TDS

[dan_bgblue]

https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-...y-doge-efforts

[IkeCat]

Isn't faux news the one that recently lost a multi-million dollar lawsuit? No, wait, that was fox news, either way not a very credible source to be referencing.

[UKHistory]

And Elon has just everyone an email demanding bullet pointing what we have done in the past week.

[UKHistory]

That is every federal employee. That is insane.

[CitizenBBN]

That is every federal employee. That is insane.

It's insane for government employees, but in the corporate world that's exactly what he and others have done time and again. He did it at Twitter, and it looks like even groups like JP Morgan are starting to line up with those tactics in some situations.

Is it how I would behave? No, and I don't condone it, there's a reason I didn't ever want a corporate job, but arbitrary slashing of staff and budgets, these kinds of retirement and other tactics are actually commonplace in the corporate world.

Millions of private workers have this done to them through no action of their own b/c someone at "corporate" decides to slash a less profitable division, or a new person comes in to "shake up" things.

it's just unheard of it do it at places like government or universities, etc. I won't even argue its sane b/c at best it's questionable, but it is not all that uncommon in the private world, esp. big companies on this scale.

Of course everything Trump does is larger than life, and it's questionable if that really gets results or not. It's trying to move a very intractable needle on something like federal government efficiency (which is horribly wasteful and inefficient overall, and I'm happy to have that debate), but is so protected by various laws and unions that it's nearly impossible to fix anything.

Maybe this makes the needle move some, probably not much, but that's why the FAA software is so outdated than even in the 1980s they were the largest purchaser of vacuum tubes in the world, b/c they still used those kinds of systems. The procurement laws alone are so draconian that even if agencies want to be efficient they probably can't be.

i get why the employees would not care for such tactics, but I do also understand why after multiple efforts to try to make any changes to federal bureaucracy, including just simple things like procurement procedures, all of them failing and no end in sight to the expansion of government, that someone would come along with a sledgehammer and start smashing indiscriminately.

Reagan tried sane cuts, Clinton did as well, none of it had any impact. At some point it leads to a Hulk approach where you just go out and smash. That's what Musk is largely doing. Will it help or hurt? We'll see.

FWIW that is why big companies do these things as well, b/c their internal bureaucracy builds up over time as well, and at some point their own mounds of rules and procedures clog the system just as in government. Often a surgical approach fails, and then they bring in the chainsaws. It's really for the same reasons, and it's not well directed in most cases, but it is a result of the intractability of bureaucracy of all kinds, public and private. By its nature it grows and stagnates, economic kudzu that prevents fast reactions and adaptability. It's why companies like IBM rise to rule the world then fall, and unfortunately it happens to nations in the same way.

[MickintheHam]

I wish I had a nickel for every time I had to justify my position, document achievements and prove my worth to the organization. It is a very necessary process to make an organization efficient. It happens all over the world in corporate America. Employees need to be cognizant of what they provide to an organization in order to be efficient.

If you helped 35 old ladies get survivors benefits last week, document it. That's important work. But if your biggest achievement was rear ending your boyfriend in the Senate conference room maybe that wasn't as important.

[UKHistory]

Federal employees submit status reports all the time too. Formally we do this semi-annually and annually at a minimum

Weekly we provide regular high level bullets to senior management tomprovide status on regular stuff and high priority. There are meetings to immediate supervisors.

We publish completed products in a variety of formats internally and externally

Depending on where I worked, I have prepared materials that were handed directly to George W Bush and I have crushed data that Karl Rove used for domestic policy and no doubt campaign activities.

And in this Trump administration every speaking engagement I give isnapprocednor denied.

Getting a request in such a blunt and unprofessional manner outside the chain of command is highly irregular.

The fact that the “formal” data call was supplemented by a tweet that said failure to comply is considered a resignation is forking bullshit.

You can dismiss our concerns as being weak or whatever. I know this is a crowd that wants to watch if not participate in a good lynching of Americans they disagree with. With the exception of Citizen the lack of humanity from this crowd is freaking tragic. There are folks here who aren’t worthy of being Kentucky fans based on their
Compassion. .

