But when you’re talking about numbers this big, there can’t be just one bad apple. There are probably thousands that just haven’t been outed yet.

The EPA’s highest-paid employee and a leading expert on climate change was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison Wednesday for lying to his bosses and saying he was a CIA spy working in Pakistan so he could avoid doing his real job.
— NBC News, 12/18/13

Funny how there’s brief mention of Beale’s being a “climate change expert” in the NBC News piece. If he did nothing at his job, what does that say about the cause?

Beale, who is serving a 32-month sentence in the federal prison in Cumberland, Md., for pleading guilty to felony theft of government property, spent most of his career devising regulations under the Clean Air Act that are justified by science few have seen and no one has peer-reviewed, according to a report from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
— Daily Signal, 2/10/15

It also must be nice knowing you can be brazen beyond what no employee in the private sector would get away with in a few days, let alone years, all because you were a great foot soldier for the planet!

Beale, an NYU grad with a masters from Princeton, was earning a salary and bonuses of $206,000 a year, making him the highest paid official at the EPA. He earned more money than the agency’s administrator, Gina McCarthy, according to agency documents.

One of the reports states, Beale took 33 airplane trips between 2003 and 2011, costing the government $266,190. On 70 percent of those, he traveled first class and stayed at high end hotels, charging more than twice the government’s allowed per diem limit. But his expense vouchers were routinely approved by another EPA official, a colleague of Beale’s, whose conduct is now being reviewed by the inspector general, according to congressional investigators briefed on the report.

Top EPA officials, including McCarthy, attended a September 2011 retirement party for Beale and two colleagues aboard a Potomac yacht.
— NBC News, 12/18/13

There were many red flags but when you believe you’re above being questioned and punishment, a federal employee can get away with things very few of us in the real world could… at least for awhile.

Seven weeks after the cruise, Beale told McCarthy that he’d banked some vacation time and would be using it to fill his final months at the EPA. His official retirement, therefore, wouldn’t begin until around January or February 2012.

He went off the radar after that, and everyone assumed he was retired.

But in November 2012, more than a year after the party on the Potomac, an HR employee went to McCarthy with cause for concern: Beale was still drawing a paycheck for his full salary of $206,000, including the 25-percent retention bonus that was supposed to be temporary—years after the incentive should have expired.

Investigators later put dollar amounts on his crimes: $437,901 in fraudulent retention bonuses, $58,127 for the “D.O. Oversight” absences, $8,000 for the parking spot, and so on. Altogether, he cost taxpayers $886,186.
— The Washingtonian, 3/4/14

Unlike businesses in the private sector which must be productive to meet a bottom line, the federal government has no bottom line to meet. When it needs money to keep operating, it seizes its operating capital from taxpayers. The only people keeping them accountable for work actually done is them.

We see how well that worked over the years and there’s NOTHING to convince us it’s not happening now on a grand scale.

UPDATE

It appears not much as changed within the federal government when it comes to those violating public trust for their own personal benefit, and too many are allowed to walk away relatively unpunished with their retirements intact.

Take, for example, the DEA executive who just this week was found to have engaged in nepotism by routing hundreds of thousands of dollars to contractor jobs for his son and retired colleagues or friends.

… authorizing a total of $340,280 in spending, including a raise, specifically for his son’s contractor position; and took actions in contravention of appropriate procedures to hire two former DEA colleagues as contractors in his chain of command, including the spouse of a retired former colleague…
— Findings of Misconduct by a Senior DEA Official for Violating Ethics Regulations

The official also engaged in a “lack of candor,” the investigative file showed. Despite the established wrongdoing, criminal prosecution “was declined” and “the senior DEA official retired from his position.” In short, he kept his retirement benefits.

Likewise, the inspector general had harsh words for the FBI special agent in charge (SAC) who used the bureau’s official garage to perform repairs on his and other employees’ personal vehicles, calling it, among other things, a “dereliction of supervisory responsibility,” and a misuse of tax dollars for “private gain.”

