Devil is Dill
Doubleplusgood
More a simple and obvious plan than a grand conspiracy.
OMG Politics, I'm over it already.
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VoidTerraFirma
Live to wine
Was the In-and-Out guy not available?
Devil is Dill
Doubleplusgood
SHUT THE FUCK UP, DONNIE!!!!
My sister in law works pretty high up in that company. They are too happy making lots of money to do stupid shit like this.
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nuke_diver
Riding Solo
Pine Apple Slim
Kick Henry Jackassowski
The closest good sized town to me is Huntsville AL. Redstone Arsenal, NASA, every defense contractor large and small you can think of, is located there and is the center of well paying major civilian employment in the area. Full of engineers , data processors, computer technician, technocrats, and contracting officers. Most of these people are staunch republicans until a gov shutdown threatens, then they cuss the conservatives who are always responsible for it.
Then somehow a budget always passes and they forget all about that and return to cussing the liberals.
Then somehow a budget always passes and they forget all about that and return to cussing the liberals.
Help!I'maRock!
Mediocringly Derivative
Colonel Sanders was up for the job, but there were concerns over his intestinal fortitude.Probably this guy's hands were too big for the job
Pine Apple Slim
Kick Henry Jackassowski
I worked for USDA for nearly 30 years. My tiny little agency was responsible for "safety net" farm credit, low and moderate income rural housing credit, and rural infrastructure low interest loans and grants for things like rural public water and sewer, rural electric coops, rural fire stations, etc.
When I started the agency had 40 something local county offices in Alabama alone, and the rewarding of the money, and all the follow up and supervision
was done by salaried gov employees.
When I retired in 2012 we had 8 offices in the state.
Let me tell you that I can guarantee a hell of a lot more money is wasted now than back then. Yea the gov has saved money on salaries and office space but that is peanuts compared to the money wasted by contracting stuff out. I was a combination supervisor, underwriter, originator, real estate appraiser farm credit expert, construction supervisor, and regulator. I had a staff of 2 secretaries and one assistant to carry out all this over a 2 county area. I got a lengthy visit from a OIG man at least every 2 years who would do his damdist to uncover fraud, favoritism, or just improper following of regulations. When I left I was covering 9 counties with a only a computer and 3/4 of the job has been contracted out to private appraisers, private management companies, and private loan and grant originators. I hadn't seen an OIG man since the late 80s.
And this was only a little tiny almost invisible gov agency.
I shudder to think what happens in the defense contract world.
When I started the agency had 40 something local county offices in Alabama alone, and the rewarding of the money, and all the follow up and supervision
was done by salaried gov employees.
When I retired in 2012 we had 8 offices in the state.
Let me tell you that I can guarantee a hell of a lot more money is wasted now than back then. Yea the gov has saved money on salaries and office space but that is peanuts compared to the money wasted by contracting stuff out. I was a combination supervisor, underwriter, originator, real estate appraiser farm credit expert, construction supervisor, and regulator. I had a staff of 2 secretaries and one assistant to carry out all this over a 2 county area. I got a lengthy visit from a OIG man at least every 2 years who would do his damdist to uncover fraud, favoritism, or just improper following of regulations. When I left I was covering 9 counties with a only a computer and 3/4 of the job has been contracted out to private appraisers, private management companies, and private loan and grant originators. I hadn't seen an OIG man since the late 80s.
And this was only a little tiny almost invisible gov agency.
I shudder to think what happens in the defense contract world.
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jp_nyc
Kick Henry Jackassowski
I did defense/intel/counterterrorism work from 2001 to 2005. I made tons of money to do almost nothing. I had a six-month FBI job where bureaucrats made it impossible to work. Then I had a six-month FBI job where bureaucrats wouldn't let me into the building so I got paid to sit at home and wait. The company hired my over the phone, all my paperwork was mailed in, and I never met anyone. My salary was $90,000.
I gave it all up and went back to school because I couldn't stand all the crooks. The government wastes vast fortunes on all of the redundant little defense contractors who only exist to soak up money. It’a amazing how much graft, malfeasance, and corruption hide behind national security. I should have hung around and gamed the system some more. I’d be a millionaire many times over if I had just done what all the scumbags do.
