Tag Archives: Federal Government

Federal Retirement Reform Right Way

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

In the mid-1980’s, Social Security was going broke, as was the Federal government. And the retirement program for all Federal employees was in the cross-hairs of voters who thought it cost too much and was too generous to retirees.

I was thinking about the transition to the current Federal Employee Retirement System as I picked up a letter sent to my wife from the Thrift Savings Program.

The TSP was a part of the reform effort from that period in history when Ronald Reagan was President, Bob Dole was Majority Leader, and Tip O’Neill was Speaker of the House.

I ran across a fascinating history of that period written by Jamie Cowen in a back issue of the Employee Benefit Research Institute magazine. Cowen was a staff member of former Senator Ted Stevens, a driving force behind the reform initiative at that time, and his insights into how a major reform of an entitlement program is informative. Continue reading →

America Needs to Go For a Long Run

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

The Long Run was one of the best albums ever produced, and I was thinking about the title song on Tuesday.

I have long believed that our federal government is far too focused on short-term thinking, and our policies are not built for the long run. And I think that most voters get that fact, which it is one of the reasons they are so frustrated with our national politicians.

Probably the best part of the President’s State of the Union speech came when he used the word “durable” to describe his vision of the American economy.

Of course, it was all bullshit, because the President has been the king of the temporary fix, but the sentiment is exactly right. Our economy needs to be built for the long run.

What does that mean? Continue reading →

Shut Down Government

BY RICH GALEN

Reprinted from mullings.com

Over the 12 years of writing MULLINGS, I have often strayed – sometimes pretty far – from Conservative Orthodoxy.

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Every Federal $ Benefits Somebody

BY RICH GALEN

Reprinted from Townhall.com and mullings.com

The chatter around Your Nation’s Capital among the cognoscenti, the intelligentsia, and smarty-pantses over the past 24 hours was: Is there any real meaning to the House vote to repeal Obamacare?

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Process, Policy Both Critical to Governing

BY BILL PITTS

Several years ago Congress authorized an earmark of $223 million in tax dollars to build a bridge in Alaska from the mainland to a practically uninhabited island. The bridge funding caught national attention and public ire. It became the “bridge to nowhere” and the iconic symbol of government waste. It rekindled a campaign that may result in the demise of the earmarking process.

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