And then there was the FBI lawyer who got caught in an embarrassing criminal act at the Marine Corps barracks (MCB) commissary in Quantico, Va. “The FBI attorney admitted to placing numerous cosmetic items, valued at $257.99 and belonging to the MCB Quantico Exchange, into her purse without the intention to pay for them and did not pay for them before leaving the store. The FBI attorney further admitted that between February 2016 and her arrest in February 2018 she had shoplifted at the MCB Quantico Exchange one to two additional times, and at other private retailers in the area on two to three occasions,” the inspector general reported on May 14.

The investigation concluded her conduct violated federal criminal law and FBI policy regarding unprofessional conduct. But here was the outcome: “Criminal prosecution was deferred pending the FBI attorney’s completion of 125 hours of community service, after which all charges were dismissed.”

Two weeks ago, another DOJ official, an assistant U.S. attorney, escaped charges even after it was documented that he violated federal laws by possessing, transporting and consuming marijuana-laced edibles that he claimed he needed to treat back pain. He also was caught lying about his wrongdoing and ‘fessed up only when his estranged wife threatened him during their divorce proceedings. Nonetheless, “criminal prosecution by federal and state authorities was declined,” the IG reported May 30.
— The Hill, 6/13/19

These people wouldn’t hesitate in busting us to the fullest extent of the law, but when they commit crimes, they’re taken care of by their own.

This is not reassuring at all.

Severe heat in the United States, torrential rains and flooding in the Far East, tornados in the midwest, and it’s all being blamed on man made “climate change” and for once, we agree. But it’s not solely because of the effect of industrialization but because arrogant climate scientists believe they alone can play God, tweak the weather, play havoc with our health and just look the other way after the literal fallout.

Some of the very climate catastrophes they predict now appear to be of THEIR making and they didn’t even have the common courtesy of asking the American people first before they interfered.

David Keith, who manages a multimillion dollar geoengineering research fund provided by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, previously commissioned a study by a US aerospace company that made the case for the feasibility of large-scale deployment of solar geoengineering technologies.
— The Guardian, 7/17/12

We’ve heard these scientists speak of their desire to lower the temperature but does anyone really know what the “normal” temperature for the planet should be or are we just talking about what’s comfortable for humans, which is suggestive as climates differ with location and people have adapted accordingly for centuries. That is, until agenda-driven, taxpayer-funded government-granted scientists decided they should put chemicals in the sky without even the courtesy of asking the American public first, because what’s deposited into the atmosphere doesn’t hover indefinitely; it eventually falls on all of us.

Of course, all involved ignore the health ramifications on the public because we were mandated to have health insurance that benefits who…? And how many times have we seen science fiction stories where arrogant, overambitious scientists created a bigger problem putting the public in the crosshairs, and then shake their heads in belated remorse after the cataclysmic damage was done.

To counteract global warming, humans may someday consider spraying sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere to form clouds — and artificially cool the Earth. However, suddenly stopping that spraying would have a “devastating” global impact on animals and plants, potentially even leading to extinction, according to the first study on the potential biological impacts of climate intervention.
— USA Today, 1/22/18

Great, they conveniently won’t turn off what they took it upon themselves to start. This should keep those all-important, multimillion dollar taxpayer-funded grants coming in regardless of the ramifications to the unconsulted public!

A White House road map for federally funded climate research has for the first time recommended research into geoengineering, the concept of intervening in nature to slow or reverse global warming.

The document, an update of a report that lays out a plan for climate-related research at 13 federal agencies until 2021, calls for studies related to the two most-discussed approaches to geoengineering: distributing chemicals in the atmosphere to reflect more heat-producing sunlight away from the earth, and removing carbon dioxide from the air so the atmosphere traps less heat.

Opponents of the idea, including many scientists, argue the risks are too great: Geoengineering might have unintended damaging effects on weather patterns, or it might be used unilaterally as a weapon by governments or even extremely wealthy individuals.
— New York Times, 1/10/17

Note how they’re calling for the “recommended research in geoengineering” they’ve been doing for many years now. How deceitful is that!

So when you see that fine haze in what should have been a crisp, blue sky (deposited without our knowledge or consent), know that it will eventually come down on all of us; either in the form of erratic weather events and/or toxic chemical “side effects” no American citizen gave them authorization to dump on us in the first place.

Repeat.

