Indeed? This is great news! Please tell me where you heard/saw this.
Posted on 11/14/2002 10:09:41 AM PST by PhiKapMom
Bush to Allow Private Sector Bids
By RON FOURNIER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush plans to subject as many as 850,000 federal jobs to competition from the private sector, administration officials said Thursday, a sweeping reform long sought by Republicans and stiffly opposed by labor unions.
Nearly half of the government's civilian work force could be affected by the plan to be published in the Federal Register on Friday. After a 30-day public review period, Bush can impose the new rules without congressional approval.
``This is inherent to getting the taxpayers the best deal for their dollars and the best service from the government,'' said Trent Duffy, spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget.
Bush and his fellow Republicans have long favored opening public sector jobs to competition from outside government. They argue that competitive bidding will force government bureaucracies to improve service and lower costs - or lose business to the private sector.
Public employee unions are expected to fight the proposal, which could cost their rank and file jobs.
The proposal comes at the heels of last week's GOP victories in congressional elections ,which emboldened Bush and his agenda. The White House is poised to beat back union opposition to another administration initiative, this one in Congress: the creation of the Homeland Security Department.
Current federal rules allow for public-private competition, administration officials say, but the regulations are so cumbersome that private firms are often reluctant to seek government contracts.
Under the plan, ``commercial activities'' conducted by the government - from lawn mowing to hanging drywall and secretarial work - will be open to competition. There are 850,000 such jobs in the federal work force; Bush has set a goal of putting 50 percent of those jobs up for grabs in the first stage of the plan, officials said, with the intention of eventually opening the total 850,000 to competition.
Traditional high-ranking government positions would not be subject to the proposal, according to administration officials who outlined the proposal.
One reform would encourage agencies to complete competitive bid reviews within a year. Under current rules, the competitive bid process can take four years - a delay that scares off private sector bids, officials said.
Rules under which the government buys goods and services will be streamlined to allow for more competitive bidding, officials said.
The Government Accounting Office has determined that public-private competition will save taxpayers 30 percent on each contract.
Expecting opposition from public employees unions, administration officials argue that the initiative would encourage unions to compete and win contracts; it does not mandate that the private sector takeover the jobs.
Bush picked this new fight with federal unions one day after it became clear that he had won another battle with them. With Republicans ready to take full control of Congress, Democrats were largely abandoning their demands for union protections at the new Department of Homeland Security.
The House easily passed a bill that would establish the department on Wednesday, and the Senate was ready to follow suit.
11/14/02 12:58 EST
Now, if Bush just gets tort reform passed and hoses the trial lawyers!!! (But ABCNNBCBS still thinks W is so dumb - hahahahahahahahaha)
Next union surprise, strict enforcement of the Beck decision. Hehehehehe....
I'm sorta waiting for Willie Green to start moaning about all the union jobs that will be lost.
My brother, Tom, suggested that my kids take middle names like "Running-Bear", or "Dancing-Butterfly" in order to get "special" treatment such as you suggest. There is some anecdotal reports that such stupid ploys do work.
Back in the mid 80's, before I retired from a defense contractor, I went on what the AF called "Logistics Tours" - one to McClellan AFB in Sacramento and the other to Warner-Robins, GA. I was flabbergasted to see the number of civilian workers sitting around with nothing to do. And one empty building after another, especially at McClellan.
You may remember McClellan. It was supposed to be closed in one of the Base Closures but Clinton violated it and kept it open. I believe that the result was keeping the work there but it is being done by private employers. I'm not sure of this.
Indeed? This is great news! Please tell me where you heard/saw this.
This is a payback and furtherance of the NWO, Corporate donors, moving closer to the one world government, etc. Better get someone to file some lawsuits looking at what he said and who advised him on this thing "because no one is above the law".... Yep, onward and upward and let the losers be damned..... lol.
Some people have called me a Bush-basher; to be honest, I didn't expect Bush would take this step.
So here I am, giving the President credit when it's due. Hopefully he'll keep it up.
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