I gave it all up and went back to school because I couldn't stand all the crooks. The government wastes vast fortunes on all of the redundant little defense contractors who only exist to soak up money. It’a amazing how much graft, malfeasance, and corruption hide behind national security. I should have hung around and gamed the system some more. I’d be a millionaire many times over if I had just done what all the scumbags do.
mikesr1963
Gonna walk my dog, you?
VoidTerraFirma
Live to wine
Beef Jerky spokesman offers hot takes!
Chad
Slender Hobbit
I really wish this shit was exposed on a national level. They want to privatize or eliminate social security and Medicare because it's too expensive when really if they cut all of the bullshit out there would be plenty of money for single payer health insurance and a ton of other programs.
jp_nyc
Kick Henry Jackassowski
No journalist with the resources to take on corruption in American militarism can do so. They thrive on access to Pentagon brass and fear being left out in the cold. Nobody wants to anger advertisers. And you can’t take it on without digging into abuse of sector 8a businesses, which would turn it into a culture war issue and keep it from getting resolved anyway.
Chad
Slender Hobbit
Again, I'm not talking about just military. A buddy of mine runs a company that is nothing but IT support and all of his business is government contracts. About 10 years ago, he got one to move computers for the IRS in Philly from one building to another directly across the street. He hired another buddy of mine to do it. He was being paid enough to fly my friend from Jacksonville to Philly and put him in a hotel for 2 months to do it. He paid him $35 an hour and flew his girlfriend and kid up twice to visit. All his meals were also paid for. All he had to do was unhook computers, put them on a cart, walk them across the street and plug them back in. No configuration or anything. My friend who did the work knows nothing about computers, he didn't even own one at the time. So he paid my friend $35 which means the government was paying him at least $75 to do it.
Dogsinplastic
avuncular to no one
So between the appointments and last dying breathes of the Stein recount I can't help but wonder why we don't have minimum requirement rules for politicians and employees as well as mandated automatic recounts when the differences between vote totals are say 0.5% (more or less depending upon the state's population)?
The recount would just be a backup measure and should be done by a different independent entity than those that tracked and counted the original vote. Non-partisan, maybe even a foreign office (Canada, UK, Australia, where the fuck ever) with little direct interest in the outcome. Fuck it, make it two recounts, just to be safe.
As to appointees...you can not teach (long-term), practice law, medicine/nursing, librarianship, and many (so very many) more without degrees or advanced degrees showing a level of theoretical and usually actual practical knowledge and expertise in these fields (residencies, practicums, etc.). Other areas of healthcare also have minimum education and certification requirements, as do carpenters, plumbers, electricians, real estate agents, and again nearly countless other professions.
Our senators, representatives, and even presidents merely require a minimum age, citizenship, and inhabitants in the state/nation that they are serving. We get extra strict with the President and require them (really it's just him at this point) to be a natural born U.S. citizen. The Supreme Court has a little more rigor requiring they be "trained in the law"...but they have no stated age, education, or native-born citizen requirements. Could we set the fucking bar any lower?
Yes, I know that the vast majority of those that have served in Congress, the SCOTUS, and as POTUS have been lawyers and/or served in legislative or executive positions previously, but shouldn't there be a higher mandated minimum set of qualifications for at least Senators and especially for the President and SCOTUS appointees.
That leads to cabinet and other appointed positions...how flawed is our system that someone without an education degree and real classroom and administrative experience can be appointed to being the head of the Department of Education? Moreso, particularly when this essentially unqualified individual's biggest statements on the subject have been to dismantle the system. Privatizing education is a bad idea...on a national level this would be the first step towards making ALL education pay-to-play (or learn as the case may be). Similarly with the Environmental Protection Agency...how about a degree in environmental law and/or science? Wait, and I know this is crazy, but how about BOTH? This wouldn't stop/preclude you from being "anti-environment", but it would at least show that you understand the laws and science of the department. Same with the DoD, HUD, SoS, etc. If I can't get my line to the sewer system unclogged by (and have the work guaranteed) by someone without certification, why can some know-nothing asshat that ANY given President likes or feels beholden to be able to make decisions about how education is run in this country?
