From Holly Harper:
“I hate government because I know these guys…and let me tell you,
the weakest most drunken, f*#$ing incompetents went to work for the
U.S. government because they weren’t smart enough for the private
sector,” says the fictional Jeff Skilling, a character based on former
Enron chief Jeff Skilling in the Broadway play “Enron.”
Sadly the fictional Mr. Skilling has a point, especially if we base
his conclusions on recent headlines these past few months. Granted,
there are many dedicated and talented employees in civil service, but
is our government really attracting the best and brightest? Are new
ideas about evaluations, performance, business practices, and
management permeating the policies and actions of our nation’s largest
employers: federal, state, and local government agencies? Let’s
explore some problems:
First, in the wake of the worst financial crisis in decades, it
emerges that “dozens” of Securities and Exchange Commission employees
have been using government computers to access pornographic images.
Some senior staffers raking in more than $200,000 per year spent their
work time on the tax payers’ dime cruising XXX Web sites. While our
economy takes a trip on a terrifying roller coaster and thousands of
people have lost their jobs and savings accounts, these dirtbags are
downloading porn instead of policing the financial community like they
are paid to do. Talk about a group of folks with moral fortitude. It’s
disgusting.
Second, BusinessWeek recently called the Mine Safety and Health
Administration “broken” in the wake of allegations that the agency
allowed companies to avoid penalties through a flawed system. The same
flawed system that may have led to the tragic death of 29 workers at
Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, West Virginia
last month (the worst U.S. mining explosion in 40 years). The question
here is: if the MSHA system is “broken,” why weren’t MSHA leaders
trying to “fix” it? The image of a group of insipid paper-pushers
operating day-in and day-out within a broken system, lacking the
initiative and energy required to overhaul it (despite knowledge that
sticking with the status-quo could cost lives), is depressing. It
shouldn’t take a tragedy to get these people off their
“that’s-the-way-it’s-always-been-done” butts and modernize, fix, test,
and adjust our “broken” federal systems.
And finally, a federal judge was caught putting up a “funny” porn site
while sitting on the bench during court (an obscenity trial, no less),
an IRS employee was caught evading taxes on more than $40,000 of eBay
income, and a National Park Service employee was downloading sexually
explicit images while at work (read more here).
Shouldn’t these civil servants be busy working while at work? Someone
needs to step in, make the government accountable, efficient, and
up-to-date with the latest management practices.
Our country’s continued strength depends, to a certain degree, on
being able to weed out or re-train these pencil-pushing bureaucrats.
We need a cadre of smart, well-trained patriotic young people serving
their country in a civilian capacity. We need them to make sure our
roads are safe, our drinking water isn’t contaminated, our streets are
free from crime, and when we pay their salaries with our tax dollars,
we are getting our money’s worth.
The U.S. Public Service Academy will help tackle the negative stigma
that associates public sector work lazy, red-tape-bound bureaucrats.
The Academy will change the way we prepare our young civilian leaders,
and it will positively impact the way the public perceives public
service.
Ironically, the stage production of “Enron” is following in the
footsteps of its namesake and closing this month. It will go down in
history as one of the most “lavish flops” on Broadway in recent years
with losses estimated at $3.5 million-$4 million.
With the coming of the Academy and a new age of bright, enthusiastic
government employees, we are certain that Skilling’s quote regarding
civil servants will also become a part of history – and hopefully with
it will go the egregious behavior of civil servants everywhere.
