Labor

After researching only three of our federal departments, I have come to the conclusion, that the reason our country is a mess, is because our government is organizationally challenged.

First, we have the food stamp program under the Department of Agriculture. The problem with that of course is the fact that nobody applies for food stamps at the Department of Agriculture. Food Stamp applications are handled by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Second, we have the National Weather Service under the Department of Commerce, which, in my opinion, belongs under the Department of the Interior. Commerce needs to focus on the economy.

Third, we have the Department of Labor, whose budget is more difficult to follow than the Department of Commerce. Now it's understandable that the Department of Labor would handle things like unemployment and minimum wage and workplace safety, but in fiscal year 2009, their budget included $40 million to combat employer income tax evasion.

No wonder companies get out of paying their taxes. It's not the job of the IRS to go after them, it's the job of the Department of Labor!

The other interesting thing about the budget for the Department of Labor is that it has a whole bunch of job training and grant programs with million dollar budgets, and zero participants. If nobody is participating in these programs, why do we have budgets for them? And what happens to the money that gets budgeted, but obviously doesn't get spent where it's supposed to?

It seems to me, the Department of Labor would be a good place to start making deductions from the federal budget. It doesn't appear that they really need the entire $59 billion we gave them. Besides, one would think that job training programs would belong under the Department of Education. I'm wondering if maybe the Department of Labor's job training programs have no participants because no one that needs them knows they exist.


Copyright © 2009 Annette Fortunato

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