted by: ex-Manager of Bell City, CA at February 28, 2014 10:45 AM (Q6pxP)

29 I'm going to rightly assume they are still working at their jobs.





Posted by: EC at February 28, 2014 10:45 AM (GQ8sn)

30 I've worked in city and state and county government. There are always people who pull this shit and they usually get away with it.

Posted by: Judge Pug at February 28, 2014 10:45 AM (6Nj7A)

31 Office of Thrift Supervision

That's a nice touch.

Posted by: Waterhouse at February 28, 2014 10:45 AM (t8ySh)

32 You have to cut them some slack, they gave up a lot to work in public service.

Posted by: Gristle Encased Head at February 28, 2014 10:46 AM (+lsX1)

33 Yeah, but they hire themselves as consultants?

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 28, 2014 10:46 AM (6bMeY)

34 The last two posts should be combined.  How does Hillary get away with it?

Posted by: dfbaskwill at February 28, 2014 10:46 AM (ndlFj)

35 Yeah, this is a story?

Posted by: Bo the Imperial Dog, Face Smeared with Wagyu, Lobster and Drawn Butter at February 28, 2014 10:46 AM (8ZskC)

36 I'm going to rightly assume they are still working at their jobs.

For some value of "work."

Posted by: HR at February 28, 2014 10:46 AM (/kI1Q)

37

And their supervisors did nothing...

because they did not want to appear to be hypocrites when they get caught doing the same thing.

Posted by: Mikey NTH -Clean Up You Caucus! Rumor Soap with Lathering Phosphates at the Outrage Outlet! at February 28, 2014 10:46 AM (hLRSq)

38 The majority of disability applicants are government employees. Especially the services divisions and not the clerical.

They know the ways that work to formulate the application.

They have access through their co workers and previous successful applicants on where and how and what to say and what physicians will help out.

The know there's little or no fraud or claim investigation, the bureaus involved don't have the manpower or the money allotted to do so.

And that's on top of any pension.

Posted by: Some Idiot Liberal at February 28, 2014 10:46 AM (LSDdO)

39 What we need are more Government unions.

Posted by: maddogg at February 28, 2014 10:46 AM (xWW96)

40 The age of austerity is over wingnuts.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 28, 2014 10:46 AM (6bMeY)

41 $170,000 a year?  One can't be bothered to at least show up to their phone-baloney job for less than $300,000

Posted by: Moochelle at February 28, 2014 10:47 AM (Q6pxP)

42 "It is not clear whether either woman still works for the federal government."


Translation:  They have been promoted.

Posted by: Brak Hussar Obamalamadingdong at February 28, 2014 10:47 AM (tv7DV)

43 Breaking News!!!  This just in!!! Kerry and Clown Carney warn Putin to not cross "the line."  I'm assuming he means the Massachusetts border.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 10:48 AM (XUKZU)

44 >>>The official, despite being paid an average yearly salary of nearly $170,000, "arrives at work approximately two hours late and/or takes two-hour lunch breaks and departs work at approximately 4:00 P.M. and does not take leave," and "consistently conducts personal business involving the Humane Society during work hours<<<



Now that's a role model!

Oops, gotta run, tee time.

Posted by: SCOAMT, rolling out of bed at 10AM at February 28, 2014 10:48 AM (UIxS+)

45 These bitchez beg for those tracking chips in that other story earlier!

Posted by: runningrn at February 28, 2014 10:48 AM (o6g4X)

46 How did they know they could get away with this? What is so wrong with this system that federal workers know they can do whatever they like without having to worry about losing their jobs? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, now THAT is an easy question to answer. How did they know ? Because they work for the government. Because that's where the money changing hands has no ownership by anyone. Its just tax money. It's not MY money, so what difference does it make.

Posted by: deadrody at February 28, 2014 10:48 AM (b2D8X)

47 How much of tax fraud is IRS employees?

They know who where and how investigations is done.

And even if one happens, they probably have a hook somewhere to either pay them off or get them called off.

Posted by: Some Idiot Liberal at February 28, 2014 10:48 AM (LSDdO)

48 Also, greater corruption like this is a predictable consequence of ever more Diversity. It was predictable because many predicted. The less people have in common with each other (ie the more Diverse society is) -- then the less guilt they feel from ripping off other citizens. Those people are just strangers and Others who don't matter and who probably are bad people who have screwed you and your people in the past. They probably deserve it. Scandi socialism has worked better than most other socialistic countries because they are small, ethnically homogeneous societies. Diversity=Corruption It also equals greater variety in food and music. There are good things from Diversity. But increased Corruption is inevitable.

Posted by: Flatbush Joe at February 28, 2014 10:49 AM (ZPrif)

49

We're all tax slaves on the govt plantation, keeping them in their style for which they have become accustomed.


This post needs the picture of that dude in the bathtub with his champagne. Was that Treasury too?  either way.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 28, 2014 10:49 AM (gorVZ)

50 Breaking News!!! This just in!!! Kerry and Clown Carney warn Putin to not cross "the line." I'm assuming he means the Massachusetts border.


You mean like this, comrades?

*Touches toe over line*

Posted by: Vladimir Putin at February 28, 2014 10:49 AM (8ZskC)

51 The one group of people exempt from the rules in the Soviet Union are the apparatchiks In Washington, particularly, the servants of the State are physically, as well as morally, removed from the rest of the SSR. The changeover of the place is virtually complete.

Posted by: tubal at February 28, 2014 10:49 AM (YEQ2h)

52 The official, despite being paid an average yearly salary of nearly $170,000, "arrives at work approximately two hours late and/or takes two-hour lunch breaks and departs work at approximately 4:00 P.M. and does not take leave," and "consistently conducts personal business involving the Humane Society during work hours



PETA sleeper agent.


Posted by: EC at February 28, 2014 10:50 AM (GQ8sn)

53 You know who else has been living large off of taxpayer largesse? Her royal arse, Michelle Obama.

Posted by: runningrn at February 28, 2014 10:50 AM (o6g4X)

54 You see, what we're actually trying to do here is, we're trying to get a feel for how people spend their day at work... so, if you would, would you walk us through a typical day, for you?

Posted by: Bob Slydell at February 28, 2014 10:50 AM (Q6pxP)

55 But some how, they can never find anything that needs to be cut. Or they cut a few million and act like heroes.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That (Microaggressive SoCon) at February 28, 2014 10:50 AM (LSDdO)

56 That's nice Euromaidan PR ‏@EuromaidanPR Russia said it will give RU passports to Ukr's Berkut - the disbanded riot police. |PR News #russiainvadesukraine pic.twitter.com/Jn2l2D92pM

Posted by: Flatbush Joe at February 28, 2014 10:50 AM (ZPrif)

57 How are those TPS reports coming along?


Posted by: EC at February 28, 2014 10:51 AM (GQ8sn)

58 Moscow on the Potomac. Hey, that would be a good movie title.

Posted by: tubal at February 28, 2014 10:51 AM (YEQ2h)

59 It would appear that Federal service is attracting all of the Wrong Types of People.

Posted by: navybrat at February 28, 2014 10:51 AM (AW7Gr)

60 Officials in two Treasury Department bureaus fraudulently enriched themselves at taxpayer expense,

This sort of behavior is generally referred to as 'government.'

Posted by: Methos at February 28, 2014 10:51 AM (hO9ad)

61 22 The Left honestly believes it's ok to defraud the taxpayers if you are a woman, or black, or gay or can make a plausible claim to be an "oppressed" group. You are just getting some back for all the times The Man you are your people over in the past. Posted by: Flatbush Joe at February 28, 2014 02:44 PM (ZPrif) Good point. Isn't this the logical endpoint for the ridiculous "justice" movement ? Or should I say, the "ends justify the means" movement. When everything you value is informed by your activist sense of "justice", you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want.

Posted by: deadrody at February 28, 2014 10:51 AM (b2D8X)

62 You fucked up.  You trusted us.

Posted by: Barry 'Otter' Soetoro at February 28, 2014 10:51 AM (Q6pxP)

63 Photo of likely culprit mentioned in the article: Debbie Hines: http://www.legalspeaks.com/2012/12/happy-holidays/

Posted by: zombie at February 28, 2014 10:52 AM (mizYg)

64 But some how, they can never find anything that needs to be cut. Or they cut a few million and act like heroes.


No, they cut the growth rate during some future administration and act like heroes.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 28, 2014 10:52 AM (8ZskC)

65 I sense a promotion is in the works.

Posted by: LoneStarHeeb at February 28, 2014 10:52 AM (BZAd3)

66 And yet if you are 5 dollars off on your taxes they will fuck your world up for the next 3 decades.

Posted by: Lauren at February 28, 2014 10:52 AM (hFL/3)

67 Barry and Michelle are the biggest grifters we have ever had darken the doorways of the Whitehouse! I denounce myself!

