Hat tip to JJ3 for this one. This explains perfectly the sequestration bullshit.
NIGHT WATCHMAN
Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.
Congress said, “Someone may steal from it at night.”
So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.
Then Congress said, “How does the watchman do his job without instruction?”
So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.
Then Congress said, “How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?”
So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One was to do the studies and one was to write the reports.
Then Congress said, “How are these people going to get paid?”
So they created two positions: a time keeper and a payroll officer then hired two people.
Then Congress said, “Who will be accountable for all of these people?”
So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.
Then Congress said, “We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $918,000 over budget, we must cut back.”
So they laid-off the night watchman.
NOW slowly, let it sink in.
Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter. Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY during the Carter administration?
Anybody?
Anything?
No?
Didn’t think so!
Bottom line is, we’ve spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency, the reason for which very few people who read this can remember!
Ready??
It was very simple… and at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted on 8/04/1977, TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.
Hey, pretty efficient, huh???
AND NOW IT’S 2012 — 35 YEARS LATER — AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS “NECESSARY” DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR. IT HAS 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES; AND LOOK AT THE JOB IT HAS DONE!
(THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, “WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?”)
34 years ago 30% of our oil consumption was foreign imports. Today 70% of our oil consumption is foreign imports.
Ah, yes — good old Federal bureaucracy.
NOW, WE HAVE TURNED OVER THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE, AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?
Hello!! Anybody Home?
Signed….The Night Watchman
Hollow man says:
It is just so unreal, what we have become, i am floored. But more than that ashamed. We are one big lie and we believe ourselves. Which makes us plum stupid. Really listen to the young adults, we are already communist and we just dont know it. Thats how it will eventually play out. My bet, it is the Christians that are picked for the ovens, labor camps or whatever they decide to use to kill a bunch of people to lead the others to the same fate
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27th February 2013 at 3:21 pm
Zarathustra says:
The Dept. of Energy’s first project was Carter’s Synfuels program. Of course it was a complete waste of money, but it did make Armand Hammer quite a bit wealthier.
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27th February 2013 at 4:10 pm
JJ3 says:
Thanks for the hat tip, I thought it was a good story, someone sent me an email on it, thought I would share. Thanks for posting and keep up the good work.
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27th February 2013 at 4:48 pm
Llpoh says:
I have one main business competitor. They do not do as well as my company, in all areas of operation. Why? Because they believe steadfastly in having layers of management and supervision. They have senior managers, junior managers, engineering managers, quality managers, plant managers, plant superintendents, office managers, supervisors, information managers, etc.
I have me, my partner, a senior manager, a plant manager, and two office people. Our people are responsible for their quality,scheduling, etc. We are more efficient, have better quality and delivery, lower prices, faster emergency response, and are much, much more profitable.
People put in multi-layers of management and systems to try to cover for folks not doing their jobs. I have found it much easier to make the base job simpler, and require the employee to do it well, and give them the responsibility and authority necessary to do so.
There is not a backbone among all of the millions of public servants out there. They need managers prepared to fire anyone not doing their jobs. It really is that simple.
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27th February 2013 at 5:09 pm
AWD says:
Food for thought…
If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If you have to get your parents’ permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If the only school curriculum allowed to explain how we got here is evolution, but the government stops a $15 million construction project to keep a rare spider from evolving to extinction … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If you have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor, or check out a library book, but not to vote who runs the government … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If the government wants to ban stable, law-abiding citizens from owning gun magazines with more than ten rounds, but gives 20 F-16 fighter jets to the crazy new leaders in Egypt … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If, in the largest city, you can buy two 16-ounce sodas, but not a 24-ounce soda because 24-ounces of a sugary drink might make you fat … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If an 80-year-old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a woman in a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If a seven year old boy can be thrown out of school for saying his teacher “cute,” but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If children are forcibly removed from parents who discipline them with spankings while children of addicts are left in filth and drug infested “homes”… you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government intrusion, while not working is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid, subsidized housing, and free cell phones … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If the government’s plan for getting people back to work is to incentivize NOT working with 99 weeks of Unemployment checks and no requirement to prove they applied but can’t find work … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If you pay your mortgage faithfully, denying yourself the newest big screen TV while your neighbor buys iPhones, TV’s and new cars, and the government forgives his debt when he defaults on his mortgage … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
If being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you more “safe” according to the government … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
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27th February 2013 at 5:50 pm
AWD says:
Not an onion story. Little Timmy Geitner on the $100,000 lecture circuit giving “financial crisis” seminars:
Tim Geithner To Hold Financial Crisis Seminars
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/27/2013
When it comes to generating near-apocalyptic financial crises, there are few men quite as qualified as the former NY Fed and US Treasury head Tim Geithner. Which is why it is not at all unexpected that while he is drafting his tell all memoirs, which may or may not include details on why he leaked confidential market moving Fed information to Wall Street’s banks.
The TurboTax expert is set to take the university circuit by storm and teach young and impressionable minds about how not to do anything he did. As WSJ reports, “Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plans to hit the university circuit in the coming months, conducting a series of seminars on financial crises. Mr. Geithner, who left the Obama administration last month after four eventful years at Treasury, should have unique insights on such crises.
He was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and then Treasury secretary during the 2008-2009 financial meltdown. Mr. Geithner has committed to seminars at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Princeton University and the University of Michigan.” Surely, the future central planners of the world are already shaking with anticipation.
Mr. Geithner’s seminars, first reported by Politico, will focus on crisis prevention and crisis response, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. The goal is to create academic research that future policy makers and the public can use to better understand how and why governments act amid financial catastrophe.
Perhaps it is not too late to petition that alongside Geithner, universities also demand that Bernie Madoff run parallel courses on the long-term viability of the US financial system and the fundamental “fair value” of the stock market, coupled with the occasional “client account sanctity” masterclass by one Jon Corzine.
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27th February 2013 at 7:58 pm
napari says:
Since this thread is energy related heres an article that tells us how big government is still taking over bit by bit.
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/022613-645843-epa-mandates-fuels-that-dont-exist.htm
To me this is VERY scary!
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27th February 2013 at 8:02 am