President Trump has unveiled his proposed budget and the Democrats are repeating the c-word….

CNN: Trump’s budget cuts children’s health insurance program
NPR: White House Proposes Deep Cuts To Safety Nets With ‘Taxpayer First’ Budget Plan
New York Times: Trump Budget Proposes Deep Cuts in Energy Innovation Programs
USA Today: Donald Trump’s budget cuts back key student loan programs
NY Daily News: Trump budget proposal’s $11B education cut leaves advocates outraged

And let’s never forget the inevitable use of the d-word.

Fox News: NYC’s De Blasio: ‘Children Will Die’ Because of Trump’s Budget

Yes, we’ve heard it all before.

Speaking of political repetition, it’s sad I’m still having to explain what I said over 12 years ago. So seeing how the left and their media still assume the American people are a bunch of stoopids who’ll buy their bullshit, as a public service, we proudly present…

As you consume the Democrat messaging (echoed by the media) on how devastating President Trump’s budget “cuts” will be, especially to the poor, women, minorities, the elderly, let’s remind you what a political budget “cut” normally is.

Let’s say I told you I was going to give you $10.

After looking at my personal budget, I determined I couldn’t afford to give you $10 so instead I would give you $7.

(Remember, I’m STILL GIVING YOU $7!)

Democrats would say I was cutting what I was supposed to give you by 30%.

Sorry, it’s that simple.

Donald Trump, as a former president of a billion dollar enterprise knows most successful businesses don’t keep departments that function poorly. Most successful businesses don’t keep departments that can’t account for money misused and/or missing from their budgets. Most successful businesses don’t keep people in their departments who routinely under-perform. Donald Trump would fire people whose departments performed poorly simply because that’s a tremendous waste of his money and if money was stolen, the cops would be called.

However President Donald Trump is no longer looking out for his money. He’s looking out for ours.

Many of the departments whose budgets are being cut (if you’ll be intellectually honest) haven’t been respectful stewards of the hard-earned taxpayer dollar. We’ve seen and heard of many instances of waste, if not outright theft, by government employees, callous damage caused by government agencies, and rarely are there any ramifications as there would be if we did the same thing at a private company.

Let’s look at some of these affected government agencies like one of those supposedly, altruistic nonprofits.

Many of them have intentionally vague missions. Some want to help veterans, feed children, help the poor, save the environment, fund the arts, clean the oceans, etc. Unfortunately, like nonprofits, if the mission were to ever be achieved, employees would be out of a job, thus the vague mission statements.

School Lunch Program “cuts”
As argued in a previous post, exactly why are taxpayers feeding school children three meals a day, and in some cases 260 weekdays a year? Where are the parents? Why did our parents deem it their responsibility to make sure we had a lunchbox complete with sandwich, chips, and a Thermos full of either soup or SpaghettiOs® with Meatballs while many parents today deem it our responsibility to feed their many children so more valuable resources go to their cellphone plans and whatever else considered more important?

We won’t even get into Michelle Obama’s school lunch reboot that resulted in a need to increase the trash budgets.

As witnessed by the miraculous restoration of a beach in one week’s time, the whole notion that the planet cannot “heal” itself without governmental environment agencies or nonprofit activists has been near rendered laughable.

Environmental Agency “cuts”
Back in 2007, I shared a piece from the National Geographic that showed evidence that the polar ice caps on Mars were melting. Seeing how Mars is further away from the Sun than the planet Earth and there are no SUV’s or factories there, only the warming of the Sun could explain warming that occurs because of our proximity to that bright, gaseous ball. The sheer fact NOT ONE environmental group EVER attributed global warming and cooling fluctuation to the variation in Sun activity but knee-jerk blamed human activity as the primary source should give pause for a red scam flag.

The Environmental Protection Agency has committed gross indifferent negligence and/or malfeasance over the years while there’s been very little benefit to be shown as a return on investment. The Gold King Mine spill, committed by the reckless EPA polluted a river through four states and negatively affected the livelihood of millions of people, yet no one was really held accountable. Let’s not even talk about who was really negligent and thus ultimately responsible for the lead in the Flint, Michigan drinking water.

But government employees in some of these agencies had enough time to organize a march of defiance, much of it done on the taxpayer dime.