Posted by: runningrn at February 28, 2014 10:52 AM (o6g4X)

68 Isn't this part of of bureaucrats becoming the ruling class?

Posted by: Seems legit at February 28, 2014 10:52 AM (A98Xu)

69 It would appear that Federal service is attracting all of the Wrong Types of People.


Do tell.

Posted by: Friedrich Hayek at February 28, 2014 10:52 AM (8ZskC)

70 In the end, they will beat the humor out of all of us. They said you never saw a happy or smiling Soviet on the streets, back in the day.

Posted by: tubal at February 28, 2014 10:53 AM (YEQ2h)

71 41 $170,000 a year? One can't be bothered to at least show up to their phone-baloney job for less than $300,000 I couldn't agree more.

Posted by: Moochelle Antoinette at February 28, 2014 10:53 AM (7ObY1)

72 Office of Thrift Supervision That's a nice touch. Posted by: Waterhouse at February 28, 2014 02:45 PM (t8ySh) It really adds that certain je ne sais quoi doesn't it? How do they get away with it? Because the persons who complain about other people doing it get fired. Also, it's not like they have to meet budget. I mean, the goal is to spend more than your budget so you can show that you deserve a bigger budget next year. There's no benefit to playing by the rules. Seriously regretting numerous life choices right now.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Mmmm. Blondies with whipped cream. at February 28, 2014 10:53 AM (VtjlW)

73 This just in!!! Kerry and Clown Carney warn Putin to
not cross "the line."

Vlad will probably stick his dick over the border, and then ask if Obama sees something he likes.

Posted by: Ian S. at February 28, 2014 10:53 AM (B/VB5)

74 Pravda admitting now that Russian troops have landed in Crimea. I think the pretend phase of the invasion might be almost over.

Posted by: Flatbush Joe at February 28, 2014 10:53 AM (ZPrif)

75 Speaking as a former attorney who was also sort of a government bureaucrat  (Navy Supply Officer for 4 years in the late 80s - early 90s), I am in the Advanced Shakespearean Camp of "first, we kill all the lawyers, then kill all the fucking bureaucrats".  But I am a bit of an extremist.

Posted by: Sharkman at February 28, 2014 10:54 AM (TM1p8)

76 "53 You know who else has been living large off of taxpayer largesse? Her royal arse, Michelle Obama." Oh, but she works. She just yesterday issued a decree that schools must stop using "junk food" advertisements on school property. I'm not sure where the hell she gets that authority, but "shut up," they explained.

Posted by: Lauren at February 28, 2014 10:54 AM (hFL/3)

77 Gee, I wonder where that "task force" money for Obama's idiotic My Brother's Keeper will go. Oh, hey, anyone know where all the TARP money went?

Posted by: Seems legit at February 28, 2014 10:54 AM (A98Xu)

78 Don't make me come over there, Vladimir.

Posted by: Lurch at February 28, 2014 10:55 AM (8ZskC)

79 "consistently conducts personal business involving the Humane Society during work hours,"

It's for the kittehs.

Posted by: MoveOn.wingnutz at February 28, 2014 10:55 AM (KQp38)

80 Whether it's an Article V convention, whether it's the death or rejuvenation of the GOP, and all French GOP are purged. And I don't mean those we disagree with 10% of the time, I mean the fucking Specters; Crists; Lugars. Last I checked, all three of them have been purged in one way or another.

Posted by: Hollowpoint at February 28, 2014 10:55 AM (SY2Kh)

81 The answer isn't getting rid of fraud and abuse. The answer is getting rid of entire federal departments. Government can't do anything efficiently, so it has to be limited to those activities that are authorized by that old piece of paper. Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 28, 2014 02:41 PM (sBUAE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Because the government is unaccountable to anyone, and becomes moreso, exponentially as the size and scope of government increases, the best way to combat fraud and abuse of government programs is to make the government as small as humanly possible. And to push all control to the smallest sphere possible. Town government is much more responsive than county, state, regional, or federal government. And the effects of fraud or abuse are both easier to recognize, cause more outrage because it is committed against your neighbors, and is probably easier to address. Hence the very reason for small government from a waste, fraud, and abuse standpoint. Nevermind the liberty side of the argument.

Posted by: deadrody at February 28, 2014 10:55 AM (b2D8X)

82 Hillary is turning into Yoda.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 28, 2014 10:55 AM (6bMeY)

83 Tax Strike

How much worse could it be?

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That (Microaggressive SoCon) at February 28, 2014 10:55 AM (LSDdO)

84 Gee, I wonder where that "task force" money for Obama's idiotic My Brother's Keeper will go.


Hmm.  Not a clue.

Posted by: ACORN at February 28, 2014 10:55 AM (8ZskC)

85 63 Photo of likely culprit mentioned in the article: That is, unless there are two different "Debbie Hines"s who are legal experts working in DC. Doubtful.

Posted by: zombie at February 28, 2014 10:56 AM (mizYg)

86

As long as she was an Obama contributor, I'm sure everything will be just fine.

Posted by: LoneStarHeeb at February 28, 2014 10:56 AM (BZAd3)

87

Seriously regretting numerous life choices right now.

 

For reelz.  I wasted all that education and attempted entrepreneurship.  Should have taken that "Gaming the System for Fun and Profit" correspondence course. 

 

It only cost one soul.

Posted by: Frumious Bandersnatch at February 28, 2014 10:56 AM (A0sHn)

88 Tear it all down. With a fucking wrecking ball.

Posted by: LGoPs at February 28, 2014 10:56 AM (L7t3w)

89 Hey, this RESET button seems to have stopped working.

Posted by: Sir Hillary Edmund Rodham Clinton at February 28, 2014 10:56 AM (8ZskC)

90 The Interpreter ‏@Interpreter_Mag Ukraine Liveblog: #BREAKING - Ukraine gov't says country is invaded by 2000 Russian soldiers http://bit.ly/1dJNNns

Posted by: Flatbush Joe at February 28, 2014 10:56 AM (ZPrif)

91 Hey, anyone seen where that stimulus money went?

Posted by: Seems legit at February 28, 2014 10:57 AM (A98Xu)

92 Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.

Posted by: Obama For Suckers at February 28, 2014 10:58 AM (e8kgV)

93 Let he who is without a history of embezzlement from his employer cast the first stone.

Posted by: Stuff Jesus Would Say If He Worked In Government, Vol. 2 at February 28, 2014 10:58 AM (8ZskC)

94 From Zombie's link; "LetÂ’s also think of ways that collectively we can make 2013 a better progressive political year for our country and fellow Americans." O_O

Posted by: Lauren at February 28, 2014 10:58 AM (hFL/3)

95 We're better off as a people and a nation for them to spend their time saving dogs and watching porn and pretending to move to San Francisco. Hell, all government employees should be given a free Internet connection with auto-erasing browsers. And a 6-hour lunch break. Doing their "job" costs us more than paying $175k for doing nothing.

Posted by: Phinn at February 28, 2014 10:58 AM (xE7Vp)

96 70 In the end, they will beat the humor out of all of us. I agree, and MSDNC is leading the way. Alec Baldwin was right about one thing, there is no humor at MSDNC. The difference between them and FNC is startling in that regard. Flip to MSDNC, somebody is always waving a finger at you and yelling, spittle a-flying. Flip to FNC and you notice the difference. There's some humor on just about every show on FNC. If a host, such as BillO, is inherently not funny, they bring in the likes of Dennis Miller and Greg Gutfeld. And Tingles and the rest all pretend to not know jokes are jokes, and take every word an unperson non-Commie says at literal, face value. All part of the plan.

Posted by: Citizen X at February 28, 2014 10:58 AM (7ObY1)

97 How the hell does a public servent get paid $168,453/year? What the hell kind of special knowledge/skills does she have? Oh, wait, I bet you can't guess: http://www.legalspeaks.com/ "Debbie Hines is a Washington, DC based practicing trial attorney, former Maryland prosecutor and member of the Supreme Court bar who is an expert in criminal law, gun laws and a voting rights advocate, among other areas." Another goddam lawyer. It is long past time to strangle this profession.

Posted by: AmishDude at February 28, 2014 10:58 AM (xSegX)

98 Look, I don't work my ass off for 20 hours a week so I can just throw my money away. ThatÂ’s wasteful. This bills are strictly for me to kiss and put in some stripperÂ’s underwear.

Posted by: Carl Brutananadilewski at February 28, 2014 10:58 AM (Q6pxP)

99 Hillary is turning into Yoda.

-

Monica Lewinski? Slut shame her we will.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 10:58 AM (XUKZU)

100 Posted by: Stuff Jesus Would Say If He Worked In Government, Vol. 2 at HA! Yes, Jesus would have wanted her to have that money.

Posted by: Seems legit at February 28, 2014 10:59 AM (A98Xu)

101 14 How did they know they could get away with this? Were they in a union? Posted by: HR at February 28, 2014 02:42 PM (/kI1Q) Yeah. The DC bar.

Posted by: AmishDude at February 28, 2014 10:59 AM (xSegX)

102 Don't most governments have an agency that deals with invasions?

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 28, 2014 10:59 AM (6bMeY)

103 Upon further consideration, those rioters were acting in a fashion reminiscent of Jengis Can and we fully support the invasion by Russia.

Posted by: John Kerry at February 28, 2014 10:59 AM (tv7DV)

104 This is theft and they should be in criminal court defending themselves. Instead they will probably get a suspension. With pay.

Posted by: Homer Roddick at February 28, 2014 10:59 AM (DAevm)

105 "LetÂ’s also think of ways that collectively we can make 2013 a better progressive political year for our country and fellow Americans."


Concentration camps? 24-hour surveillance? Giant portraits of the SCoaMF?  Help me out here.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 28, 2014 10:59 AM (8ZskC)

106 It is my desire to bring the most relevant legal and political progressive commentary.

Quote from zombie's link.

AA, female, progressive, gov't worker.  Honestly I'm surprised this is a news story.  She's practically nuclear device-proof.

Posted by: bonhomme[/i][/b][/i][/b][/s][/s] at February 28, 2014 11:00 AM (P7Wsr)

107 So.... 2013 is Year One?

Posted by: Bigby's Hangnail at February 28, 2014 11:00 AM (3ZtZW)

108 I think that a picture of Our Obama in every home isn't too much to ask.

Posted by: Debbie at February 28, 2014 11:01 AM (hFL/3)

109 Seriously regretting numerous life choices right now.
-
Yeah, I should have read How to Succeed at Government Without Really Trying.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:01 AM (XUKZU)

110 Hey, don't hate on them because they were efficient.  They could harass more Tea Party organizations in an hour than most people could all day.

Posted by: Lois Lerner at February 28, 2014 11:01 AM (Q6pxP)

111

I'll tell you how.

 

I work for a woman (she's a -14) who comes into work two hours early, opens solitaire, chats with her friends and generally fucks off.  Her supervisor approached her (within my hearing) and asked: "I've been asked to comment on what projects you're working on in the mornings.  Everyone in the Front Office admires your dedication, and none of us have a problem with you earning the credit hours (comp. time) but I just need to let them know what you're working on to justify it."

 

That's the nicest way I've ever heard someone be told 'make up some bullshit and we'll keep paying you.'

 

She freaked.  "What?  You think that just because I'm a black woman that I'm abusing the system?"

 

Her supervisor is no longer in the office. She continues apace.  I keep my head down, because math.

Posted by: Washington Nearsider at February 28, 2014 11:01 AM (fwARV)

112 Old news. I have a cousin who worked in the Dept of Labor. He faked paperwork to show he worked a year in another state in order to retire a year early and at a higher pension payment. Business as usual in D.C.

Posted by: Meremortal at February 28, 2014 11:01 AM (jTKU5)

113 "Oh, but she works. She just yesterday issued a decree that schools must stop using "junk food" advertisements on school property. I'm not sure where the hell she gets that authority, but "shut up," they explained" My bad, Lauren! Gee, I forgot about that. Of course that's why she needs a staff of over 20 people. Unbelievable. Yet she's just a struggling single mom, like so many Americans...

Posted by: runningrn at February 28, 2014 11:01 AM (o6g4X)

114 In velvet, with eyes that follow you everywhere.

Posted by: tubal at February 28, 2014 11:02 AM (YEQ2h)

115

When I worked in a federal agency, I coined the phrase "taxpayer first".  This mildly ironic, tepid little phrase elicited looks from the "lifers" (as I called them, I was a contractor, though indistinguishable from them aside from my complete lack of job security, vastly lesser benefits, and vastly superior background and competence) that you would not believe.

 

Our little office (a renegade outfit of outsiders, with only one lifer as our boss - and the people rotating through that position were the more interesting and respectable sorts) would occasionally submit budgets zeroing out some activity, for whatever reason.  The lifers were beside themselves - you don't just cut a budget because, you know, the activity has been completed, or appears to not be worthwhile, etc.

 

Fraud is one thing.  But the general lack of public minded-ness, the utter lack of "service" mindset for "public servants" - was striking.  This was inside the Beltway.  You can imagine the full range of pathologies that these people exhibited.

 

I still vividly recall the two shutdowns (Gingrich era).  I was quite happy to have some free time, a few days, to get some things done outside the office.  The regulars/lifers were lost, shattered, peeved, disoriented, to think they would be out of "work" for a few days.  Not because, generally, they were hard workers or that into their missions.  But because their "work" was their whole life, and their self-image had trouble with being furloughed as non-essential.

 

Posted by: non-purist at February 28, 2014 11:02 AM (afQnV)

116 Upon further consideration, those rioters were acting in a fashion reminiscent of Jengis Can and we fully support the invasion by Russia.

-

Not so much an invasion as a long weekend.

Posted by: Vlad the Impaler Putin at February 28, 2014 11:02 AM (XUKZU)

117 Remind me again why the Founding Fathers revolted? Seems like they had nothing to complain about compared to this  shit.

Posted by: LGoPs at February 28, 2014 11:02 AM (L7t3w)

118 Her supervisor is no longer in the office. She continues apace. I keep my head down, because math. Math is rayciss. So is grammar.

Posted by: Rachel "The Brave" Jenteal at February 28, 2014 11:03 AM (o6g4X)

119

>>>>Don't most governments have an agency that deals with invasions?

 

We didn't land in the Crimea!

The Crimea landed on US!

 

Ya bin hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Run amuck!

Posted by: Vladimir X at February 28, 2014 11:03 AM (3ZtZW)

120 Working for the feds....even management has a union.

Posted by: BignJames at February 28, 2014 11:03 AM (j7iSn)

121

I'm going to rightly assume they are still working at their jobs.

 

No way !!   Suspended........ WITH PAY of course

Posted by: McCool at February 28, 2014 11:04 AM (nCSwS)

122 Kathleen Sebelius just called to say, Lose their jobs? What kind of nonsense concept is that?

Posted by: AndrewsDad at February 28, 2014 11:04 AM (C2//T)

123 How long with it be until one of you racist tea-bagging pale-faces start talking about Thomas Jefferson and the tree?

Posted by: Elizabeth Warren at February 28, 2014 11:04 AM (Q6pxP)

124 If Obama had daughters, would they look like these government employee perps?

Posted by: Homer Roddick at February 28, 2014 11:04 AM (DAevm)

125 The next Republican president better go into all of these agencies and demand that if you make 3 times the average American's salary, you'd better be able to show why you are so fluking important. The argument is the government HAS to pay these high wages or they won't get good talent. The proverbial 'brain drain.' Well, I don't think a government paper pusher should be making 6 fng figures in the first place. And people like this should do 10 years in PMITA prison too. Along with political witches like Lois Lerner.

Posted by: Schwalbe: The Me-262© at February 28, 2014 11:05 AM (9Bdcz)

126 That reminds me, I'm not going to be in next month. CIA stuff.

Posted by: garrett at February 28, 2014 11:05 AM (ikvz2)

127
Of course this is just your normal fraud with actual receipts.  Think about this:  There are billions of dollars every year that go totally unaccounted for.  Billions.

In this administration, that money is surely being transferred to the comrades of Otyrant.  So large a corruption amount, it is almost impossible to fight against.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 28, 2014 11:06 AM (gorVZ)

128 Russia is invading Ukraine and MSKGB is reporting that 96% Academy Award voters are white and that spells racist!

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:06 AM (XUKZU)

129 Several Environmental Protection Agency employees obstructed an investigation into the mismanagement that allowed a senior EPA official to bilk taxpayers for nearly $900,000, the EPA Inspector General said in a letter to Sen. David Vitter (R., La.) released Wednesday.

EPA employees threatened Inspector General investigators, refused to cooperate, and handed out non-disclosure agreements to other employees to keep them from being interviewed, EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins Jr. wrote in response to a request for information by Vitter on the case.

