As a career employee of the U.S. Department of Labor, I was outraged the other night when Jack Welch tweeted that the Bureau of Labor statistics may have manipulated the unemployment numbers so as to help President Obama in his reelection bid.
His tweet read: "Unbelievable jobs numbers! These Chicago guys will do anything. Can't debate so change numbers"
I need to point out at the outset: I do NOT work for the BLS. I work for another Labor Department Agency. However, I know some current and former BLS employees and the very notion that these folks would manipulate data is insidious.
First of all, the BLS is staffed with career, professional civil servants. They are mostly college grads with degrees in relevant fields related to statistical research and analysis. Second, every federal agency is overseen by a cabinet secretary. Yes, they are political appointees. But they are also accountable to the United states congress. And ordering employees to engage in fraud would be result in Congressional hearings and a slew of other problems most likely resulting in a criminal conviction. Third, agencies like the BLS are covered under the Inspector General Act. The Inspector General is charged with ensuring there is no "fraud, waste, or abuse" by employees when they perform their duties. In sum, they are sort of like an internal affairs for each agency.
So it's safe to say that any manipulation like the type charged by Jack Welch would be investigated by the OIG for the DOL and to put it bluntly, heads would certainly roll. But the other problem is that Mr. Welch has over a million followers. While many people mocked the tweet of the former General Electric CEO, there are sure to be those who agree with him.
One of those who thinks Welch is right is Congressman Allen West of Florida, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel. Mr. West has stated that he thinks "Chicago Politics are at work here." Respectfully, Colonel, you don't know what you're talking about. Your party holds a majority in the House of Representatives. Why are they not immediately reconvening and ordering Labor Secretary Solis and Current acting BLS Commissioner John Gavin to appear for official inquiries?
I'll answer it for you to save you some time: Because most of your colleagues already know that the charge from Welch is ludicrous on its face. Mr. Welch is supposed to be a well respected individual, but with this tweet, he has moved over into the extreme space shared with Michelle Bachman, Colonel West, and Joe Walsh.
Mr. Welch's feeble defense was that while he had no evidence, he had to "raise the question." Al lhe did was make himself look like the dottering old fool and a parody of himself. He should be ashamed of his actions and for calling into question the integrity of the employees of the BLS.
His tweet read: "Unbelievable jobs numbers! These Chicago guys will do anything. Can't debate so change numbers"
I need to point out at the outset: I do NOT work for the BLS. I work for another Labor Department Agency. However, I know some current and former BLS employees and the very notion that these folks would manipulate data is insidious.
First of all, the BLS is staffed with career, professional civil servants. They are mostly college grads with degrees in relevant fields related to statistical research and analysis. Second, every federal agency is overseen by a cabinet secretary. Yes, they are political appointees. But they are also accountable to the United states congress. And ordering employees to engage in fraud would be result in Congressional hearings and a slew of other problems most likely resulting in a criminal conviction. Third, agencies like the BLS are covered under the Inspector General Act. The Inspector General is charged with ensuring there is no "fraud, waste, or abuse" by employees when they perform their duties. In sum, they are sort of like an internal affairs for each agency.
So it's safe to say that any manipulation like the type charged by Jack Welch would be investigated by the OIG for the DOL and to put it bluntly, heads would certainly roll. But the other problem is that Mr. Welch has over a million followers. While many people mocked the tweet of the former General Electric CEO, there are sure to be those who agree with him.
One of those who thinks Welch is right is Congressman Allen West of Florida, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel. Mr. West has stated that he thinks "Chicago Politics are at work here." Respectfully, Colonel, you don't know what you're talking about. Your party holds a majority in the House of Representatives. Why are they not immediately reconvening and ordering Labor Secretary Solis and Current acting BLS Commissioner John Gavin to appear for official inquiries?
I'll answer it for you to save you some time: Because most of your colleagues already know that the charge from Welch is ludicrous on its face. Mr. Welch is supposed to be a well respected individual, but with this tweet, he has moved over into the extreme space shared with Michelle Bachman, Colonel West, and Joe Walsh.
Mr. Welch's feeble defense was that while he had no evidence, he had to "raise the question." Al lhe did was make himself look like the dottering old fool and a parody of himself. He should be ashamed of his actions and for calling into question the integrity of the employees of the BLS.
I was also astounded because coincidentally I had just written a blog post about Ronald Reagan's connections to General Electric- how much they were responsible for his career- and the name Jack Welch came up.
ReplyDeletewhen Welch retired in 2001 with a net worth estimated at $720 million, one editorial gave this critique of his career at GE:
"Welch has left behind communities across the United States suffering from mass layoffs and disinvestment. While it is hard to get a fix on the number of GE layoffs over the last two decades because of the constant churning of its businesses, GE has dismissed well over 100,000 well-paid workers in the United States. It has undermined union power in the United States by shifting operations to non-union subcontractors. It has practically abandoned its once-strong research-and-development infrastructure. It has compiled a shoddy record of repeat violations of workplace safety rules, defense contractor safeguards, and other public interest regulations, with workers’ lives put at risk and taxpayers bilked as result."
That bilking hasn't stopped. Washington Post in May of 2011 reported this:
"General Electric Co., reported the New York Times last week, earned $14.2 billion in worldwide profits last year, including $5.1 billion in the United States — and paid exactly zero dollars in federal taxes."
http://nomadicpolitics.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-incredible-hoax-of-reaganomics_5.html
It's like Ed Schultz says: the top 1% blame us for the problems because of taxes, and then turn around and retire with more money than a small town needs. And the greed never stops...
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