02-26-2025, 04:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-26-2025, 04:14 PM by Durian Fiend.)
(02-26-2025, 05:29 AM)Obie Wrote: A Facebook post from Springer Fyrberg, a wildlife refuge specialist with Hakalau, said all the employees who lost their jobs were in the probationary period for federal workers and do not have civil service protection.
They were hired within the last two years.
Not necessarily true. Probation also applies to employees who have been recently promoted from lower positions.
The problem I have with these firings is that there was no attempt to evaluate what positions were expendable and which were important to maintain. As Bill Maher said, "The administration that dissects a frog with a hand grenade".
(02-26-2025, 04:39 AM)Punatang Wrote: ..Why does the future have to be grim? Maybe the future will be better because our children of Puna won't be enslaved by our shortsighted accumulation of debt in their name. I'm all for sending them out to tackle pigs and grouse today though. Builds character! How does one sign up for that? Sorry for all of the questions.
I believe this is a false narrative. Cutting 25% of the federal work force would amount to about 1 percent savings in the federal budget. These are performative firings that play well with some people.
Of course, we should ALL be in favor of reducing the national debt. Should some jobs be cut? Absolutely, and that probably includes some here in Hawaii.
BTW, "Federal employment numbers peaked at 3.4 million in 1990 and the most recent low was in 2014, with 2.7 million."
The federal workforce was actually smaller in 2024 than it was 50 years ago, even though our nation's population has doubled.
And more to a local point, it's GORSE that needs to be eliminated, not grouse! LOL. It's actually a beautiful plant-from a distance. Check it out sometime, just be careful not to fall into a patch!