Deploy...or else...

So...George W. comes into the Presidency with a list of agendas, one of which is to "save money" by eventually privatizing every civil service job within the federal government through several different methods. Of course, it means giving the contracts to his buddies and campaign contributors...I mean...businesses that are best able to execute the contract.

Anyway, President Bush (with the help of Congress) worked towards that goal - even after he declared war on Iraq and started sending civilian employees over there to assist in the mission. Agency budgets were cut, hiring freezes ensued, employees left through attrition and were not replaced, more folks were pressured into serving in Iraq, but the workloads continued at the same levels or, as in Alaska's case, increased exponentially. Project quality, safety, etc...are all in jeopardy.

Then come the hurricane seasons.

Last year was bad enough - I had to cover 3 jobs while folks deployed on hurricanes and typhoons during a time when all of those jobs had emergency deadlines. (Afterwards, I was sick for a month.) This year...we get thwamped with Katrina and at the same time Iraq enters a critical phase. Suddenly, managers are desperately trying to hold on to enough people to complete their projects while HQ, in their inifinite wisdom, starts demanding that various Emergency Management-trained personnel be deployed immediately. You see, folks don't realize that civil servants ALSO SERVE at the whim of the President in extreme circumstances (aka. The only difference is...if we don't go where they send us, they can't put us in jail. However, in extreme cases they can take away our careers, retirement, etc...if we don't comply. (Of course, that's not something you find out when you apply for/accept the job.)

As of this morning, those seem to be the options that the Administration and military are chosing to exercise at this time - and management is frustrated because HQ isn't giving them any choice in the matter. We already have a bunch of folks down there voluntarily, however it seems that the Bush Administration is sending everyone they can, whether it's prudent or not, to try and "fix" his badly damaged image.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am happy to do "my part" in all of this (since my health disqualifies me from going) by backing up those folks who are leaving. Also, I think that we should be sending as many folks as we can to help with Katrina recovery. However, this is just one more consequence of the failed Bush agenda. Get rid of the Federal employees only to discover...ooops...that you need them.

And here comes Rita!!!!!

By the way, when are they going to deploy Cheney's daughter, her lover and the Bush twins?