THOR’S DAY RANT: Your Tax Dollars, at work?
Lately, people sure have been bellyaching about Chairman Maobama’s many socialized intentions for their tax dollars. People don’t seem to want universal healthcare, or bank bailouts, or government nationalization of the auto industry.
But before we start tackling those big issues, I think we need to go back to the beginning and take some baby steps as we walk through how our tax dollars are being spent — like employing slackers.
I remember when I got out of the service and returned home. One of the first jobs I tried in my return to civilian life was as a Security Guard at the U.S. Census Bureau in Jeffersonville, IN. The job was simple — walking around, relieving guards who checked employees’ ID cards, so they, the guards, could go to lunch. It also let me see all of the various work areas at the Bureau.
The Census Bureau has a lot of unique machines, made especially for their mission. And when those machines break, special parts have to be ordered and people can’t work. Do they send those people home? Nope. They pay them to sit around, playing cards, reading books and chatting on the phone.
Chatting on the phone instead of doing the job taxpayers are paying you to do isn’t confined to just Federal government either. I worked for years in County Government, and our receptionist was — and still is, I hear — a master of slackery. She sits with her back to the lobby, hunched over her phone, a hand held up to cover her mouth as she conspiratorially shares gossip with the other old biddies in the building (when she isn’t actually hanging out in their offices, doing it in person). And being in local government, she’s heavy into politics and involved in a lot of elections. Twice, I overheard her planning campaign functions when she should be working for her elected official — not other folks seeking election. This was in between all the dozen or so personal calls she would take during the day. It’s a wonder any office calls ever got answered.
As if all that wasn’t enough, the receptionist also was a master at watching TV at her desk when she was supposed to be working — a small black and white 5″ TV tucked under the counter (what will she do now, that Analog is dead?). She also liked to come in a half hour early and then leave work early as well. Unfortunately, instead of working that early half hour, she would sit in the break room sipping coffee (and gossiping), or paint her nails at her desk, ignoring those before-hours calls from the public.
This still isn’t all the slackery that goes on in government. There’s the half-hour smoke breaks where nicotine addicts sneak away and congregate in forbidden basement corridors, rotting their lungs and gossiping. There’s the hour-and-a-half lunch hours, where gaggles of female workers go shopping instead of eating. For hourly employees, they have to make this up. Salaried workers however seem to magically neglect that 40 hours they agreed to work.
For men, there’s the afternoon golf game in the summer, or yakking about some ball game they saw last night for a half hour in the morning. Oh, sure, stress at work requires a little goofing off now and then, or those government employees will go crazy. Most believe they are underpaid, after all.
And I’m sure these kind of things go on in private industry. But that’s private. Employers could view it as an unofficial benefit — overlooking slackerism as a way to say thanks to people that maybe work hard at other times. But what about government?
Has our government been working hard for us? Should we, as taxpayers, be content that our elected officials and their staffs blow off early to go to the track, or go home for an early start on that three day weekend? We don’t have a choice when it comes to paying our taxes. And the only say we get in the performance of elected officials is on election day. That just doesn’t seem fair.
The Federal government has a big program targeted at eliminating Fraud, Waste and Abuse. They have hotlines that Federal employees can call with money saving ideas, and they give out bonuses for folks whose ideas work. Why then is there not a push to eliminate slackers? All levels of government are constantly preaching about sexual harassment in the work place. So, why not hammer slackeral avoidance on government employees as well?
Here’s my idea to reduce Fraud, Waste and Abuse in the government workplace: cut the dead wood, and put my tax dollars to work, instead of at work.
Popularity: 3% [?]
I’d like to get paid for trifling. On second thought, the idea of my brain going mush, coupled with losing a sense of honesty is not too appealing.
So uplifting [not] to know one more venue where our tax-dollars get wasted. After all, it’s a drop in the bucket, as we witness the enormous debt this administration is placing on the country (i.e., each of us).
How I long for those “terrible” days when President George W. Bush was at the helm! Though things were not perfect, he, at least, displayed a minimum of temperance, and most spending was relegated to important matters, such as ’security and defense.’
Jordan , I feel your pain (as well Trog’s).
Maybe we are the real slackers for not slacking when we are supposed to be doing what we are supposed to be doing.
I just got it…….that confusing truth, well they don’t comprehend. If it ain’t spelled out in plain easy terms they are lost in the summer breeze. But, maybe when the Top are slackers it just filters down thru the system ? They seem never to care how they spend your hard earned dollar on their own luxuries and the inadequacies of the lazy and …..well, their own underlings.
Dave, having a hard time feeling your empathy.
There you go again, the “top,” the “evil ones,” the people who make their buck on the skin of others. Or so goes the propaganda.
Thought you don’t like to pass judgment, especially when only God knows all the facts.
Jordan, did you read the story ?
No, I am not promoting all “Top” peoples as being “slackers/abusers” who allow “slackers/abusers”, but is seems many above us common folk do abuse it and allow it.
I am not judging per se , only admitting truth where truths are found. Some people do not want truth to be known. Regardless, these slackers who do so on the tax dollar should be forced to shape up or ship out. That problem lies within management. Give the slacker the ability, they’ll slack all day long.
Lastly, my “Top” mostly represents the same ilk of which you speak of. For most of those in DC, both sides of the fence, their concern is not whether you have a dollar in your pocket or a job to provide it……only as far as it goes for a vote. If that’s being judgemental, you are naive or misinformed. Oops, sorry, that’s judgemental too. But, if God meant for me to be a brainless boob, he’d have made me a cow so all I’d have to do each day is eat, crap and mooooooooooo …or at least a wishy-washy, tree-huggin’ Liberal (almost one and the same)!
Call this what you wish, but I believe The “O” actually wants to help peoples and change the way things are done. Problem is, he is not able when he must answer the call of the “system” and even cater to ideas unwanted. I still don’t like him for the other Liberalized agenda though.