Federal, state and local bureaucrats continue to squawk and whine as responsible politicians try to find a way out of our universal government fiscal bind. There is no cut, no matter how small, they seem to feel, that is not, in the words of liberals everywhere, “draconian” or “insensitive.” You see that almost every day in The News & Observer‘s editorials.
No one exhibits this attitude more clearly than the National Labor Relations Board in a statement released upon news that its budget would be cut under Republican spending plans in Congress:
Nearly all of the agency’s budget is spent on salaries and rents; there are no programs to eliminate or postpone. The only way to meet this extreme and immediate reduction would be to furlough all of the NLRB’s 1,665 employees for 55 workdays, or nearly three months, between now and the end of September. The great majority of these employees work far from Washington D.C., in 51 local offices, where every NLRB case begins. The economic impact of this cut would be felt by families and communities in 33 states.
So, you see, there is simply no fat in the NLRB budget, and the way they would react to a budget cut is to furlough everyone for nearly three months. No choices would be made by supervisors or directors. No weighing of programs, personnel or purchases. That’s good management? What are we paying these people for?
I’ve been involved in downsizing a company. There are tough decisions to be made when revenues don’t meet expenses. This is a reality from which bureaucrats think they are exempt. Until that attitude — or the people with that attitude — is expunged from the public sector, our financial binds will just keep getting tighter.