“Over the past 12 months, there have been several EPA officials who have taken action to prevent [the Office of Investigations] OI from conducting investigations or have attempted to obstruct investigations through intimidation,” Elkins wrote.

John Beale pleaded guilty in September 2013 to time card and travel fraud spanning two decades and amounting to nearly $900,000 in taxpayer dollars. Beale also spent a total of two and a half years absent from work, claiming he was away on CIA business. He was sentenced to 32 months in prison in December 2013.

After closing its criminal investigation, the Inspector General began an audit of the lack of internal controls that allowed Beale to defraud the agency. That audit has implicated a growing number of EPA officials.

“We are starting to see proof of what we had already suspected: John Beale’s time and attendance fraud was the tip of the iceberg at the EPA,” Vitter said in a statement to the Free Beacon. “The whole agency seems to be in complete disarray, which is exactly why we need to have a full [Environment and Public Works] Committee hearing on the fraud surrounding this case and other prevalent problems.”

.... the use of non-disclosure agreements is right out of the State Department's Benghazi play book.

Posted by: Obama For Suckers at February 28, 2014 11:06 AM (e8kgV)

130 "In 2009, Debbie launched Legal Speaks.com, a progressive legal and political blog where she addresses issues on gender and race. As a social media expert, she frequently addresses issues online on voting laws, gun laws, abortion laws and criminal laws at the intersection of race and crime." Teflon, baby.

Posted by: Lauren at February 28, 2014 11:06 AM (hFL/3)

131 That reminds me, I'm not going to be in next month.

CIA stuff.
-
But if you really want another 9/11 just don't give me the time off.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:07 AM (XUKZU)

132 Posted by: non-purist at February 28, 2014 03:02 PM (afQnV)

It's part and parcel of the Union mindset.

Don't kill the job (don't work harder and make others look bad or finish too soon or have the job rate reduced.)

Go along to get along. (if you squeal to the bosses or make us look bad, you'll wind up with every shitty low rate job there is and the dirtiest and the most dangerous and you'll never get any help)

Stick to your job. (don't help out the foreman when he/she gets jammed up, let them authorize over time or special rate for completion. Or else.)

And that's how Unions operate; screw the employer, screw your fellow worker if the union says so, screw yourself if you strike.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That (Microaggressive SoCon) at February 28, 2014 11:07 AM (LSDdO)

133 The truth of the matter is that, because of their Master, these apparatchiks are above the law. They are the law, functionally. Their Master rules by whim, and fiat. He wants it to trickle down to his underlings, who only serve Saruman, after all.

Posted by: tubal at February 28, 2014 11:07 AM (YEQ2h)

134 And another thing, TFG promised to get rid of this thing in 2008. Remember waste, fraud, and abuse. and 'Use a scalpel instead of a chainsaw like McCain.' Our MFM still hasn't asked about that scalpel yet either.

Posted by: Schwalbe: The Me-262© at February 28, 2014 11:07 AM (9Bdcz)

135 The civil service system is a means of locking people into their jobs. You must commit major crimes to be dismissed from a civil service position, because everybody in the civil service -- supervisors included -- has a vested interest in making it thus. You protect me, I protect you. You're incompetent? So what. You're one of us so we'll protect you.

Posted by: joncelli at February 28, 2014 11:07 AM (RD7QR)

136

The next Republican president better go into all of these agencies and demand that if you make 3 times the average American's salary, you'd better be able to show why you are so fluking important.

 

 

Yeah, this is what makes the bleating about "income inequality" so galling.  The Mandarin caste pays itself lavishly, and pays its friends better.  That's why the DC area has the nation's best economy. 

 

There are indeed two Americas.  One lives on the teat, and the other is the rubes who pay for it.

Posted by: Frumious Bandersnatch at February 28, 2014 11:07 AM (A0sHn)

137 Three words that MUST be a prominent feature in the GOP platform and nominee policy priorities for 2016 and beyond:

CIVIL SERVICE REFORM

Posted by: miked at February 28, 2014 11:08 AM (xaIQZ)

138 Bow before me, or I shall allow this to continue

Posted by: SMOD at February 28, 2014 11:08 AM (Q6pxP)

139 'Use a scalpel instead of a chainsaw like McCain.'
-
Personally I favor guillotines.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:09 AM (XUKZU)

140 Did you hear the one about 'Shovel Ready Jobs'?


Posted by: Shecky Soetoro at February 28, 2014 11:10 AM (Q6pxP)

141 How did they know they could get away with this? What is so wrong with this system that federal workers know they can do whatever they like without having to worry about losing their jobs?

Posted by: Ace

Because there is no accountability in DC. That's how.

Our Federal system is too large to police its own behavior so it is guaranteed that these kinds of scams happen and happen routinely.

And the voters aren't bothered enough to challenge the set up. Which is why we ultimately have no choice in the burning. It will happen. Maybe not tomorrow or 25 years from now but it will happen.

Posted by: weft cut-loop [/i] [/b] at February 28, 2014 11:10 AM (uctT+)

142 I actually feel better knowing that the top bureaucratic positions are occupied by do-nothing losers. Just imagine how bad things would be if they were hard-charging over-achievers? We'd be out $175k per year AND have to bear the real costs of their "work." Getting no meaningful government action for a mere $175k/year is a bargain in comparison.

Posted by: Phinn at February 28, 2014 11:10 AM (xE7Vp)

143 I once attended a workshop that highlighted now-forgotten short humorous films made by African-American comedians and comic actors in the '30s. Often they were shown as "shorts" between features at movie theaters, just like Lone Ranger serials and Three Stooges shorts and newsreels. But because these "colored" filler-films were considered culturally unimportant at the time, they were rarely archived or saved, and most were lost. This workshop showed some of the surviving ones, which were quite fascinating and sometimes very funny. The reason I mention this was the one of the films, made by black directors with blacks actors, was a spoof of that phase in the Reconstruction era when there was a brief flurry of ex-slaves, now free, getting elected and appointed to various political positions, in the 1870s/1880s. (This was pre-Jim Crow, btw.) Anyway, in the short, which was unforgettable, it spoofed how black politicians and appointees would act once in office. And the source of the humor was not that they were depicted as incompetent, or overly activist, but rather that they just slacked off and rarely did anything at all, and often didn't even show up. It was all very slapsticky and goofy, but I'm sure it had (black) audiences rolling in the aisles, as it showed black comedians strutting around in top hats, putting their feet up on the desk and smoking cigars, and in general enjoying the perks of political office without actually doing any work. Why do I mention this? Because this recent scandal bears an uncomfortable resemblance, in reality, to what was mere parody 80 years ago.

Posted by: zombie at February 28, 2014 11:10 AM (mizYg)

144 I hate to tell you, but the pipe you are in never ends.

Posted by: Andy Dufresne at February 28, 2014 11:10 AM (Q6pxP)

145 More from Debbie the Genius "There were 12 jurors in the room deliberating along with a 13th juror. And that 13th juror resulted in a hung jury. The 13th juror is the subconscious or conscious racial bias of one or more of the jurors assembled."

Posted by: Lauren at February 28, 2014 11:11 AM (hFL/3)

146 There's no story here

Posted by: Sarah Kliff at February 28, 2014 11:11 AM (F58x4)

147 The Mandarin caste pays itself lavishly, and pays its friends better.

With the caveat that the Obama White House pays women worse than men.

Posted by: Ian S. at February 28, 2014 11:11 AM (B/VB5)

148 They rule us. We're heading toward our own French Revolution 200+ years after our American one.

Posted by: --- at February 28, 2014 11:11 AM (MMC8r)

149 This is why I keep trying to tell people that government spending has transcended the traditional breakdown of "social services vs military". It's more like, the 99% of spending that goes straight down the drain and the 1% that we divvy up between social services and military.

Posted by: Roadrunner at February 28, 2014 11:12 AM (4JR0P)

150 Show some compassion, conservatives.

Posted by: Karl Rove at February 28, 2014 11:12 AM (Q6pxP)

151 So, are there any previews to this week's episode of True Detective? I don't buy into this cultists with some bizarre belief system. Just people who like to torture and murder women and children. And I don't know why some think the FIL has something to do with this. Why? Because he is Marty's antigonist? You know, Marty, who bangs broads -- for the sake of his family!

Posted by: Judge Pug at February 28, 2014 11:13 AM (6Nj7A)

152 Government is too big.

Posted by: gm at February 28, 2014 11:13 AM (/kBoL)

153 "Also, greater corruption like this is a predictable consequence of ever more Diversity."

I noted a fascinating juxtaposition of photographs.

It was of the Secretary of Defense briefing (a) senior commanding officers and (b) senior civilian Pentagon employees.

