There are two elements of this situation that I'm consistently trying to open-mindedly hold in balance. One part is what I call "The Great Defederalization". In a myriad of ways, the federal state that was erected between FDR and LBJ is being torn down. That state existed on a group of decisions that allowed independent agencies outside of the direct oversight of the president: the Humphrey's Executor agencies, NLRB,…
Largest Mass Resignation in US History as 100k Federal Workers Quit
141–150 of 182 posts
Re: Largest Mass Resignation in US History as 100k Federal Workers Quit
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is an ulterior motive for these cuts, but please be honest about what it is. The federal bureaucracy is completely dominated by one party: https://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/2016/10/federal-employe... . No matter who wins the elections, most of the actual decisions are being made by adherents of the same party. Trump had four times the support in AOC’s district in the Bronx than among federal employee donors.…
> This is not a sustainable situation in a democracy. Purging your enemies from everything and instead putting your buddies (especially as dishonest and unqualified as the ones this admin brought) will fix the current "unsustainable" situation? Is it even marginally less bad? Because looking from the distance what they're doing is changing from "not great" to "awful" for democracy, and looking close up I'm sure it lo…
Re: Largest Mass Resignation in US History as 100k Federal Workers Quit
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think you've assumed the conclusion here. One could equally say that if one party becomes overrepresented by people with higher education, that party will become overrepresented in any administrative position I think that’s true! It’s another reason why the federal workforce has come to be dominated by one party. But both point to the same result. > I don't think many people will look at Comey's prosecution and s…
> It’s not. It’s tit-for-tat: So you're admitting that Trump is weaponizing the DOJ to get revenge on his opponents? How does a NY court and jury of his peers finding Trump guilty of a felony justify that? The facts of the case have been covered at length (including by us in a detailed chronology), and the grand jury’s indictment and accompanying Statement of Facts speak for themselves. The prosecution has said that…
Re: Largest Mass Resignation in US History as 100k Federal Workers Quit
#144Re: Largest Mass Resignation in US History as 100k Federal Workers Quit
#145There are two elements of this situation that I'm consistently trying to open-mindedly hold in balance. One part is what I call "The Great Defederalization". In a myriad of ways, the federal state that was erected between FDR and LBJ is being torn down. That state existed on a group of decisions that allowed independent agencies outside of the direct oversight of the president: the Humphrey's Executor agencies, NLRB,…
The highest level of economic growth (GDP), and total factor productivity growth, was between 1929 and 1973. It was also the time period when income inequality plummeted (post Gilded Age).
All three metrics have gone down hill since 1980 and the mainstreaming of neo-con economic thinking.
Re: Largest Mass Resignation in US History as 100k Federal Workers Quit
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the federal workforce excluding the postal service (which has actually shrunk, as a semi-private employer) has grown by about 1% per year since 2000 That's less than it seems though, given that the US population has grown with over 0.7% per year for most of those years. https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/usa/uni...
> That's less than it seems though, given that the US population has grown with over 0.7% per year for most of those years. So what? Why does government have to grow proportionally with the size of the population? This is not a given in any other organization.
It does not, and did not:
Re: Largest Mass Resignation in US History as 100k Federal Workers Quit
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It’s not. It’s tit-for-tat: So you're admitting that Trump is weaponizing the DOJ to get revenge on his opponents? How does a NY court and jury of his peers finding Trump guilty of a felony justify that? The facts of the case have been covered at length (including by us in a detailed chronology), and the grand jury’s indictment and accompanying Statement of Facts speak for themselves. The prosecution has said that…
Identify the law Trump was charged under that made it illegal to “interfere in the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.”
- Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)
- New York Election Law § 17-152
- violations of federal, local, and state tax law
Re: Largest Mass Resignation in US History as 100k Federal Workers Quit
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is not a sustainable situation in a democracy. Purging your enemies from everything and instead putting your buddies (especially as dishonest and unqualified as the ones this admin brought) will fix the current "unsustainable" situation? Is it even marginally less bad? Because looking from the distance what they're doing is changing from "not great" to "awful" for democracy, and looking close up I'm sure it lo…
I think an independent civil service dominated by a single party is the single greatest threat to democracy. It’s highly destabilizing when the executive branch is on auto-pilot pursuing its own policies regardless of whom voters elect as President.
Any party? I'm not sure if you realize what's coming next, or if you saw the irony as you typed this. No need for more mental gymnastics rayiner.
Re: Largest Mass Resignation in US History as 100k Federal Workers Quit
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
> That's less than it seems though, given that the US population has grown with over 0.7% per year for most of those years. So what? Why does government have to grow proportionally with the size of the population? This is not a given in any other organization.
> Why does government have to grow proportionally with the size of the population? It does not, and did not: * https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES9091000001
Re: Largest Mass Resignation in US History as 100k Federal Workers Quit
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you noticed ICE's budget lately?
I find the constant equating of illegal immigrants with Jews who lived legally in Germany for many generations and who had done nothing illegal or wrong at all very disturbing. It minimizes what happened there.