It is unheard of for a cabinet secretary or an agency’s chief of staff to wish to review an entire agency’s staff individual reports. What a waste of time for an important senior official. .

And no single human being can read these or even objectively, thoughtfully evaluate them. It was a set up.

Now throw in the mix that a civilian who is not eligible to be president, not elected to public office, has not been confirmed by the Senate is making demands of federal employees. Fork that.

That is forking crazy. Since we were told last night that elon musk is not in charge of DOGE which is lie, all he is a contractor with triple citizenship and a giant conflict of interest with the federal government.

In what is a highly illegal move wreaking of subterfuge Elon Musk is not officially in charge of the phantom DOGE Office.

That is messed up. We have already seen that the DOGE staff are not trained accountants, or lawyers or have experience with understanding federal statutes or regulations. There is no way they can accurately assess value or do a real
Cost benefit analysis of employees impact or the impact of their absence. Not in a month.

The entire exercise to feed our statements into an AI tool is not a valid way to assess value or competency or even redundancy. The phrasing of individual assignments and how people with no clear parameters as how to respond shows what a bogus trap it is.

And private or public sector bosses who ask a person what is it that you do? Is never good.

The question is never asked objectively or in the spirit of genuine knowledge. And there is clearly a starting point of DOGE, Trump and MAGA that federal employees are the enemy despite being fellow Americans and taxpayers.

DOGE is looking for ways to cut the budget short term to make long term tax cuts that will increase the debt far more acceptable to republicans.

And for those of you who might seriously be concerned by the deficit, firing us is a drop in the bucket

Radically changing how people like musk and corporations pay taxes, eliminating social security or greatly reducing it and Medicare and or decreasing defense spending are the only serious ways to get spending under control. Firing us is a kin to pissing into fire.

And as we see with USAID, freezing aid abroad can hurt American businesses and farmers.

Reducing defense spending hurts military contractors. Reducing research funds and capping indirect costs hurts communities with university health systems.

Eliminating federal jobs that ensure safety inspections makes sense.

After all corporations always have the well being of their customers in mind at all times.

Firing federal employees hurts veterans who get preference for jobs. So a person sacrifices for their country and then we bump them out.

Firing probationary employees eliminates the cheapest, youngest employees with the best long term prospects of productivity.

Rejecting the civil servant merit based approach to hiring attacks the largest employer to desegregate and promotes equal pay for equal work better than any private sector company.

And removing, experienced scarcer staff whose loyalty is to the constitution in favor of partisan donors witn questionable qualifications that goose step to one man’s drum that doesn’t make things efficient.

Trump and MAGA’s entire platform to make america great is a Ponzi scheme based on hate and blame. Once these awful feds are done. Once the regulations are gone, once the trans and the immigrants from bleep hole countries are gone, the problems will still be here and you will have to find another them another scapegoat to blame for the shortcomings in your lives and why your formerly free and democratic country has gone to 4th reich hell.

[Doc]

As somebody who has worked for the private sector for years, I can say 100% that my employers knew exactly what I did every single day. Even when I owned my business, my partner knew exactly what did. My employer knows DAILY my number of transactions, my average client transaction, my monthly gross production, etc..... Government employees feel entitled to have no accountability because apparently they are above that. For their superiors to request evidence of production equals the "4th Reich of Hell" is ridiculous. It is hilarious that employees be required to show up at work, and show even the slightest amount of productivity would be offended.

[Doc]

I wish I had a nickel for every time I had to justify my position, document achievements and prove my worth to the organization. It is a very necessary process to make an organization efficient. It happens all over the world in corporate America. Employees need to be cognizant of what they provide to an organization in order to be efficient.

If you helped 35 old ladies get survivors benefits last week, document it. That's important work. But if your biggest achievement was rear ending your boyfriend in the Senate conference room maybe that wasn't as important.

Kudos to the rear ending thing. Nice shot!

[MickintheHam]

History, I truly empathize with the journey on which you are about to embark. Background: I was director of financial analysis and performance at a Fortune 50 company. We brought in the consultants to make transformational changes. I led initiatives to identify organizational inefficiencies and feed them to our outside consultants. I spent 8 years with it. 25 years later it has had a profound impact on my life. And to this day I still correspond with former co-workers who are still dealing with the impacts.