The senior commanding officers seen in the first photo were disproportionately white, male and physically fit. The senior civilian Pentagon employees in the second photo were disproportionately ethnic, female, and obese.

Posted by: torquewrench at February 28, 2014 11:14 AM (gqT4g)

154

Hollowpoint:

 

Yes they were.  Thanks to whom may I ask?

Posted by: prescient11 at February 28, 2014 11:14 AM (tVTLU)

155

@139

 

Oui.  I had an answer for this problem  centuries ago.

Posted by: Dr. Guillotin at February 28, 2014 11:14 AM (VndSC)

156
Eh, Ace is right, it is too maddening and infuriating.

I encourage everybody to cheat like hell on their taxes.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 28, 2014 11:14 AM (gorVZ)

157 OT: Good advice for women. (I particularly like the Mommy was always so cross advi8ce which may have implications for Venezuela.

http://tinyurl.com/lc42mye

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:14 AM (XUKZU)

158 So the next time the treasury department seizes your federal return remember this. I sure as hell will.

Posted by: Adam Smith's Invisible Pimp Hand at February 28, 2014 11:15 AM (WdbF7)

159 >>>And I don't know why some think the FIL has something to do with this. Why? Because he is Marty's antigonist? You know, Marty, who bangs broads -- for the sake of his family! The man is a hero and a saint.

Posted by: Bill Clinton at February 28, 2014 11:15 AM (/FnUH)

160

"There were 12 jurors in the room deliberating along with a 13th juror. And that 13th juror resulted in a hung jury. The 13th juror is the subconscious or conscious racial bias of one or more of the jurors assembled."

 

DubbaYooTeeEff

Posted by: Bigby's Hangnail at February 28, 2014 11:15 AM (3ZtZW)

161 We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph!

Posted by: William J. Le Petomane at February 28, 2014 11:15 AM (Q6pxP)

162 129 EPA employees threatened Inspector General investigators, refused to cooperate, and handed out non-disclosure agreements to other employees to keep them from being interviewed, EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins Jr. wrote in response to a request for information by Vitter on the case. Posted by: Obama For Suckers at February 28, 2014 03:06 PM (e8kgV) I hope somebody is keeping a list of names. For future reference, if you know what I mean.

Posted by: rickl at February 28, 2014 11:16 AM (zoehZ)

163 I've done some work at State and County levels. While it is true that not everyone is like this, there are people like this everywhere. As to where you get a job like this - you don't. They create Byzantine hiring systems designed to take months or years, and then they hire Cousins and Cronies. Whole families don't end up working for a department because of the luck of the draw. Mind you, some people are hired by that Byzantine process. As I said, not everyone is like that - but many.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith[/i][/b][/s][/u] at February 28, 2014 11:16 AM (qyfb5)

164 Pro tip for the burning times - work for cash or barter whenever possible.

Posted by: tubal at February 28, 2014 11:17 AM (YEQ2h)

165 Market sell off on Ukraine news.

Posted by: LoneStarHeeb at February 28, 2014 11:17 AM (BZAd3)

166 "I encourage everybody to cheat like hell on their taxes."

Sure thing. You first.

Posted by: navybrat at February 28, 2014 11:17 AM (AW7Gr)

167 So, are there any previews to this week's episode of True Detective? I don't buy into this cultists with some bizarre belief system. Just people who like to torture and murder women and children. And I don't know why some think the FIL has something to do with this. Why? Because he is Marty's antigonist? You know, Marty, who bangs broads -- for the sake of his family!
-
My theory is that it is Maggie. Marty can keep it zipped so Maggie has to kill every other female in the world.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:17 AM (XUKZU)

168 151 -- There was a True Detective preview at the end of last week's episode. We go inside Cohle's storage locker. It's big -- an office where he's been tracking the killer(s) for a decade. He shows Hart something disturbing. Hart reacts by screaming "Nooo!" I had to watch Episode 6 again, just for the part where Hart beats the piss out of the guys that fuckef his underage daughter.

Posted by: Phinn at February 28, 2014 11:18 AM (xE7Vp)

169 You can't beat City Hall. Sometime you have to  shoot  them.

Posted by: Roy at February 28, 2014 11:18 AM (VndSC)

170 This happens when national leaders (the President, the Attorney General, and their cronies) set the example that enforcing laws and regulations is a subjective decision that can be made capriciously and based on their own perceived needs or understanding of the circumstances.

And as long as we keep printing money (IOUs) a trillion dollars at a time, what difference does a few thousand dollars make, anyway? Who will notice? If someone does, they know it's not their problem. So who will care?

Posted by: Guy Fawkes at February 28, 2014 11:18 AM (Djwm9)

171 159 >>>And I don't know why some think the FIL has something to do with this. Why? Because he is Marty's antigonist? You know, Marty, who bangs broads -- for the sake of his family! The man is a hero and a saint. Posted by: Bill Clinton at February 28, 2014 03:15 PM (/FnUH) All you PIVs and sometimes PIAs and your rationalizations.

Posted by: Maggie Hart at February 28, 2014 11:19 AM (6Nj7A)

172 Rick Perry only was asked what 3 agencies he would cut out. Kind of tough to find 3 that wouldn't have an impact on everyday life. http://tinyurl.com/q8zyyca

Posted by: RWC at February 28, 2014 11:19 AM (fWAjv)

173 Have you heard about how SEC regulators and staffers regularly engage in insider trading?

Posted by: NSA at February 28, 2014 11:19 AM (VjL9S)

174 It's all very simple: Choom Boy, who is allegedly the boss of these slackers, strolls a few feet from bedroom to office for his "security briefing" every day around 10:00 or so. If he doesn't have lunch with veepee Joltin' Joe, the rest of the day is his, for golfin' or campaignin'.

Maybe, if he's feeling really frisky, he'll scrawl his name on an executive order some well-paid drone has written for him.

He makes $400K a year, plus innumerable perks.

So his low-level co-conspirators have something to shoot for: the boss is lazier, more crooked and treasonous than they are.

Posted by: MrScribbler at February 28, 2014 11:19 AM (ff7/5)

175 How did they know they could get away with this?

Because they're Democrats.

Forget it, ace--it's Obamatown.

Posted by: Null at February 28, 2014 11:19 AM (DuH+r)

176 "I encourage everybody to cheat like hell on their taxes."

Sure thing. You first.
-
Or at last change you registration to Donk first.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:20 AM (XUKZU)

177 Tumbrels
Guillotines
Mobs of outraged, offal-throwing peasants
It's 'way past time....

And for any snoops out there? I'd say it to your- and their-- faces-

"Way past time." Enough of this S**t!

Posted by: backhoe at February 28, 2014 11:20 AM (ULH4o)

178 Pro tip # 2 for the burning times - don't discourage other people from overpaying on "their" taxes. Refer to tip one.

Posted by: tubal at February 28, 2014 11:20 AM (YEQ2h)

179
Sure thing. You first.

Now I wouldn't admit anything directly on the internet you know.

Nevertheless....

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 28, 2014 11:21 AM (gorVZ)

180 $170,000 to do nothing? Love to hear some Dem whining about how she could make more doing nothing in the private sector, as is their way.

Posted by: Beagle at February 28, 2014 11:21 AM (sOtz/)

181 Can we start ramping up production NOW????

Posted by: Torch 'n' Pitchfork Industries, Inc. at February 28, 2014 11:21 AM (Q6pxP)

182 Civil Service gobs should have a 5 year term limit. Well except for any morons here who are civil servants

Posted by: Nevergiveup at February 28, 2014 11:21 AM (nzKvP)

183 Russia taking over The Ukraine one building and one Airport at a time, but are careful not put out any videos for susan rice to get upset about

Posted by: Nevergiveup at February 28, 2014 11:22 AM (nzKvP)

184 Civil Service gobs should have a 5 year term limit. Well except for any morons here who are civil servants Posted by: Nevergiveup at February 28, 2014 03:21 PM

Nuh-un. Civil "servants" should be eligible to get much more than 5 years.

No parole or time off for good behavior, either.

Posted by: MrScribbler at February 28, 2014 11:23 AM (ff7/5)

185 From my experience as a fed employee in the past, this describes about 50% of the federal workforce.  It is even worse when government union is involved.  Managers will not assign any work to a union worker, and give it all to the contractors.  The small minority of workers that are trying to get jobs completed find other ways to get things done, and simply bypass the leeches.

I hesitate to disparage any federal worker specifically, but in general there are a lot of workers that are simply drawing a paycheck, and contribute nothing.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at February 28, 2014 11:23 AM (QZZ+w)

186

Ahhhh, I typed up a long answer to this post but decided, the hell with it.  Everyone knows what is going on here.

