Sixteen days. The federal government went into shutdown mode for that long, if a soft shutdown, with most services carrying on — and some government bureaus going into overkill mode to stick it to citizens.
But during those 16 axial rotations, some of the things that carried on “business as usual”-wise might surprise you.
Federal job applications, for instance.
“The government is still aggressively hiring,” informs Lily Whiteman. In a fascinating Washington Post article, Annys Shin quotes this author of How to Land a Top-Paying Federal Job to help explain the weird fact that, during the shutdown, the government was bombarded with job applications, and was even advertising a few positions. But, as Whiteman stated, it’s hardly inexplicable. Government is “where the jobs are.”
And, as Shin’s reportage makes clear, this popularity of federal work
reflects the continued weakness of the job market, four years out from the end of the Great Recession, federal hiring experts said. As much as the public sector has been buffeted by turmoil in recent months, it is still seen as a haven from something even more uncertain: the private sector.
The federal government is alive and well and siphoning wealth in large gulps. The best way to spark a sputtering private-sector job recovery isn’t more government, but for Congress to go into a long, long repeal session, and jettison our most burdensome programs, taxes, spending, regulations, and unfulfillable promises.
It’s no wonder the Great Recession is still going on. After all, Big Government is still going on and on and on and on . . .
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
5 replies on “Where the Jobs Are”
The government won’t stop intervening until the private sector can pick up the slack, which won’t happen until the government stops intervening.
“The government is still aggressively hiring,” “that’s where the jobs are”
Perhaps ACORN retreads are not very adept at building working websites.
Haas anyone seen figures on how much the government spent on its ridiculous guards and fences and all the other trappings of the “look what the nasty Republicans did.” I criticize the GOP a lot, but in this case they tried to stand on principle. Just curious if there were any numbers on the “policing effort.”
Nothing beat the stories of federal workers living “paycheck to paycheck”. This as Lois Lerner retired with a six-figure PENSION.
If I was supposed to feel sorry for those who were furloughed (including my sister and her husband), mission NOT accomplished. They got a two week vacation on the taxpayers.
In less than 8 hours of the shutdown, miraculously, professionally printed 3X4 foot signs appeared all over the country in the tens of thousands saying-“this [park, facility, etc. with custom logos] closed due to government shutdown. There has not been a government shutdown in 17 years. These signs have not been sitting on the shelf waiting to be used for 17 years. These signs were designed, specifications were determined, signs were then requisitioned, bids were posted and vetted, government contracts were awarded. The materials were then ordered and the signs manufactured then distributed by U.S. Mail or freight companies.
This shutdown was orchestrated and planned well in advance at least 6-8 months ago. Millions of tax dollars were appropriated and spent in this process. There is likely a paper trail a mile long leading directly to the White House.
We are being played.