The Week in Comments: Big premiums and big government
The best in reader reaction to recent articles.
A roundup of some of the comments received this week in the GovExec.com Mailbag. All comments are presented in their original, unedited form.
On Dental, vision insurance premiums to rise in 2011
The benefits are not worth the Premiums paid currently. Raising the premiums, they had better up the benefits. Everytime I go to the doctor or dentist, they say my insurance does not cover the work done. This is a rip off.
When will there be a decent health system that covers the basic health care automatically needed by everyone without costing so much. While I do not know the statistics, what percentage of the covered population needs the above coverages? Is is more than 50%? If not, why not just build in an increase to those individuals and families and not to everyone. It sometimes feels that the many are paying for the few.
Why are we paying for coverage of adult children up to age 26. Legally, parents are no longer financially responsible for their adult children after they turn 21. For those employees who have adult children in college that are over the age of 21, they need to pay the additional premium required for them to remain on their coverage, not everyone else.
Sooner or later a public healthcare program will look really good. Hey, you might knock it, but we had it in the military. Also, VA is a great place to go if you're eligible. How about medicare? They're funded by tax dollars and millions of us use them. So, why not? Don't make it mandatory...just available - like other public programs (schools, disaster aid, etc)
On GAO: Federal background checks can be risky business
The way things are going now our information is already out there in thieves hands so it don't really make any difference if our employer wants a hand in it to. Every time I need access to my system I am giving out my social security number and all to someone I don't even know. Yet we have to take it for granted on who we provide our information to at the mercy of their hands.
Having gone through a background check within the last two years I have found that I was answering questions about outdated incidents. I was surprised that I was defending myself against very outdated circumstances. It has amazed me that my local bank can find much more current data than the GAO.
It sounds like my mortgage. I received a letter from a person changing my mortgage account number. I first called the mortgage company to speak to the person whose name was on the letter, but nobody knew who he was. I wrote a letter stating I would continue paying my mortgage to the old account #. I had a call from a woman who said she was following up on my letter and I haven't heard from her in about a year! It makes me think it was not legit.
On Uncle Sam faces recruiting challenges with tech-savvy set
A culture shift to attract skilled, creative employees won't solve retention challenges if, once in the door, those ee's are subject to overly restrictive IT practices & protocols because those directing the work are just now learning about wikis, clouds, mobile platforms, or even web analytics. During the latest round of SAVE Award submissions, for instance, I used some simple HTML to colorize and animate a suggestion for emphasis. The entry was removed as abusive. Doubtful that's a message the Whitehouse was really trying to convey on a site about innovation. But at some unexpected level, a gatekeeper probably wasn't onboard. The moral of the story? It's a more multi-dimensional issue than providing flexible hours. (Posted from my phone.)
Funny... you don't ever hear about Apple having trouble retaining EE's or techs. Perhaps companies like Apple understand the net culture and understand how to resource creativity?
On Proposal would end Alaska native contracting advantages
Claire McCaskill is a true hero for going after these corrupt ANC's. ANC's throw the kitchen sink in their billings and represent all that is very, very wrong with America.
Just like immigration, sweeping enforcement of current laws would probably go a long way to fixing the abuse of the small business programs. Permamnent black listing all violators would help, include their "sub-contractors" and you would clear the field of cheaters.
On Federal judge ends 'don't ask, don't tell'
It's about time.
I wonder how many years the good judge spent serving in our military.....
The law was ridiculous to begin with. Wait til we have a draft, and all one would have to say is, "I'm gay" in order to be excused from service; it's easier than trying to prove you're a conscientious objector.
Here is another blatant example of a Federal Judge legislating from the bench. Whether you support the ban or not, one man making the decision for all is not the basis on which our country was founded.
The Ban on people serving openly gay in the military is not about judging people for their sexual preference. I have served in both the Navy and the Army and openly gay behavior has no place in the Military. Military members are living in very close quarters for long periods of time. Openly gay behavior infringes on the rights of non-gay service members. This is not a judgment on the lifestyles of the gay community, but rather a fact of military life. Anyone who has not served in the military should not have a say in this decision, including Federal Judges, members of Congress and the current President.
A person's sexual life, regardless of the job they're in, should be kept private. It is not appropriate in any public government business environment to discuss your personal sex life. You're in a job to perform that job. We shouldn't have to legislate that.
Awesome. Time to act like grown ups and end the sexual stupidity.
On Employees wring hands over Homeland Security consolidation
I think this issue is less about the move and more about where the move is going. I would not want to move from working in NW to SE D.C. either but the concern is not about available transit or services. It is the fact that this move is putting these Federal workers directly in a documented high crime area and while the area at work may be secure, there is still the issue with coming into work and leaving work. This will probably be vocalized more the closer the move gets to fruition.
Talk about a waste of money 3.4 billion dollars for a location employees don't want to go to. DHS ranks 28th of 32 agencies to work for and this location is suppose improve that? Why not focus on telework alternatives and skip building this new castle.
Lenght of commutes, places to eat, park, shop, bank. Now these are serious issues in an agency that takes 2-3 hours from each of the 300+ million annual airline travelers in the US. I sympathize with their concerns..
On Survey: Pay and benefits remain an issue for military families
The issue, here, is more profound than simple economics. The need to provide competitive wages, and benefits, for the military is a byproduct of the all volunteer military. The increased level of risk (potential for long, repeated, deployments to hardship duty stations and theaters of combat) and limited pool of volunteers, places the US military in an untenable position over the long term. Couple this problem with the difficulties inherent in maintaining a two income family, in the military, and the model quickly becomes unsustainable. Secretary Gates wants more young people to volunteer to serve in the military, but given these factors it is unlikely that most of them will do so. The questions then become one of where the tipping point is, in this situation, and how soon the military will be forced to return to national compulsory service.
Military members get free medical care on base; free housing on base; subsidized housing (with tax free extra money) if they're living off base; free or subsidized meals; tax free salary if deployed to a war zone; and re-enlistment bonuses if they decide to re-up (which is also tax free if they re-enlist in a war zone). Our military is compensated just fine for the job they do. If you're a 19 year old E-4 with a wife and two kids, that is your personal choice, not the government's.
On Poll: Americans believe government is too large
Seems everyone thinks the government is too big and should reduce spending...as long as the spending that's cut doesn't reduce any entitlement they receive nor any pork in their district.
Sure. All voters are in favor of shrinking government as long as you don't touch Social Security, Medicare/ Medicaid, or whatever specific entitlement/ tax break that they receive. Oh, and don't raise taxes to cover those expenses, either. Look in the mirror, people.
Duh you think. Lets cut the government by eliminating the IRS and all the reducing the size of Congress by one for each state.
Best thing to do is require a 5 year sunset provision on every law written. Within 6 years, Congress would be too busy reauthorizing sunsetting rules that they couldn't spend any time trying to "help" us with more laws.
Everyone is always for reducing the size of government until a catastrophe hits...then everyone complains about the government's inability to react.
And you just figured this out? Come on people, I just retired after 30 years of federal service. There were a handful of really dedicated hard working coworkers where I worked. However, if the union leaders could put more time into doing actual work, rather than time trying to find out how to get out of work, our productivity would be unmatched.
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