I hadn’t planned on blogging today during my own work hours, but I’ll take a few minutes from my lunch to shine some much needed sunlight on this. Maybe I need to shut off my email to get anything done.
From the “why can’t we have fun on the taxpayer’s dime while we are destroying the economy” department. Here’s the content of an email making the rounds internally at the EPA today:
I verified the email sender as being employed within the EPA, both by name and by email headers. That person shall remain anonymous to protect their employment status from repercussions of being a whistleblower.
I verified the phone number in the golf ad as being within the EPA 308 phone group. I also verifed the room number where the golf seminar is being held, room S-4370-80 as being in an EPA facility at:
One Potomac Yard
Conference Center South (4th Floor)
Room S-4370-80
2777 S. Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202
For example, the same conference room was used for this EPA seminar: National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) Subcommittee on Promoting Environmental Stewardship (SPES)
September 8th is a Thursday, a workday, 9AM-3PM are of course work hours in the “normal” non governmental world.
And finally, the Nike Golf Learning Center at Reston National is real too, see here.
What I don’t know is who is paying for this EPA golf seminar. But, now that this has seen sunlight, I’m sure some folks closer to the EPA than me will ask.
Chris Horner of ATI comments on this revelation in context to the whining about proposed budget cuts to the EPA, he writes:
Just as EPA seeks to fill the media with stories about their dire budget situtation and the horrors to befall us all if they have to take a haircut, the poor dears.
Imagine my surprise to receive, within the span of minutes, both the following news story in Energy &Environment Daily — “EPA: Jackson summons top aides for budget pow-wow as GOP sharpens knife: In the face of drastic funding cuts and a hostile political environment, U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has told her top deputies to rank which of their programs they deem to be essential and which could fall on the budgetary chopping block” — and the following invitation, just circulated around EPA headquarters.
Just keep this in mind when the results of this “pow-wow” — ritual demagoguery and a lot of talk about children, seniors and the poor — pop in the next few days. Possibly EPA officials are worried that they might have to shelve golf clinics for the bureaucracy run wild.
“Bureaucracy run wild”. Yes, perhaps it’s time to wrangle in the EPA and remind Lisa Jackson and others at the EPA that you are beholden to the citizens of the United States, not the other way around.
Why is it that whenever something very harmful and utterly tasteless is being financed, Ted Turner is always a part of it? What makes such people tick? They’ve got it all, what else do they want?
The more they adopt the work ethic of the top boss by improving their golf game when they should be working, the more employees that will be needed to get the work done. That means a bigger budget request for next year. If you’re a big-government progressive, what’s not to like about that?
“Brian Hall says:
July 19, 2011 at 12:17 pm
But, it’s all in aid of keeping vital EPA employees healthy and happy! Who could object to such a Noble Cause?”
Sarc:/
I see a problem in promoting health and exercise.
It means more CO2 being expelled during physical activity 🙂
Maybe the EPA should drop the the golfing thing afterall. Since they believe CO2 is a pollutant.
Sarc off:/
Well, there is “us” and there is “them.” You are “them,” the EPA is “us.” “Us’s” job is to spend “them’s” money. As long as “us” has control of “them’s” money, “us” is important and “them” isn’t. If “us” ever loses control of “them,” “us” will be unemployed, so the objective of “us” is to spend all of “them’s” money before “us” gets voted out of office, and “us” becomes “them” and “them” becomes “us.” Is that all clear?
So the GREEN grass…..is it real grass? Or is it plastic…..
Glad to see one country in the world can still afford to let there civil servants goof around.
Fiddling while Rome burns 🙂
“DirkH says:
July 19, 2011 at 1:04 pm
Green Jobs.”
Dirk, You need to expand your definition – as per this comment from
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/obama-to-created-five-million-green-jobs/#comments
“gator69 says:
July 19, 2011 at 4:03 pm
Does unemployment count as a ‘green job’? It does, after all, resemble government work, and they are getting paid by Uncle Sam. Obama has added roughly 3 million to the unemployment roles since he took office, so he is 60% there already. What are you guys complaining about?”
Don’t miss the comments that follow either.
Leon:
It gives new meaning to the expression, “Use it or lose it.”
This syndrome goes back a long way. I was a young state school teacher in 1967 when I read the following directive:
“Caretakers are reminded that the heating season ends on March 25th. All stocks of coal must be exhausted before this date.”
The main local industry was coal mining, of course.
Perhaps the EPA et al see themselves as a ‘media and insurance’ agency? Create the publicity stunt then insure one’s employment …. for years… and years…. And create a green police-force.
While industry moves on with R&D to improve knowledge, efficiency and safety for their workforce in [what are often] high risk work environments?
Comment on Andrew Bolt, Australia website following the Monckton vs economist debate at the Press Club <No Wonder the warmists hate debate
woolfe replied to AS
Wed 20 Jul 11 (09:08am)
Got a great deal for you, give me $1,000 per month and i will insure your cave against a direct meteorite strike.
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/no_wonder_the_warmists_hate_debate/
Did anyone get a snapshot of The Australian’s cartoon in ed section Monday July 18th for Josh?
Lobbecke did a fantastic job taking Tom Robert’s wonderful painting Shearing the Rams and placing a bending Gillard (Oz’s Prime Minister) over a ram (it had horns) using a wind-turbine in place of a hand shear. The look on the shearers’ faces was classic. As was the tar-girl’s grin!