Veterans are still not receiving the benefits they rightfully deserve, the poor have not been given the guidance and tutelage necessary to rise out of poverty (aside from how to apply for “benefits”), “art” has become a scam to subsidize no-talent rich kids with taxpayer dollars so their shit (no one wants to buy) can be intellectualized by humanities academics for validation.

The majority of government agencies being “cut” have shown no great ROI for the taxpayer who’s required to fund them at the threat of fine and/or imprisonment. While most government employees really want to serve the public, too many just look at it as a job; a job that’s very hard to be fired from and if they can keep that job for 20 years, the taxpayer can support them for the rest of their lives.

Education “cuts”
Instead of improving our abysmal ranking in the world, our public schools seem more able to efficiently turn our “young skulls full of mush” into social justice warrior Democrats than to be fully functioning members of society, and the schools start early.

Infrastructure “cuts”
Show me a government road or building construction project that was ever completed on time and under budget?

Nuf’ said.

Predictably, all we hear is that the “cuts” ultimately hurt the poor and benefit the “rich”.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday spared almost no analogy in calling President Trump’s budget proposal “comic-book villain bad” that “relies on fantasy to make the numbers work.”

“The Trump budget takes a sledgehammer to the middle class and the working poor, lavishes tax breaks on the wealthy and imagines all of the deficit problems away with fantasy math,” Schumer said, speaking on the Senate floor. “The Trump budget exists somewhere over the rainbow where the dreams of Mick Mulvaney, Paul Ryan and the Koch brothers really do come true. Of course, these dreams are a nightmare for the average working American.”
— Washington Examiner, 5/23/17

Forgot all about the Koch Brothers….

Disregard how Schumer had no numbers of his own to offer, but not to be outdone for relevance…

Hillary Clinton proclaimed Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s budget shows an “unimaginable level of cruelty” for millions of Americans and children.

The former Democratic presidential nominee, who recently declared herself part of the Trump resistance, lashed out at the Republican president’s spending plan in aggressive terms after being honored in New York City by the Children’s Health Fund, a nonprofit organization that helps provide health care to poor and homeless children.
— NBC News, 5/24/17

If there’s any cruelty it’s the sheer disrespect the entitled and/or elected have for the hard-earned taxpayer dollar they spend like trust fund babies with Daddy’s credit card.

The poor are still poor because the government entrenched want them to stay poor. If they poor ever were allowed to gain back control of their lives, not only would agency employees be at risk of job loss, but many of those now earning meaningful paychecks would see how much was taken out in taxes and who would that eventually make them want to vote for?

So, when you absorb the Democrat and media “cuts” whine, remember this is not about who they say will be hurt.

This is about President Trump showing respect for our tax dollars; something those in government haven’t done in decades.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio flew in (probably via private jet) and held up a little sign to show his photo-op solidarity. No one really expected the hefty Al Gore to ditch an air-conditioned SUV and walk in the mild DC heat and humidity, and at the end of the day, the only “cultural appropriation” was committed by arrhythmic dancing fools in futile search of the beat.

While they claimed to be advocates for the indigenous, urban poor, and everyone else negatively affected by the ravages of climate change, many of the speakers could have missed a meal or two, considering how well the movement is being funded.

The People’s Climate March scheduled for Saturday has a powerful billionaire behind it: Democrat Party donor George Soros. Six of the groups received during that time more than $1 million each: the Center for Community Change, the NAACP, the Natural Resources Defense Council, People’s Action, Public Citizen and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

While some of its partners are climate-change organizations like NextGen Climate, founded by top Democratic donor Tom Steyer, the march is also heavily backed by labor unions and social-justice groups such as Color of Change, which is also backed by Mr. Soros.
— Washington Times, 4/28/17

While blaming all on the Trump Administration’s rollback of progressive regulations that have hurt businesses for decades, the progressives failed to mention that the communities most in need of clean water and stable power grids have been under the representation of the Democrat Party for generations.

The reigning in of the Environmental Protection Agency was also a sore spot for the climate marchers while the whiners failed to mention damage the rogue employees have caused, either by callous neglect as in the undrinkable water in Detroit or irresponsible incompetence.