None of this guarantees that any of these people will be the best at their jobs, but it would assuage concerns. A civil service exam for all elected or would-be elected officials. How about Presidential candidates need to have served in at least in a state legislative position, but ideally an executive branch position (governor or lt. gov), U.S. Congress position, or POTUS cabinet appointment (having met the minimum qualifications for those positions as well)? Proven expert knowledge in a chosen field seems a fair requirement for employment, yet we have NONE for our elected officials. Massive flaw. Again, it's not about your party and is a retroactive complaint for modern Presidential appointments as well. Cronyism is shite. Using it when appointing unqualified people to staggeringly important positions should be condemned and stopped.
Sadly history has shown us, however, that one party would vehemently oppose this notion...as would at least half of the general population. This obtuse perspective speaks to ignorance and the notion of things being unfair, you know like how children complain about bedtime, eating their veggies, and other stupid shit.
Everyone has and would still have the opportunity to use their mind to become a part of the process. If you want to be a part of whatever change you envision, become qualified and enter the fray.
Sorry...just another rant that I needed to vent.
The recount would just be a backup measure and should be done by a different independent entity than those that tracked and counted the original vote. Non-partisan, maybe even a foreign office (Canada, UK, Australia, where the fuck ever) with little direct interest in the outcome. Fuck it, make it two recounts, just to be safe.
As to appointees...you can not teach (long-term), practice law, medicine/nursing, librarianship, and many (so very many) more without degrees or advanced degrees showing a level of theoretical and usually actual practical knowledge and expertise in these fields (residencies, practicums, etc.). Other areas of healthcare also have minimum education and certification requirements, as do carpenters, plumbers, electricians, real estate agents, and again nearly countless other professions.
Our senators, representatives, and even presidents merely require a minimum age, citizenship, and inhabitants in the state/nation that they are serving. We get extra strict with the President and require them (really it's just him at this point) to be a natural born U.S. citizen. The Supreme Court has a little more rigor requiring they be "trained in the law"...but they have no stated age, education, or native-born citizen requirements. Could we set the fucking bar any lower?
Yes, I know that the vast majority of those that have served in Congress, the SCOTUS, and as POTUS have been lawyers and/or served in legislative or executive positions previously, but shouldn't there be a higher mandated minimum set of qualifications for at least Senators and especially for the President and SCOTUS appointees.
That leads to cabinet and other appointed positions...how flawed is our system that someone without an education degree and real classroom and administrative experience can be appointed to being the head of the Department of Education? Moreso, particularly when this essentially unqualified individual's biggest statements on the subject have been to dismantle the system. Privatizing education is a bad idea...on a national level this would be the first step towards making ALL education pay-to-play (or learn as the case may be). Similarly with the Environmental Protection Agency...how about a degree in environmental law and/or science? Wait, and I know this is crazy, but how about BOTH? This wouldn't stop/preclude you from being "anti-environment", but it would at least show that you understand the laws and science of the department. Same with the DoD, HUD, SoS, etc. If I can't get my line to the sewer system unclogged by (and have the work guaranteed) by someone without certification, why can some know-nothing asshat that ANY given President likes or feels beholden to be able to make decisions about how education is run in this country?
None of this guarantees that any of these people will be the best at their jobs, but it would assuage concerns. A civil service exam for all elected or would-be elected officials. How about Presidential candidates need to have served in at least in a state legislative position, but ideally an executive branch position (governor or lt. gov), U.S. Congress position, or POTUS cabinet appointment (having met the minimum qualifications for those positions as well)? Proven expert knowledge in a chosen field seems a fair requirement for employment, yet we have NONE for our elected officials. Massive flaw. Again, it's not about your party and is a retroactive complaint for modern Presidential appointments as well. Cronyism is shite. Using it when appointing unqualified people to staggeringly important positions should be condemned and stopped.
Sadly history has shown us, however, that one party would vehemently oppose this notion...as would at least half of the general population. This obtuse perspective speaks to ignorance and the notion of things being unfair, you know like how children complain about bedtime, eating their veggies, and other stupid shit.
Everyone has and would still have the opportunity to use their mind to become a part of the process. If you want to be a part of whatever change you envision, become qualified and enter the fray.
Sorry...just another rant that I needed to vent.
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Sigmund Void
Over The Top
It's so cute that liberals think this a problem that can be solved with wonky proceduralism. You guys deserve the apocalypse. You earned it.
jelloman
Couch'd Tater...
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