'You're Fired!'
' I know, I know, at first glance you probably 'think' that resurrecting this silly 130 year old civil service law, 'The Holman Rule', might just be about the dumbest, most idiotic 'corpse' we ever did dig up, here in our forward thinking State of Virginia. But really folks, there's no need to get your panties in a twist over this. I've been a 'professional' politician long enough to 'know' when to 'cut n run', and This is nothing to 'run' away from. We Repu...blican politicians need more Power to properly carry out our business, and to Do that we need to be able to wield absolute authority over our government employees. I mean, after all folks, "... Who runs this country, the people of the United States or the people on the people’s payroll?” You see, government workers Actually work for Us, the politicians. As such, they don't answer to the 'citizens' of America, they answer to Us. Sure, it's Your tax money that actually pays them, but We should determine how much that Pay actually Is, Not You. If they work hard like good minions, they will keep their hard earned paycheck. If they slack off, unlike professional politicians, they will Now be docked for that slack off time. Or just be Fired! Or what Ever we decide they deserve. This way the pressure is alway on them. Of course politicians don't Have that 'worry' because no matter What We do, we still get the big bucks, And our jobs. Remember, Americans answer to Politicians now, not the other way around, if you doubt that, just ask our new President-elect.
But get This, if you think the 'Holman Rule' is cool, wait until you see the Other cool rules I'm gonna resurrect. For example, how about This one; remember how irratating it is when someone passes you without warning on the highway, well there's a little used law to fix that problem; 'Failing to honk your horn when you pass another car', along with a one hundred dollar fine should take care of that. And how about This dandy, 'A woman who is not wearing a corset or being escorted by a man after 6 pm is technically bending the law'. You do Not want to be caught violating this one ladies. And of course we are always looking out for the rights of our feathered friends so this one should be a hit as well; No matter how frustrated you may be, it's 'Illegal to spit on a seagull'! Don't even Think about doing it! We have a Lot of 'power' here now that our hero has been elected, and just like him we will strive to throw our weight around like little, spoiled, schoolyard bullies. If you have some snappy obscure 'laws' that you would love to see me exhume, be sure to call me, Rep. H. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) and I will be more than happy to see how I can make the lives of our hard working government employees just a little more miserable, not to mention, stressful.' :/:/
' I know, I know, at first glance you probably 'think' that resurrecting this silly 130 year old civil service law, 'The Holman Rule', might just be about the dumbest, most idiotic 'corpse' we ever did dig up, here in our forward thinking State of Virginia. But really folks, there's no need to get your panties in a twist over this. I've been a 'professional' politician long enough to 'know' when to 'cut n run', and This is nothing to 'run' away from. We Repu...blican politicians need more Power to properly carry out our business, and to Do that we need to be able to wield absolute authority over our government employees. I mean, after all folks, "... Who runs this country, the people of the United States or the people on the people’s payroll?” You see, government workers Actually work for Us, the politicians. As such, they don't answer to the 'citizens' of America, they answer to Us. Sure, it's Your tax money that actually pays them, but We should determine how much that Pay actually Is, Not You. If they work hard like good minions, they will keep their hard earned paycheck. If they slack off, unlike professional politicians, they will Now be docked for that slack off time. Or just be Fired! Or what Ever we decide they deserve. This way the pressure is alway on them. Of course politicians don't Have that 'worry' because no matter What We do, we still get the big bucks, And our jobs. Remember, Americans answer to Politicians now, not the other way around, if you doubt that, just ask our new President-elect.