The 2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill was an environmental disaster that began when EPA personnel caused the release of three million gallons of mine waste water, including heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, and other toxic elements, such as arsenic, beryllium, zinc, iron and copper into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River in Colorado.

The spill affects waterways of municipalities in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as the Navajo Nation.
— Wikipedia

The Obama EPA hid behind the “Federal Tort Claims Act” so while taking responsibility for the spill, they have been fighting those affected from the financial damages the agency’s action caused.

One unique characteristic of progressive marches is while their representatives come from dot-orgs that are supposed to be nonpartisan, they are pro-Democrat, tax-exempt nonprofits that demand more taxes be paid by everyone else, especially the rich like Soros and Steyer who fund said tax-exempt nonprofits and get the useful idiots to make very public fools out of themselves and everything they claim to represent.

We personally know many federal government employees who endure the verbal “Fuck Republicans!” outbursts of Democrats in the workplace, and for many years have had to keep their mouths shut because we all know how petty and vindictive liberals can be. They would have no problem ridding themselves of any conservative presence in their workplace, even if that meant making Republicans lose their livelihoods.

Now that President Donald Trump is in the White House, the shoe is on the other foot as he has no problem cleaning house when it comes to those within the #DeepState who believe it’s free speech to “resist” the boss.

And we all wonder where the “leaks” are coming from….

Tell us ONE job in the real world where one could talk shit about the boss and expect to remain employed very long? Let’s not even get into what would happen to soldiers that attempted to “resist” their Commanding Officer.

“There’s a real frustration among many — including from the president — that things aren’t going as smoothly as one had hoped,” said one senior administration official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. “Reince, fairly or not, is likely to take the blame and take the fault for that.”

“It’s sheer incompetence,” said another White House official. “There’s a lack of management, and a lack of strategy.”
— Politico, 3/5/17

We’re now hearing all the horror stories of federal government employees who’ve been so traumatized by the Trump victory, they’ve formed support groups so they can commiserate and plan.

At a church in Columbia Heights last weekend, dozens of federal workers attended a support group for civil servants seeking a forum to discuss their opposition to the Trump administration. And 180 federal employees have signed up for a workshop next weekend, where experts will offer advice on workers’ rights and how they can express civil disobedience.

The resistance is so early, so widespread and so deeply felt that it has officials worrying about paralysis and overt refusals by workers to do their jobs.
— Washington Post, 1/31/17

And some are using technology to keep their insubordination a little more stealth. While we’re past tired of repeating this, imagine the screech from the left if George W. Bush staffers conducted themselves in the manner Barack Obama/federal employees are “resisting” now?

Whether inside the Environmental Protection Agency, within the Foreign Service, on the edges of the Labor Department or beyond, employees are using new technology as well as more old-fashioned approaches — such as private face-to-face meetings — to organize letters, talk strategy, or contact media outlets and other groups to express their dissent.

Fearing for their jobs, the employees began communicating incognito using the app Signal shortly after Trump’s inauguration. Signal, like WhatsApp and other mobile phone software, encrypts all communications, making it more difficult for hackers to gain access to them.
— Politico, 2/2/17

Using a relic from the Vietnam War, employees at the State Department are utilizing the “Dissent Channel” to voice their disapproval of the President’s first executive order on “extreme vetting”.

From AFSA: What You Need To Know When You Disagree With U.S. Policy
Dissent Channel: The State Department’s internal dissent channel, covered in 2 FAM 070, states that the State Department may not punish an employee who uses the dissent channel. It also prohibits raters and reviewers from negatively mentioning an employee’s use of the dissent channel when writing said employee’s EER. The Foreign Service promotion precepts explicitly recognize appropriate dissent as a positive factor to be considered when reviewing employees for promotion.
— USAID Alumni Association, 1/31/17

For decades, unelected liberals could (through added rules and regulations) circumvent the legislative process and pretty much inflict whatever policies they believed in on the American people. President Trump is tearing their world up, the left is freaking out from their inability to stop him, and chances are good this is where a lot of those leaks from “anonymous sources” are coming from.

