The Week in Comments: Pay, the new Congress and defending Honors
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 Incoming House Oversight chair pledges hard line on waste
This is typical of the Republican wild bunch. Beginning with McCarthy in the 50s and now with Issa in 2011 the Republicans continue to "investigate" corruption. Maybe they should look in the mirror.
If Rep.Issa couldn't get the state of California out of debt how's he going to make any head way at the White House.
Fed Up, He is a Senator to the federal government. He has no jurisdiction over the state budget.
I appluad Mr. Issa's spoken intention. I believe the conciliatory "remarks" are intended to defray the inevitable accusations of political gaming. IF Congress/States can get the "ball rolling" on some critical infrastructure projects (having the ADD'L benefit of jobs) the invest. would be beneficial. If invest. produces only political "gassing" and add'l bureaucratic hurdles,...business as usual.
On Specter of government shutdown still looms
What is wrong with these morons? They just voted to throw away some $800 billion but now we're supposed to cut our way out of that so some rich guys can avoid paying taxes?
Preserving this Republic requires fiscal responsibility which means that at some point, the national debt, or the amount of money we borrow, has to stop being held hostage by overspending. It is always fun to buy new things but eventually the bills are due and the piper has to be paid. The ramifications of the debt ceiling should be considered by both the Senate and Congress whenever expensive legislation and entitlements are proposed. The doom and gloom is a political dog and pony show.
On Retirement funds finish strong in 2010
So, how far back are our TSP funds now compared to what they were worth in 2000? It seems we are just now getting back to decent levels. Considering that most stock brokers say double your money in 10 years, we are a far cry from those levels. The globalization of our economy I think will throw all the previous models and experience with the stock market out the window.
I was in the I fund for years, the market droped and I continued to buy. These efforts are now paying off. I switched to the S fund this time last year, believing the country is on a come back. With the recent year gains things are looking good, bigger and better than ever. And the economy still has room to improve.
On Pay freeze won't halt all raises
By omission, this means that all executive, legislative and judicial branch employees pay is also frozen? I'll believe it when I see it.
Yeah, I'm way overpaid- the equivalent position to mine at the defense contractor I oversee pays 2.5 times what I make. Oh, and the contractor is cost-plus, so that is passed right back to the government. BIG savings...
When information on the possible pay freeze first came out, Congress said they would take a 10% pay cut. Did that happen? I wrote my Senator and asked if he could let me know if they are "sharing our pain". No word back yet...should I hold my breath?
Pay freezes are real and have a negative impact on the people who find their wages frozen. This is especially true if you are a new Government employee, near retirement or at the lower end of the pay spectrum. However, it is an eye opener to view the number of postings by people who have real bitterness in their personality and are so blinded by malice they cannot comprehend simple market economics and the need of all consumers to expend funds. In my opinion, their myopic view of society where all Government employees are bad, lazy and/or overpaid is counterproductive to intelligent discourse and difficult to fathom. For example, if Dan Ketter is a real person, it is my hope to never end up near his community. His volume of hate and bitterness would be difficult to put up with on a daily basis. On the other hand, if he is just a troublemaker trying to create waves, then he has succeeded in his mission.
On Feds receive revised retirement statements
OPM screws up ant the retirees pay. What a country!
I submitted my request to OPM when the announcement first came out. It's been over a yerar and all I'm told is "they're working on it."
On Veteran-owned small businesses now must prove their status
Seems as if a DD214 should answer most of the questions about who is/is not a veteran. Why wasn't this already a requirement of the probram?
This is a good move. All to often these special catagories were being abused to the detriment of those for which they exist.
Every agency loves to show their statistics for small business awards but it is all smoke and mirrors. Contracting Officers even at VA look for a small company that are all of these 8a, WOSB, HUBZone, SDVOSB to make a single contract award to and get to count it as 4 awards.
On Navy commander permanently replaced over raunchy videos
Even though the video was intended to be humorous, the XO lacked good judgment in the production thereof.
There should be no room in today's Navy for any officer who publicly exhibits such behavior, humorous or not. He deserves a severe demotion in grade as well as an early exit from the US Navy.
All hail the PC Admirals inside the beltway whose only concern in life is becoming a lobbyist or a really well paid mentor or both. Honestly, for something that happened 3 yrs ago? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - the Navy is showing really poor judgement at this point in going out of their way to please the liberals flower power voter base.
I dont think this is a PC witch hunt. Granted there is plenty of that going on in our military these days but this guy as a XO was making videos that would have been highly questionable 20-30 years ago as well as today. XO's should not be filming sexually loaded situations even as a joke. Not on ship anyway.
What about the CO at the time of the incident?Shouldn't he be held accountable?
PC ran amok, at least CAPT Honors getting this attention will be well taken care of; book and tv show appearnces sure to follow. Fair winds and Smooth seas CAPT.
I wonder how many of these people who want Capt. Honors crucified would not let the world's best heart surgeon operate on them or the world's best defense attorney represent them if they found out they had made similiar videos? Answer. NONE! Why? Because that doesn't fit their agenda. They would want to live and stay out of jail, so those other things don't matter:crucifying someone for personal conduct only matters if doing so promotes an agenda.
Capt. Honors, I served in the Army for 23 years and have two boys; and I would be honored to serve with you personally and would be thrilled if my boys could.
On Sailors support Capt. Honors over videos
As a retired officer, I support Capt. Honors and believe the Navy is railroading him and using him as a scapegoat.
I think Captain Honors should be commended for boosting the morale of our sons and daughters. According to this story, he is very well liked and professional as well. Military life is tough enough and these young people seem very happy with the diversion.
As an Air Force Veteran, this is pure and simple political correctness run amok. What a waste of a talented warfighter especially considering the investment the Navy has in Captain Owen Honors. I would never want my son or daughter joining today's woosie military.
XO movie night may be a very effective morale booster, but it was completely unnecessary for the jokes to target any group of people. I'm sure any DADT sailors did not any morale boost from the videos in question. Now that DADT has been repealed the military has to show zero tolerance for harrassment like this.
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