But get This, if you think the 'Holman Rule' is cool, wait until you see the Other cool rules I'm gonna resurrect. For example, how about This one; remember how irratating it is when someone passes you without warning on the highway, well there's a little used law to fix that problem; 'Failing to honk your horn when you pass another car', along with a one hundred dollar fine should take care of that. And how about This dandy, 'A woman who is not wearing a corset or being escorted by a man after 6 pm is technically bending the law'. You do Not want to be caught violating this one ladies. And of course we are always looking out for the rights of our feathered friends so this one should be a hit as well; No matter how frustrated you may be, it's 'Illegal to spit on a seagull'! Don't even Think about doing it! We have a Lot of 'power' here now that our hero has been elected, and just like him we will strive to throw our weight around like little, spoiled, schoolyard bullies. If you have some snappy obscure 'laws' that you would love to see me exhume, be sure to call me, Rep. H. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) and I will be more than happy to see how I can make the lives of our hard working government employees just a little more miserable, not to mention, stressful.' :/:/
House Republicans revive obscure rule that allows them to slash the pay of individual federal workers to $1
Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) is behind the revival of the “Holman Rule,” which enables any lawmaker to propose an amendment to slash the salary of an individual federal employees.
The Holman Rule, named after an Indiana congressman who devised it in 1876, empowers any member of Congress to propose amending an appropriations bill to single out a government employee or cut a specific program.
The use of the rule would not be simple; a majority of the House and the Senate would still have to approve any such amendment. At the same time, opponents and supporters agree that the work of 2.1 million civil servants, designed to be insulated from politics, is now vulnerable to the whims of elected officials.
The revival of the Holman Rule was the brainchild of Rep. H. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), who is intent on increasing the powers of individual members of Congress to reassign workers as policy demands.
He favors a strategic application, likening it to a bullet from a sniper rifle rather than a shotgun. It’s unlikely — but not impossible — that members will “go crazy” and cut huge swaths of the workforce, he said.
“I can’t tell you it won’t happen,” he said in an interview Wednesday in his office. “The power is there. But isn’t that appropriate? Who runs this country, the people of the United States or the people on the people’s payroll?”
Democrats and federal employee unions say the provision, which one called the “Armageddon Rule,” could prove alarming to the federal workforce because it comes in combination with President-elect Donald Trump’s criticism of the Washington bureaucracy, his call for a freeze on government hiring and his nomination of Cabinet secretaries who in some cases seem to be at odds with the mission of the agencies they would lead.
“This is part of a very chilling theme that federal workers are seeing right now,” said Maureen Gilman, legislative director for the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 federal employees.
The rule is particularly troubling to Virginia and Maryland lawmakers and the District’s nonvoting delegate, who represent large numbers of federal workers in the capital region.
The Holman provision passed Tuesday as part of a larger rules package but was overshadowed by the Republicans’ effort to weaken the House ethics office on the first day of the new Congress.
Republican leaders say the rule increases accountability in government and played down concerns — some within their own party — that it will usher in broad changes to the appropriations process.
As a concession to Republicans who oppose the rule, leaders designed it to expire in one year unless lawmakers vote to keep it in place.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that voters elected Trump with the hope of fundamentally changing the way government works and that the Holman Rule gives Congress a chance to do just that.
“This is a big rule change inside there that allows people to get at places they hadn’t before,” he told reporters this week.
Asked which agencies would be targeted, he said that “all agencies should be held accountable and tested in a manner, and this is an avenue to allow them to do it.”
The rule was the first thing House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) railed against in a floor speech Tuesday.
“Republicans have consistently made our hard-working federal employees scapegoats, in my opinion, for lack of performance of the federal government itself,” he said. “And this rule change will allow them to make shortsighted and ideologically driven changes to our civil service.”
The rule changes the process of passing spending bills by allowing any rank-and-file House member to propose an amendment that would cut a specific federal program or the jobs of specific federal employees, by slashing their salaries or eliminating their positions altogether.
Before the change, an agency’s budget could be cut broadly, but a specific program, employee or groups of employees could not be targeted because of civil service protections.
Republicans and Trump advisers have been quietly drawing up plans since the election to erode some of the job protections and benefits that federal workers have received for a generation, starting with a hiring freeze Trump has pledged to put in place in his first 100 days in office.
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