Posted by: rockmom at February 28, 2014 11:23 AM (aBlZ1)

187 Love to hear some Dem whining about how she could make more doing nothing in the private sector, as is their way. ------ Then she'll appreciate the opportunity.

Posted by: --- at February 28, 2014 11:24 AM (MMC8r)

188 And what do you bet the person who told on them probably was jealous or was refused some special perk of their own so they brought the rest down.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That (Microaggressive SoCon) at February 28, 2014 11:24 AM (LSDdO)

189 184 Civil Service gobs should have a 5 year term limit. Well except for any morons here who are civil servants

Posted by: Nevergiveup at February 28, 2014 03:21 PM


Then people would barely have enough time to learn to treat you like shit when you have to deal with them. 


Not workable.

Posted by: LoneStarHeeb at February 28, 2014 11:24 AM (BZAd3)

190
IN A WIN FOR ENVIRONMENTALISTS, EPA chief Gina McCarthy, left, moves against Alaska's proposed Pebble Mine, which supporters say may hold billions in gold and copper but foes say may endanger vital sockeye salmon population.

Of course there are the times when they prevent jobs that would pay income taxes.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 28, 2014 11:25 AM (gorVZ)

191 186 Ahhhh, I typed up a long answer to this post but decided, the hell with it. Everyone knows what is going on here. Posted by: rockmom at February 28, 2014 03:23 PM (aBlZ1) Yeah, it's like the corpse flower finally bloomed.

Posted by: tubal at February 28, 2014 11:25 AM (YEQ2h)

192 (This was pre-Jim Crow, btw.)

-

I see one of the hoity toity news orgs said that Arizona was attempting to create Queer Crow laws.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:25 AM (XUKZU)

193 "Have you heard about how SEC regulators and staffers regularly engage in insider trading?"

When they're not spending their working hours viewing porn in the office on workplace computers, that is.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/oonz9fr

Posted by: torquewrench at February 28, 2014 11:26 AM (gqT4g)

194 I have a great way to solve the Beltway traffic problems

Posted by: Chainsaw Al Dunlap at February 28, 2014 11:26 AM (Q6pxP)

195 FINALLY RELEASED: The Clinton Library Documents... http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2014/02/released-clinton-papers.html

Posted by: Steve at February 28, 2014 11:26 AM (wk+th)

196

Didn't Juggy Bear (RACIST BUT NO OFFENSE INTENDED) tell Joe Plumber that the needed to give up some of his money?

Sure he did.

And heck, we need to spread the wealth around a little.





Posted by: Rev Dr E Buzz Christies at February 28, 2014 11:26 AM (1ZAxL)

197 Kind of tough to find 3 that wouldn't have an impact on everyday life.

We could cut a third of them, and the only people who would notice are the people cashing checks from them.

I'm sure "Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Interagency Coordinating Committee" does nice work, but they can go do it as a non-governmental non-profit organization. 

Posted by: HR at February 28, 2014 11:26 AM (/kI1Q)

198
It's good to know that Obama is sternly observing what the Russians are doing.  They're bound to be terrified of his stated "severe consequences".


The man needs another Nobel Prize.  Obviously.

Posted by: LoneStarHeeb at February 28, 2014 11:27 AM (BZAd3)

199 I see one of the hoity toity news orgs said that Arizona was attempting to create Queer Crow laws. Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 03:25 PM (XUKZU) A new character on "Justified"?

Posted by: tubal at February 28, 2014 11:27 AM (YEQ2h)

200 The IRS lacks the statutory authority to restrict the political activity of 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organizations and makes a fundamental error in claiming that “the promotion of social welfare” does not encompass political speech and political activity, particularly when such activity is not connected to any particular candidate.

The changes proposed in the [rules] would undermine and interfere with the system of campaign finance laws and regulations established by Congress and the FEC, as well as confuse regulated entities. The proposed rules would also seriously undermine the First Amendment rights and protections of the Constitution for 501(c)(4) organizations and their members as outlined by the Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo and subsequent decisions, particularly the recent case of Citizens United v. FEC.

Posted by: Obama For Suckers at February 28, 2014 11:27 AM (e8kgV)

201 I see one of the hoity toity news orgs said that Arizona was attempting to create Queer Crow laws.

The good news is now the lesbian bars have to allow straight men.

Posted by: HR at February 28, 2014 11:28 AM (/kI1Q)

202 It's good to know that Obama is sternly observing what the Russians are doing. They're bound to be terrified of his stated "severe consequences".
-
Is he going to call them racist?

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:28 AM (XUKZU)

203 Granted, I do not know a lot about the Bureau of Public Debt, and what it actually does (probably shuffle redundant and duplicate paperwork around) but is it really necessary to have a deputy commissioner, and an assistant commissioner? Someone (hell, anyone) needs to take a chainsaw to the federal government. The major problem here is that instead of the federal government actually working for the American people, it has become a jobs program for the incompetent.

Posted by: DaveinNC at February 28, 2014 11:29 AM (boNGU)

204 Hmmm. Well, the honorable Ms. Hines does have a blog if anyone wants to leave notes of encouragement.

Posted by: RWC at February 28, 2014 11:29 AM (fWAjv)

205

>>The civil service system is a means of locking people into their jobs. You must commit major crimes to be dismissed from a civil service position, because everybody in the civil service -- supervisors included -- has a vested interest in making it thus. You protect me, I protect you. You're incompetent? So what. You're one of us so we'll protect you.

.

.

.I fired 5 GS4/5's in less than two years for substandard performance or conduct issues in less than a year, so it can be done and is done quite often.

Posted by: Registered Voter at February 28, 2014 11:30 AM (BGFPo)

206 Is he going to call them racist?

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 03:28 PM (XUKZU)


Or using uncivil rhetoric when they are murdering people.  That would be bad.

Posted by: LoneStarHeeb at February 28, 2014 11:31 AM (BZAd3)

207 "Deeply Upsetting" Oh that ace, always a flair for understatement.

Posted by: Eric Holder at February 28, 2014 11:31 AM (gBnkX)

208 And BTW folks, this stuff didn't just start with Obama.

This has been government since at least WWII.

It was then that the massive amounts of money proved too tempting and there was a large influx of new hires and get the job done no matter what attitudes.

Money disappeared but as long as the goals were reached, no one cared or had time to check.

After the war, things just kept going.

Once Equal Opportunity came in it was Katy bar the door because the number of thieves increased due to the inability to thoroughly vet all applicants due to concerns over quotas and race.

Then Feminism and the gender equality.

So it's been pretty bad since about the '80's but the economy was so strong and the rest of the world was so weak that it didn't matter.

Then suddenly one day, it did.

And here we are.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That (Microaggressive SoCon) at February 28, 2014 11:31 AM (LSDdO)

209 No pics of the suspects in this story.If it were a violent crime and the victims were white, you;d know the suspects were AA.

Posted by: Bard of Baltimore's Bloody Blade at February 28, 2014 11:31 AM (1/4XQ)

210 whooops, off lawless sock

Posted by: Burn the Witch at February 28, 2014 11:31 AM (gBnkX)

211 204 That may not be a great idea. Wouldn't want to do anything that could be traced back here.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty at February 28, 2014 11:31 AM (ojnk6)

212 I used to send articles like this to my lib friend, but all I would get back is "Bush did it too", or "Republicans want to take away my freedom", or most maddeningly, "So?". They don't care, or they benefit from the corruption (she's a union member). I gave up.

Posted by: whoever at February 28, 2014 11:31 AM (kGSN0)

213 "$170,000 to do nothing? Love to hear some Dem whining about how she could make more doing nothing in the private sector, as is their way."

In Commiefornia, a frequent defensive response from underworked, overpaid, overpensioned, featherbedded public union employees is for them to snap, "Well, WE do not get _stock options_ the way that you in the private sector do."

Yeah. Right. As though everyone who works in the private sector is sitting on a potential gold mine of stock options. I'll have to ask the night shift cashier down at the Speedi-Mart whether she plans to buy a Gulfstream private jet, or a Dassault.

Posted by: torquewrench at February 28, 2014 11:31 AM (gqT4g)

214

I wonder why this one in particular got under Ace's saddle.  Is it "deeply disturbing"? 

 

Seems like "drip, drip, drip".

