Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood

Representative Mike Rogers (R-MI), the chair of the House Intelligence Committee (we won't get into that illogical phrase) had a very interesting take on our jobs situation in an appearance on "Morning Joe" yesterday. Here's what he said, verbatim: "It takes away from the local economy if the federal government hires people." What?

Of course my first thought was that Rep. Rogers might want to run that "theory" by Gov. Perry so he can check it for holes the way he checked out that silly Charles Darwin's theory. Because if Perry is the King of the Job Creators on the state level, and if practically all those jobs are federal jobs (they are), then isn't Perry "Messin' with Texas"?

I honestly do not understand the Republicans' hatred of federal employment. Thank goodness FDR was in office for the Great Depression! Hoover, if he agreed with modern-day Elephants, wouldn't have started the WPA, the CCC, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), plus all the rest of the alphabet soup ingredients that have served us well for generations. And few entities are in the position to do BIG things on the job front other than the feds. Have they done that? Not nearly enough yet. Should they? Absolutely.

So I'm not sure what Mr. Rogers is on about with the whole "local economy" damage concept--don't these folks spend money like the rest of us "federal families"? I do not buy groceries in Washington, DC, I buy them here in Colorado. My hubby isn't doing a job that he could be doing at the state level, that is unless Colorado decides to start up its own airline. And he isn't sitting around taking up space in some quota-filling unnecessary role--that is unless pilots and passengers know how to safely separate aircraft in a part of the sky riddled with 14,000 foot mountain peaks.

Somehow when folks hear the words "government workers" they picture overpaid and underworked people sitting at desks for half the day and talking about their personal lives for the other half. Sure, there are some people like that in all professions federal or not; we all aren't always as conscientious as we could be. But I can assure you that local and national public servants--fire fighters, teachers, police officers, first responders, etc.--aren't sitting on their backsides pondering philosophy nor the fate of "Dancing With the Stars'" latest contestants. They are highly-trained folks who quietly keep us all alive every day. And "government jobs" are real jobs, not giveaways. Know anyone who works at the post office? Ask them how often they sit around and just chat. Remember Newman's rant on "Seinfeld" about the LSM (letter-sorting machine) on "Publisher's Clearinghouse" day? It was based on fact; to that I can attest.

So Mr. Rogers, you're gonna have to forgive my ignorance, but I'm danged if I can understand what  damage federal jobs cause on the local level. I wouldn't want to live in a community without public servants--whether local, state, or federal--and I doubt that you do. Mr. Perry takes credit for federal jobs every day. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't being in Congress a federal job?

These are the people in your neighborhood, too, Representative.