Non-Oz bloggers may not be aware of the history behind the 1891 shearer’ strike or the place that wool had in the Australian economy. We shear with electricity now- often fueled by diesel generators! And the wool bales transported from the outback is done by trucks now instead of horses and camels!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shearing_the_Rams (double click image)
Better that they play golf… they could be closing power plants, killing jobs, raising ‘fees’ aka carbon taxes,,.. yes PLAY GOLF EPA folks play LOTS of GOLF.
Federal Occupational Health (FOH) is a non-appropriated agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that provides occupational health and wellness services exclusively to federal employees. FOH works in partnership with federal organizations nationally and internationally to design and deliver comprehensive solutions to meet their occupational health needs.
FOH is the largest provider of occupational health services in the federal government, serving more than 360 federal agencies and reaching 1.8 million federal employees. Created in 1946 by an amendment to the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.), FOH has more than sixty-four years of experience providing services exclusively to Federal agencies.
The Mission of Federal Occupational Health is improving the health, safety, and productivity of our Federal employees.
With regards to your concerns about “Your Tax Dollars at Work” – you should have done your research. The seminar that you are concerned about is being offered free of charge.
Improper body mechanics while playing golf can result in shoulder, knee, wrist , lower back and upper back injuries.
Employees are attending this event on their breaks , lunch time and before and after work. Each person spends about 10 minutes with the evaluator. Dude, you should have done your research, but then again, anyone can write a blog.
..nuff said….
I wonder, wouldn’t it be more healthy for EPA employees to plant bazillion trees on the golf courts rather ‘an using ’em for practice swings? What with EPA being politically pro carbon tax to reduce, or offset, carbon dioxide emissions one would think the reduction of trees to make golf courts are bad for the environment and ought to then be reclaimed in the name of all greens. :p
I wish I’d had a seminar like that when I was working for government! My golf swing could have used it! /sarc
The event got cancelled.
Goofing off/Golfing off on the taxpayer dollar, what’s the difference?
Bobby says:
July 20, 2011 at 5:59 am
“Federal Occupational Health (FOH) is a non-appropriated agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) . FOH is the largest provider of occupational health services in the federal government, serving more than 360 federal agencies and reaching 1.8 million federal employees. Created in 1946 by an amendment to the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.), FOH has more than sixty-four years of experience providing services exclusively to Federal agencies. ”
Thanks for identifying yet another bloated federal agency that severs public sector employees, while fleecing the private sector taxpayers, to support essentials services like golfing clinics. Based on your kind and informative submission, I’ll send new emails to both of my Senators and my Representative, urging them to cut this agencies budget by at least 50%, as part of our essential federal spending reductions, deficit reductions, and debt reductions efforts! I ask the other readers of this blog to do likewise!
Thanks for the insider info, Bobby!!! Care to ‘TEA Up’ another one for us?
The Leaker says:
July 20, 2011 at 11:23 am
“The event got cancelled.”
Really? Is there is link to this news??
There is no link (yet), but I am the source. Mr. Watts can tell that my post of 11:23 AM came from an EPA IP address.
The original note was not sent to all EPA Headquarters employees, but to EPA employees and contractors who work at the Potomac Yards facility in Arlington (which I estimate is about 1,000 people). The original subject did say “golf swing.” Today, a cancellation note was sent. As usual, the Agency does not do well under public scrutiny. Apparently, they can’t defend what they are doing in this case (though it wouldn’t be too hard for them to try). Someone was consciously unaware of the press that the President’s golf game has gotten. Then again, you should have seen what happened several years ago when they offered a course called “White Folks and Diversity.” That ended rather badly also.
Here is the note sent today (blind copied, not openly to groups like the first time around):
To:
Date: 07/20/2011 02:09 PM
Subject: Improving Posture Event Announced Yesterday is Cancelled
EPA Potomac Yard Employees:
The subject event is being cancelled. If you have any questions, please contact me at 202-xxx-xxxx.
[Name edited out]
Safety, Health, & Environmental Management Division
Think about this statement from a previous entry:
“With regards to your concerns about “Your Tax Dollars at Work” – you should have done your research. The seminar that you are concerned about is being offered free of charge.
Improper body mechanics while playing golf can result in shoulder, knee, wrist , lower back and upper back injuries.”
What would have happened if an EPA employee was hurt while having their golf swing evaluated? Ticket to Workers Compensation? You bet. Injured while on the job.
Often we tax payers forget, that the best performance we will ever get from govt is mediocre.Thats it, their best performance with ruthless and unrelenting pressure from taxpayers. Left unchecked the bureaucracy will expand into the real ecomomy and have the same helpful effect as a bag of sand in an engine.Here in Canada we are bogged to near standstill by our helpful authorities and it is near impossible to comply with the regulations as they often contradict and the people paid to enforce these regulations are commonly incompetent. Attempting to run your own business is to identify yourself as permit fee donor (before you earn a dollar) and condemn yourself to working far too many unpaid hours to comply with the whims of witless wonders. Who then complain that productivity in Canada is falling. No sarc sadly.
I would want to hear an explanation from the EPA before making any judgements.
Even if it is what it seems to be, that doesn’t invalidate the EPA’s work, nor does it justify cutting its budget. It’s just an extragavance that needs to be eliminated so that all of the EPA’s budget can be concentrated on enforcing the law and catching polluter, not to mention reducing the nation’s carbon footprint.