So much for humorless public servants...
 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...027_story.html

Star Trek and Gilligan's Island skits by IRS employees. I'm sure this one will drive the wingnuts in congress into a dizzying lather.:rolleyes: Count on it.

Having spent 38 years working for 3 different Federal agencies, I've seen where several agencies have a propensity to have lavish conferences with high attendance in a misguided effort to emulate big conferences of a similar nature held by big private sector firms/industries.

I've participated in several such conferences and they're largely BS in my experience, but upper management (often political appointees with private sector backgrounds) rationalize it by wanting to treat their employees as they would be treated in the private sector.

Hell, if it wuz jest me, I'd sell DC to the Gooks, an' put all them gummitt employes working outta trailor houses with tires on the roof...jest to keep the tin from blowin' off when the wind got up.

I'm sure that you realize this this is no more than a jest.

However, when private industry turns enough profit to put on the dog for their employees, is one thing.

Whenever the government, which has never returned a profit, blows incredible amounts of money putting on the dog for "public servants", is something else altogether.

Either way, it's a junket...and pretty much a waste of money. And either way I suppose we're all paying for it.

Not to mention that either way, it's an unnecessary extravagance billed either to the consumer, shareholder, or taxpayer. Or a combination of the three. Considering it provides little or no value to those who pick up the tab.

Personally, I can chose to be either a consumer or shareholder (within reason), but I have no choice but to be a taxpayer.

My synopsis is, it's a waste of money and resources...but it makes the big wheel go around.

And it greases the right palms, mine not being one of them.

Chas

PS: I would rather see the money spent buying homeless drunks living in the gutter free Mad Dog. For one thing...it would be cheaper.

Come Monday we'll be seeing Glenn and the Idjit Hoard screaming SCANDAL at the top of their lungs with their eyes all bugged out. That is, until someone points out that the black dude in the White House put a stop to this shit and it's old news. It sounds like to me that the black dude's minions are setting up the scandalmongin' teabaggers once again. YMMV....

I don't disagree at all. However, the big exec's who make the decisions think they're doing God's work by improving the morale of their underlings. The underlings know it's a boondoggle, but go along with the boss because they get a trip to a nice place with free booze and food. It beats the shit out of work.

What's interesting is that there's a whole industry that has evolved around providing logistics and planning and such affairs (event planners). They're really good at making the executive's minions believe that all the bells and whistles are necessary, even essential, to avoid looking like a cheapskate. Somehow, the big exec's in both the public and private sector somehow believe that the ROI on such shindigs makes it worthwhile.:confused: I bet they'd think differently if they were spending their own money.

Funny you mention that. They're "giving" us next Saturday off for a day at Busch Gardens. Matthew the HR dork asked me if I was going. I said, "Only to collect the tickets, scalp them and go buy groceries.":p

Isn't there an old adage about "shiney trinkets and shallow flattery"?
It gets you nowhere, or everywhere depending on the individual, I guess.

Dave

Confucius says do not call HR dude dork in public forum.

Matthew the HR dude is a dork.

You're too kind, Dave. I have a similar four letter word to describe HR dudes. Same first letter and the same last letter.;)

No offense, Mike.:D

You mean they still even have HR dudes?

I've never met one of the male gender.

In some cases, multiple HR dudes and dudettes. My plant has a Director of HR an HR Administrator, two assistants and this Matthew guy who was supposed to be the "Nightshift HR Liason". What's funny, is he was supposed to be on nightshift with us. But, this only lasted a week then somehow transformed into him working days, just coming in at 6a.m.........

Also interesting to note that this is not a huge facility with thousands of employees. At last count I heard it was somewhere around 230.

A year ago all of this was handled by ONE HR Administrator and one assistant. Then, our Administrator quit and they hired Greg, the dude who is now the Director, who immediatley decided he needed an assistant, who he then promoted to Aministrator after talking them into making him Director. Then, of course, both he and his administrator needed assistants......Then, his nephew Matt graduated from college and needed a job, so suddenly a "Nightshift Liason" became "necessary".

Recently our SVP, Chuck, commented that the payroll appears to have grown larger than what we really need. So, HR has asked supervision to get serious about cutting unecessary people------------on the factory floor.

Must be all the unions fault............Oh, that's right, we don't have one.

Damn that Obama, overhiring just to make his numbers look good!

Dave

I've seen several.

Dave

Cross-dressers.

Hermaphrodites.

Ok, back to the subject... http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-says/?hpid=z1

Holy crap, batman!:rolleyes: The IRS has some 'splainin' to do.

You know, come to think of it......................;)

Dave

It's the only way they can reproduce.

They're just emulating the private sector.

Dave

Isn't that exactly what the neocon children of the corn want? Oops, I meant Reagan's kids...;)

Yeah right, I call bull chit!

Lets see some examples of private sector company's spending 25 mil a year on boondoggles.

This is what big Government and Unions do... with other people money

Unions? You're kidding, right?

Nope dead serious...

You do realize that unions hold elections to appoint people to handle their affairs? If they don't do the will of the majority of the members, they are out-either by the laws governing that organization or in the next election?

Now that I think about it, unions and governments are similar in that respect.

I guess it then begs the question, why do you hate democracy and majority rule?:rolleyes: It worked so well in the Republicans favor 2000-2008. What has changed?

It wasn't all that long ago that Obama, the OWS crowd, and like minded lefty politicos were braying about corporate excesses like jets, junkets and seminars. Some of that noise came right here from this form. Where's all that noise now, I wonder?

You just can't hear it over the braying of Issa and company, Mike. Read a newspaper and you'll see all manner of condemnation coming from the administration about it.
BTW, how's all of that scandalmania working out for the Tea Party these days? Did you catch Issa's antics this weekend on the boob tube? Pffft! Somebody has been chowing down on pickled eggs in the House cafeteria as far as I can tell.:rolleyes:

I'll bet those IRS managers all got complimentary tickets to Disneyland, too. ;)

I think it is unfair to characterize all gov employees based on the actions of a few.

Kind of like saying all right wing extremists are like Anne Coulter... Uh, er.... Maybe that's not the best example, eh? ;)

Heh, heh, heh...;):D

After watching those IRS folk trying to conga dance I have grave doubts that they could coordinate much of anything...much less any fictional "enemies list".

I'm sure we will be hearing much wailing and the gnashing of teeth all summer long from the hyperventilating wingnuts over the kerfuffle in Cincy. I really do hope that Faux News keeps them flipping their wigs about it because every hearing conducted by these red faced, screaming and delusional crybabies means one or two less seats in congress that they'll be able to hold onto in '14.:)

You really need to stop watching MSNBC while drinking kool-Aid Bob. ;):rolleyes:

Wrong again, Jim. It was the bourbon and the Daily Show that I was stealing from.;):cool: