How long will it take to repair the damge to America done by the Bush regime

[Imran Siddiqui]

It probably is Canada . It is nigh on impossible to fire a US federal worker.

[KrazyHorse]

The article pointed out specifically that that was the general impression, but that the times had changed over the last decade...

[KrazyHorse]

I wish I could remember the source. It was a major news organisation of some kind...

[Dis]

In any case I don't think the U.S. and France will ever be close again. The nations are just too different. I suppose it is a cultural thing.

So I don't think America will ever be able to repair the damage with France.

Russia never liked us anyways, so that's no loss. Germany could be a loss as well. But they will come back in a few years. They are warmongers at heart .

[Imran Siddiqui]

Frogger: That sounds interesting. I wish it were true. My g/f works at the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Service Administration (where I wish to be working this summer), and they have some incompetant workers there that they would just love to fire.

Though I guess the Department of Labor would be setting a bad example if they fired anyone... though they'd know what kind of supplemental insurance they could give the guy .

[KrazyHorse]

Imran: every office setting is populated by incompetents. The fact is that 25% of them end up doing 75% of the work. The other 75% putz around and cover their asses.

Business tends to be just as inefficient as government, from my (admittedly limited) experience in both settings...

[Imran Siddiqui]

From what I've seen (as limited as it is), government inefficiency is far greater than business inefficiency. This is not to say that inefficient workers don't exist in the business setting, they are just easier to get rid of.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Dissident
Germany could be a loss as well. But they will come back in a few years. They are warmongers at heart .

Not anymore, don't be fooled by the Civ3 settings. War is as popular here as AIDS and smallpox.

[Straybow]

Yeah, the Germans may forget how crappy things were in East Germany under the Commies because the regime crumbled and was neatly folded into the West German economy.

They will not forget getting their a$$es kicked in WW2, even though we were really polite and helpful in the way we handed their a$$es back in the aftermath.

I've not studied the Franco-Prussian War much, but a similar effect seems to have persisted over the French in the aftermath of that dis-a$$-ter.

[Harovan]

Whatever you say. You seem to be an expert.

[DuncanK]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
From what I've seen (as limited as it is), government inefficiency is far greater than business inefficiency. This is not to say that inefficient workers don't exist in the business setting, they are just easier to get rid of.

Sure government has some lazy workers (and so do businesses), but government opperations are actually quite efficient and already understaffed. It seems inefficient because when you have to get service you have to wait in line. The lines aren't there because of inefficiency they are there because of understaffing.

Two points on government spending. One, a good chunk of it is transfer payments. Two, it should increase at about the same rate as GDP. Wage go up (hopefully), inflation, and more people just require more services. In the 80s spending increased at about the same rate as GDP, just a little faster.

[DuncanK]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I wish they'd revise McCain's old idea of an across the board 10% cut to all government spending except social security.

I don't agree. Why can't we take each opperation and cut according to need? With the across the board cut you are surely not going to get the spending right, except by coincident.

Originally posted by Oerdin
I've also noticed that recession or boom the government just keeps on hiring new workers but they never seem to fire any workers. That means there has to be a sizable amount of dead wood in the system. These folks need to get the axe as well then maybe we'll be able to get a handle on the deficit.

Firing workers is harder for government, but that is a good thing. Government is not suppose to run like a business. The business cycle forces businesses to fire workers during a temporary down turn in revenues. When revenues increase again the business needs to rehire and train them. Some of them have gone on to other things and never return. Why should we force government to go through this expensive cycle. Also, government departments, unlike business, actually have more work to do during a recession. The quality of their work would be seriously undermined if their funding were cuts just because of a recession.

[DuncanK]

and don't forget that cutting spending during a recession makes the recession worse.

[Richard Bruns]

I always thought it would be good for governments to hire people in a recession, and then lay them off and cut spending when times are good. That way you get budget surpluses, more efficient operation, and anti-cyclic activity to balance the economy.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Dissident
It's simple.

Eliminate stupid democratic programs and we would have plenty of money for tax cuts.

But the problem is the democratic programs are here to stay. The republicans can't get rid of programs enacted before their term. So they are forced to deal with it.

You mean like farm subsidies? Or Corporate welfare?

Oh wait...the Republicans like those...they are their chief champions!



Come on, you know better.