 

Posted by: Frumious Bandersnatch at February 28, 2014 11:32 AM (A0sHn)

215
There are two nasty ones that would go immediately if I was the new Dictator.

EPA and Dept of Ed.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 28, 2014 11:32 AM (gorVZ)

216 Old and busted: Military Industrial  Complex

New hotness: Government Union Conspiracy

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:33 AM (XUKZU)

217 I went to the hbo site and looked at the preview. There is also a scene where there is about 5 or 6 guys all in black sneaking around the living room of a house. There is also a gay dude talking about "animal fixings" whatever the hell they are.

Posted by: Judge Pug at February 28, 2014 11:33 AM (6Nj7A)

218 There are two nasty ones that would go immediately if I was the new Dictator. EPA and Dept of Ed. Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 28, 2014 03:32 PM (gorVZ) TSA and Homeland Security?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at February 28, 2014 11:33 AM (nzKvP)

219 We need so little of the federal government. Agencies like the EPA should be dismantled and if a state cares to develop and fund their own so be it. Same with the horrible DoE. What a waste.

Posted by: Seems legit at February 28, 2014 11:33 AM (A98Xu)

220 Here's what does bother me: They were right to believe that they could get away with brazen actions. How did they know they could get away with this? What is so wrong with this system that federal workers know they can do whatever they like without having to worry about losing their jobs? Ding ding ding. I have been on about this for a while. This stuff is being done to us, no longer in hiding, but right in our faces. Lois Lerner used the IRS to put political opponents to disadvantage. And not one thing happened to her. Benghazi? I know, phony scandals, but people see what happens. Eff up, nothing happens. Cross the powers that be...well, that's another thing entirely. They know to keep to the talking points.

Posted by: blaster at February 28, 2014 11:33 AM (4+AaH)

221 Eh. I can't say I'm surprised. Sure, I'm outraged. But not surprised.

However, just as the real money to be taxed is held by the middle-class, by sheer virtue of their number, the real money-sink in government employees are the average-pay time-wasters who are never ever fired.

Posted by: red sweater at February 28, 2014 11:33 AM (oATMN)

222 o/t after >200 posts Let us all take a moment to thank Ace, our etheric host here, and, for those who have the means, please consider upgrading to the fur-cowl level of membership.
Use the convenient link near the upper left corner of this page. With the right set-up, you even get ampersands!

Posted by: Bard of Baltimore's Bloody Blade at February 28, 2014 11:33 AM (1/4XQ)

223 That's rather funny-in a very dark kind of way. She worked for the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 28, 2014 11:34 AM (XyM/Y)

224 is it really necessary to have a deputy commissioner, and an assistant commissioner? Posted by: DaveinNC Those are just the ones mentioned in the article. Elsewhere in the same office are the Deputy Assistant Commissioner, the Associate Commissioner, the Commissioner's Aide, the Deputy Associate Commissioner, the Deputy Associate Commissioner's Secretary, and the Deputy Associate Commissioner Secretary's Aide... (...It's deputy assistants all the way down....)

Posted by: zombie at February 28, 2014 11:34 AM (mizYg)

225 Department of Energy is a POS too. Jimmy CarterÂ…..pfffffffttttt

Posted by: Seems legit at February 28, 2014 11:34 AM (A98Xu)

226 Animal fixings, it's what's for dinner.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:34 AM (XUKZU)

227 So, are there any previews to this week's episode of True Detective? I don't buy into this cultists with some bizarre belief system. Just people who like to torture and murder women and children. And I don't know why some think the FIL has something to do with this. Why? Because he is Marty's antigonist? You know, Marty, who bangs broads -- for the sake of his family! Posted by: Judge Pug at February 28, 2014 03:13 PM (6Nj7A) http://youtu.be/ZBvXKe-HMhA I will have to look up the link but I read an interesting post that was putting forth the theory that there will not be any huge dramatic turn and that the answer will be fairly straightforward, for certain values of straightforward meaning that it is a cult and it is a coverup. The reasoning behind it was that the creator of the show said that he wasn't interested in creating the creepiest serial killer but in telling the story of these characters. I could see it being along those lines rather than ha TWIST! I did like the touch of Rust driving the same truck and that he never got the tail light repaired after the fight.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD. Mmmm. Blondies with whipped cream. at February 28, 2014 11:35 AM (VtjlW)

228 Why and how is Shep still on TV ?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at February 28, 2014 11:35 AM (nzKvP)

229 228 Diversity?

Posted by: ManWithNoParty at February 28, 2014 11:36 AM (ojnk6)

230 I wonder why this one in particular got under Ace's saddle. Is it "deeply disturbing"? It's kind of like the difference between the unemployment rate and being unemployed. It is personal. This is the absolute reverse of the broken windows theory. That concept is if you don't prosecute on the little things, people will get the idea they can get away with bigger things. In this case, if super gigantic crimes are overlooked - nay cheered - well of course everyone thinks they can just dip in the till and take some.

Posted by: blaster at February 28, 2014 11:36 AM (4+AaH)

231 Oh goody!  Another congressional investigation that results in...

wait for it...


Congress people getting another opportunity to posture in front of television cameras.


*Que the "Horray for Hollywood" theme.

Posted by: LoneStarHeeb at February 28, 2014 11:36 AM (BZAd3)

232
Those too Nvrgvup.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 28, 2014 11:36 AM (gorVZ)

233 211 204 That may not be a great idea. Wouldn't want to do anything that could be traced back here. Posted by: ManWithNoParty at February 28, 2014 03:31 PM (ojnk6) That's why I didn't post it. Also, I am not 100 percent sure that it is the same person.

Posted by: RWC at February 28, 2014 11:36 AM (fWAjv)

234

>>>Yeah, it's like the corpse flower finally bloomed.

 

Its always been this way. In fact, the civil service - being unelected and also un-fireable - are the true 'rulers' of the country. Reformers can come and go, they are the waves to the civil service ocean.

 

We're just in an era where all these things, all of which are not really different from anything in the past, are coming to light because of the internet I guess. The responses on right [outrage! tea parties!] and left [we needs moar communism!] maybe are kind of related. But in that light, both are misguided.

Posted by: Bigby's Hangnail at February 28, 2014 11:37 AM (3ZtZW)

235 This talk of cutting Departments and winning elections is fun and all until you hearken way back to last decade when the guys you're currently rooting for added a Department.

Posted by: Burn the Witch at February 28, 2014 11:37 AM (gBnkX)

236 228 Why and how is Shep still on TV ? Posted by: Nevergiveup at February 28, 2014 03:35 PM (nzKvP) Maybe a protected class, dunno. Maybe the token dipshit.

Posted by: tubal at February 28, 2014 11:37 AM (YEQ2h)

237 If you need somthing to redirect blood flow it's BBF over at The Hostages. I'm at work so I cant view but the vine compilation looks like it will be very rewarding.

http://thehostages.wordpress.com/

Posted by: Buzzsaw at February 28, 2014 11:37 AM (wrS2o)

238 Sicilian mafia sent hit man to whack Giuliani I thought that was his first wife?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at February 28, 2014 11:37 AM (nzKvP)

239 Dick Morris claims that Hillary knew of and used NSA wiretaps.

Posted by: Obama For Suckers at February 28, 2014 11:38 AM (e8kgV)

240 *Que the "Horray for Hollywood" theme.
-
Related: Apparently Seth Rogen, Alzheimer's expert, was disappointed that congress did not take him more seriously.  Many didn't even show up to hear him.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 28, 2014 11:38 AM (XUKZU)

241 Posted by: ManWithNoParty at February 28, 2014 03:36 PM (ojnk6)

It's a twofer; he's gay gender curious and he's retarded mentally disabled.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That (Microaggressive SoCon) at February 28, 2014 11:38 AM (LSDdO)

242 Well finally finished my taxes.  Probably too late but I have a story pertinent to this.


Years ago an individual in my company filed a grievance after being fired. I will not go into the details because it is privacy act stuff. However, at the corporate office at the senior executive suit we had a meeting.  It opened with a Sr. Executive discussing the particulars of the case. His opening comment was "this individual is not a protected specie".


That right there will tell you why this woman was allowed to get away with gross fraud for so long.  This happens in any large company, but it is worse in the government.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at February 28, 2014 11:39 AM (T2V/1)

243 "Once Equal Opportunity came in it was Katy bar the door because the number of thieves increased due to the inability to thoroughly vet all applicants due to concerns over quotas and race."

Not only an inability to vet applicants, but an inability to discipline, demote or dismiss those applicants once hired.

At a previous firm, we had the devil of a time getting rid of one double box check individual who was just not pulling the freight. HR were quietly terrified that any action would bring down EEOC wrath. Finally did manage it. (We convinced a dopey headhunter that this person was magically ubercompetent, and a competitor hired them.)

