[sonofagun]

I wish some Democrat would explain to me why a civil service employee cannot be fired. WHY????????

That's a myth. Civil Service employees can and do get fired.

Every policeman and fireman in this country is a civil service employee.

Would you feel safer if the regular city police force were doing airport screening or a private contractor were doing the screening.

I will go with the gov't employee every time.

[wny]

There is NOTHING the government can do better and more cost effective than the private sector. Nothing.

[MamaLucci]

Every policeman and fireman in this country is a civil service employee.

They are NOT federal employees.

[NittanyLion]

That's a myth. Civil Service employees can and do get fired.

Not for incompetence - and that's the major issue here. I'm not worried about the guy making inappropriate comments who gets canned, I'm worried about the person that doesn't do their job, yet cannot be eliminated.

[antidisestablishment]

Every policeman and fireman in this country is a civil service employee.

And what are the attrition rates? How many get fired for poor performance and how many go out on disability? What is the actual cost to the municipalities?

Every (EVERY) government position costs more than the comparable service in the private sector. Yes, some areas are rightly the domains of the government, however, this is not one of them. I can agree to some oversight and uniform standards, but federalization is plain dangerous.