Let me make several points that I hope in some way are beneficial.

Focus on the problem not the personalities. Musk, Trump, et al are doing exactly what the problem requires.

First. The problem is the deficit. There is a number by which the deficit will be cut. It can be cut by growing the economy or cutting costs. Trump is working to do both. The bill the House is working on ensures cut portion of the equation will occur.

Second, this process will be long term. It won’t go away. Right now the efficiency team is identifying how much is possible to be gained through force reductions, wasteful spending and abuse. They will provide estimates and report the findings to the President, Cabinet heads and Congress who will then develop the plan.

Third, Musk’s sensible approach is starting with the least painful cuts. Get the low hanging fruit: system abuses, ineffective programs, waste, non-performing people or people who are bored and want to get out. Cuts will be deeper if the low hanging fruit doesn’t produce “the number”. The DOGE website should be an effective stimulus for employees and the general public to report abuses so employment terminations can be minimal.

Fourth, government employees need to understand the problem is not Musk, Trump, or MAGA. The problem is a government that can tax, print money and spend with minimal constraints. Our Republic will fail without major change. We are well down that path right now.

Fifth, efficiency efforts are always chaotic, and messy. Don’t expect hand holding. I found Musk’s messages to be on target and typical for these situations. Correspondence needs to be very brief, very clear, and state expectations. And if necessary it should state any consequences for failure to cooperate. It isn’t time for “please” and “thank you”. No unnecessary wording.

The program so far seems reasonable. There is a program for employees to exit with compensation. Cuts in abuses are being identified first.

I truly feel for the employees whose lives are being or will be turned upside down. Many have worked hard and contributed positively to the overall welfare. There is nothing easy or even fair about what is to take place. Don’t expect it. I encourage all government workers to ask themselves if they want to live through the process. Natural instinct for many will be to stay and fight. But all should do a personal assessment and decide for themselves. In my case after two years, I told my boss I would stay for six more years to work on efficiency initiatives and measure progress. At that time I would take the buyout and leave. Those six years took a toll on my personal life and my health. Everyone should look at their own circumstances and decide if it is worth it to stay.

This process will not go away. The agitators are not helping as they are playing to workers’ emotions and not their needs. The stress and false hope they are infusing is not helpful. Employees need to rise above it and develop their own personal plan.

There is life after work and I hope all being affected by the efficiency efforts take control of their lives and not have their future dictated to them.

[dan_bgblue]

Lots of good life lessons shared there Mick. I have a couple business situations that affected 17 people in 1 business and 12 in another. That is nothing like the number of fed employees that could be effected in the fed population, but the changes for the 29 folks I worked with would have told you their situation was life changing times 2.

I just saw an early morning news report that reported that the social security office in Campbellsville, KY is scheduled for closure. The reported savings will be $295,000.00 and the news report did not detail how much of that amount would be building rental and payroll. The next closest facility to them is 40 miles away, which could be either Elizabethtown and or BG but honestly, if those offices are like the one here in BG, it is a telephone call service office only. When I signed up for SS a couple years ago it was all phone only with no chance of on site appointments. Phone service was good and they had an email address so I could sign up n line.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[dan_bgblue]

Public input caused the social security office in Campbelsville to remain open, but the in person hearing office on site will be closed until further notice. +

[bigsky]

Thanks, Mick!

I've lost every job i ever had, including forced retirement. I lost a job/career I had for 12 years and went to college and reinvented myself. The railroad closed out 1000 jobs in Livingston Montana and I had one. A thousand middle class, good working class jobs out of a small town in Montana. All those men had to do something else.

The union didn't help at all. And I saw the reasons why. High property taxes. New rail technology. Consolidating work forces. Featherbedding by the unions. Bad, really bad supervision running the heavy repair shop.

I see the same things with the federal govt jobs here. And I sympathize with the men and women who must reinvent themselves or go elsewhere. I've done it several times. I wish them luck, but two trillion dollars has got to be cut.