I was relaying this story to a friend who works in Commiefornia state government, and he laughed and said his department is full of such quota hires who don't accomplish anything. They can't be gotten rid of, ever. But they have to be seen to be doing some role.

He said they end up often in "oversight" positions where they basically just sit with an outside consultant to re-summarize already written internal plans and reviews, in documents which are meticulously filed, diligently archived, and never, ever read. Think of the warehouse where the Top Men stow the Ark at the end of the movie. Filled with bullshit "oversight" documents.

Posted by: torquewrench at February 28, 2014 11:40 AM (gqT4g)

244 233 211 204 That may not be a great idea. Wouldn't want to do anything that could be traced back here. Posted by: ManWithNoParty at February 28, 2014 03:31 PM (ojnk6) That's why I didn't post it. Also, I am not 100 percent sure that it is the same person. Posted by: RWC First of all, it was already posted in comment #63. Second of all, as I noted in comment #85, it's highly unlikely that there'd be two people in the same field at the same level with the exact same name (though I suppose it is faintly possible). Third of all, because the AOS comment system does not allow embedded links, to get to the blog ine must copy and paste the URL, so when you arrive there is won't be from in incoming link being clicked, and thus is it not traceable to AOS. Lastly, I trust and assume that any comments left there would be merely snarky and humorous, not offensive or creepy.

Posted by: zombie at February 28, 2014 11:41 AM (mizYg)

245 And back in 1876, a citizen named Augustus Wilson wrote Congress to ask for an amendment after the contested Hayes-Tilden presidential election to eliminate the office of President and replace it with a three-person Roman-style triumvirate.

We already have that: Valerie Jarrett, Michelle Obama and Barack Obama.

Posted by: I am not woman at February 28, 2014 11:42 AM (e8kgV)

246 because "Fuck the taxpayers" is why...

Posted by: redc1c4 at February 28, 2014 11:42 AM (q+fqH)

247 I fired 5 GS4/5's in less than two years for substandard performance or conduct issues in less than a year, so it can be done and is done quite often. GS4- that's what- janitorial staff?

Posted by: Hollowpoint at February 28, 2014 11:42 AM (SY2Kh)

248 Posted by: torquewrench at February 28, 2014 03:40 PM (gqT4g)


Every "protected specie" individual we ever fired filed a complaint with the EEOC.  Every damned one of them.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at February 28, 2014 11:42 AM (T2V/1)

249 Nood

Posted by: ManWithNoParty at February 28, 2014 11:42 AM (ojnk6)

250 Boeing is also creating a super-secure smartphone, but it's aimed at defense customers. Most notably, that Android-based phone, similarly , as detailed in an , would be tamper-proof — any attempts to physically break into it would cause it to self-destruct.

... the Secretary will disavow any activity

Posted by: The Truth Is Out There at February 28, 2014 11:45 AM (e8kgV)

251 Every "protected specie" individual we ever fired filed a complaint with the EEOC. Every damned one of them. There is no disincentive for doing so.

Posted by: AmishDude at February 28, 2014 11:45 AM (xSegX)

252 Not. Enough. Hangings. Amendment 14 Section 3 should be invoked on public servants committing malfeasance. They should have their citizenship stripped automatically, forever barred from employment and pension, and be subject to capital punishment - preferably death by exposure to angry bears.

Posted by: Inspector Cussword at February 28, 2014 11:46 AM (uoGv/)

253 Not that this is news to anyone, but I believe this to be happening largely because of the culture inside of goverment agencies.  Tax payer money, appears to be viewed as a bottomless well, filled monthly by faceless social security numbers.  The level of the well is overseen by apparently no one.

Who's going to miss a few hundred or thousand dollars here and there? 

Posted by: Heralder at February 28, 2014 11:46 AM (/Mxso)

254 The photo in the sidebar of the big white ass is distracting.

Posted by: Judge Pug at February 28, 2014 11:47 AM (6Nj7A)

255 244 Understood Zombie. Call it an overabundance of caution. I've seen some other comment sites get themselves in trouble.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty at February 28, 2014 11:47 AM (ojnk6)

256

>>GS4- that's what- janitorial staff?

.

.

.Actually they were Clerks.  HR Military 201's. 

Posted by: Registered Voter at February 28, 2014 11:50 AM (BGFPo)

257 Nothing like feeling impotent to make your day.

Posted by: Ralph P. Omish at February 28, 2014 11:54 AM (Lec7/)

258 In all fairness, the woman at the Public Debt gig was told her job was to increase the public debt.

Posted by: pj at February 28, 2014 11:58 AM (ZWaLo)

259 And people wonder why the right is becoming increasingly hostile to government at all levels.  It's $#!+ like this. 

Posted by: SamInVA at February 28, 2014 12:23 PM (Q52VH)

260 Irritating yes, shocking, not the least.

Posted by: Yojimbo at February 28, 2014 12:30 PM (qCPTw)

261 Happens in gov't funded non-profits too. Our agency has a bunch of people that commit time and attendance fraud. I made the ED aware, she did nothing. She does it too. In their eyes, it's not their money so who cares. It makes me ill to be involved in an organization that allows this. I am pursuing employment elsewhere and have the evidence ready to hand over to our OIG upon my departure. They probably won't do anything either, unfortunately, but I will try my best.

Posted by: Paula at February 28, 2014 12:40 PM (vF5An)

262 Made my down payment for the ampersands

Posted by: jaun at February 28, 2014 12:45 PM (1CfDi)

263 As with the Hines case, supervisors were aware of the wrongdoing, but did nothing to correct it. Then the individuals doing these things are not guilty of fraud. They did so with their supervisor's approval, tacit or otherwise. Their supervisors, on the other had, who signed off on the fraudulent reports are responsible. I'm sure they'll get a nice pension, and no jail time.

Posted by: I R A Darth Aggie © at February 28, 2014 12:51 PM (1hM1d)

264 Ace, this is par for the course.  A former colleague who's an attorney for the federal government now admits he took a huge pay cut (dropping to about $110k plus benefits) switching firm to government, but thinks it's a steal.  His superiors told him to bring a book and chill for the first two weeks because they weren't ready for his arrival, despite having relocated him several hundred miles.  Half of the department are spouses and it generally stinks of nepotism.  When he drafted a two page letter in four days he was told to relax and not to work too hard - they know he's talented and he doesn't need to impress anyone.  They get all the usual flex benefits, every other Friday, etc., and probably work 15-35 hours any given week.  He's sort of embarrassed to discuss what a joke it is compared to private practice, but  paid more than his share of taxes previously, so might as well recoup some of it before the well goes dries.

So, this would not upset you if there was more scrutiny given to the subject, because it is absolutely normal.  I've had at least two professional contacts who work in a large office near Washington (not related to the above) tell me they've been scolded for being too productive.  Doesn't matter if it's police abusing pensions, faking disability in the military, or government executives acting like trust fund kids.  Federal, municipal, whatever.  Trash collectors, teachers, firefighters.  There are good people in each community, but there is rot and blatant, gross abuse in all as well.  The government can't go out of business, so why stress over performance?

Loot while you can, because somebody's going to do it if you don't.

Posted by: 0302 at February 28, 2014 01:00 PM (hllgx)

265 Note that the Inspector General unearthed all this. That's probably because some disgruntled patriotic underling dropped a dime.

Posted by: J. Moses Browning at February 28, 2014 02:35 PM (61Cnj)

266 I live in a county that has a budget larger than half of the states' budgets. I remember walking into a county building that had two uniformed guys sitting at a folding card table in a main hallway reading the newspaper drinking coffee. I asked what they did and they answer was "elevator operators". Now this was a relatively modern office building and not a grain elevator. The idea that two full-time jobs existed with exactly no purpose for years was a little surprising. The fact that their jobs were transparently useless and visible to EVERY single employee in the building - including elected officials and accountants who just ignored it - was astounding. 30% of county, state, and federal employment could be reduced without a single impact.

Posted by: bigdaddygeo at February 28, 2014 07:41 PM (d4ZYR)

267 Nothing new here.  50% of NASA civil servants that I see/work with do the same thing.  They have "teleworking" which basically amounts to answering a few emails 'remotely' a day so there is the appearance of work.  Meanwhile contractors continue to get layoffs.  Yes, I'm biased.  Pretty soon there won't be anyone left to do the work.

Posted by: the head at March 01, 2014 05:59 AM (VZhCU)

268 The above comment is totally accurate. In order to keep up appearances there needs to be an atmosphere of entitlement and total superiority. "The would keep us around if we weren't so valuable. After a while you can even talk to them.

Posted by: pawn at March 01, 2014 10:11 AM (KlYu1)

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