Dissent at the U.S. State Department: Why Trump Should Welcome It
It was precisely in order to avoid that sort of stark choice that the State Department’s dissent channel was first established. Created during the Vietnam War, when many Foreign Service officers understandably had grave misgivings about U.S. foreign policy, it offered a way for them to speak their minds while continuing to serve their country. Since then, the dissent channel, at its best, has been a source of creativity and open thinking inside the bureaucracy, allowing diplomats to question widespread assumptions and challenge ideological stances from within.
— Foreign Affairs (published by the Council on Foreign Relations), 2/3/17

Working for an inflated paycheck from the federal government is NOT a right. If the #DeepState doesn’t like the new direction the “shitty” American people decided they wanted the federal government to go in, they should quit and survive in the world they created for the rest of us to live in (or the world they’ve been shaping for decades).

Or, maybe that’s the real problem?

A week before The EPA disastrously leaked millions of gallons of toxic waste into The Animas River in Colorado, this letter to the editor was published in The Silverton Standard & The Miner local newspaper, authored by a retired geologist detailing verbatim, how EPA would foul the Animas River on purpose in order to secure superfund money.

Of course if history is any guide, it will take subpoenas, hearings, FOIA requests, and more to get the truth and possible motivations out of this administration. Meanwhile, they’ll continue to lecture us about how to care for the environment.

Ironic is an understatement.

UPDATE

This picture was taken mid-September 2021 near Silverton, Colorado. It appears the spill is still active.

BTW…

On December 18, 2020, President-elect Biden presented McCarthy as his choice to become the first National Climate Advisor, head of the White House Office of Climate Policy. McCarthy serves as Biden’s chief advisor on domestic climate change policy. The position, which will have its own staff, will be a part of the White House Office.
— Wikipedia

Incompetence, dishonesty, gross negligence, and a lack of accountability in the federal government rewarded, again.

He’s about to be called on the carpet and his answers are going to be very interesting, that is, if he doesn’t plead the Fifth.

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) today asked the Obama administration to investigate what he called “the greatest scientific scandal of our generation” — the actions of climate scientists revealed by the Climategate Files, and the subsequent admissions by the editors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).

Senator Inhofe also called for former Vice President Al Gore to be called back to the Senate to testify.

“In his science fiction movie, every assertion has been rebutted,” Inhofe said. He believes Vice President Gore should defend himself and his movie before Congress.

Stock up on the popcorn, folks.

Just prior to a hearing at 10:00 a.m. EST, Senator Inhofe released a minority staff report from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, of which he is ranking member. Senator Inhofe is asking the Department of Justice to investigate whether there has been research misconduct or criminal actions by the scientists involved, including Dr. Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University and Dr. James Hansen of Columbia University and the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Science.

Since the Climategate Files were released, the IPCC has been forced to retract a number of specific conclusions — such as a prediction that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035 — and has been forced to confirm that the report was based in large part on reports from environmental activist groups instead of peer-reviewed scientific literature. Dr. Murari Lal, an editor of the IPCC AR4 report, admitted to the London Daily Mail that he had known the 2035 date was false, but was included in the report anyway “purely to put political pressure on world leaders.”

Based on this Minority Staff report, Senator Inhofe will be calling for an investigation into potential research misconduct and possible criminal acts by the researchers involved. At the same time, Inhofe will ask the Environmental Protection Agency to reopen its consideration of an Endangerment Finding for carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Federal Clean Air Act, and will ask Congress to withdraw funding for further consideration of carbon dioxide as a pollutant.

While this may be the scam of the century, one of the co-conspirators should be the media (not Fox News) who failed to cover this, and teachers who blindly echoed the falsehoods. They were the usual cheerleaders, perpetuating false claims that sent sobbing elementary school children to bed with nightmares, adding a bogus movie to the school curriculum for mandatory viewing, created teenaged and college-aged activists, and seldom acknowledged their position could be questioned, even after the ClimateGate revelations.

The whole lot should be thrown in jail at the most, fired at the least.

As for Senator Inhofe, kudos to a politician that stood up to squealing environmentalists, Hollywood, lying scientists and academics because in the end, he was right and those doing wrong have been exposed.

Now the hard part: getting President Obama to admit HE was wrong.