• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!
  • Welcome to our archives. No new posts are allowed here.

FAA Administrators: Vote Democrat Or Lose Your Job

T

The Prof

DP Veteran
Joined
Jul 26, 2009
Messages
12,828
Reaction score
1,808
Gender
Undisclosed
Political Leaning
Undisclosed
Two federal agency supervisors allegedly warned employees earlier this year that a Republican takeover in Washington could threaten their jobs -- comments that some workers apparently took as guidance on "how to vote" and that one group claims may have violated federal law.

Nonprofit watchdog Cause of Action wrote a letter Wednesday asking the Department of Transportation's inspector general to launch a probe into the incident, involving senior officials with the Federal Aviation Administration. The incident occurred in May during a meeting at the FAA's Seattle office, according to the letter.

Emails obtained by FoxNews.com show one FAA employee recalling what John Hickey, deputy associate administrator for aviation safety, said at the meeting.

"I would not be able to quote Mr. Hickey (sic) exact words but what I took out of it was, if the conservative (Republicans) gain control of congress then the FAA could be looking (at) as much as a 15% cut in budget and we (may) be looking at furloughs. If the liberal Democrats take control of congress then we would be looking at a flat budget," the email said. "In short if the Republicans win office our jobs may be (affected) ... if the Democrats win office then our jobs would not be (affected)."

The recipient of that email then relayed the account, and others, to apparent higher-ups at the FAA. He said, "there seems to be some energy within the office as a reaction to Mr. Hickey's, inappropriate at best, comments and more than a few employees took umbrage that a person in such an elevated position in the agency would make those remarks.

"My understanding is that more than one employee's perception was that Mr. Hickey was essentially telling them how to vote if they wanted to keep their job," he wrote.
Click to expand...

Senior FAA officials accused of telling workers 'job security' at risk if GOP wins | Fox News

talking electoral politics at the staff meeting, huh?

the hatch act strictly proscribes such behavior

welcome to chicago

this week we learned david axelrod tried to strongarm the gallup poll, eric holder moved forward a law suit

last friday was the deadline for obama to itemize those draconian sequester cuts which defense secretary panetta says will "devastate" the military, as well as imperiling 100K defense jobs in virginia alone

we're waiting

in addition to deputy administrator hickey at the faa, deputy director raymond towles is named

the bigger the govt, the greater potential for, even certainty of, such abuse

machine politics are preternaturally corrupt

obama is its first proponent

did you see that unemployment for govt employees is now 5.1%?

Unemployment Drops to 5.1 Percent For Govt Workers

administrators like mr's hickey and towles pad their nests

and 30,000 public school teachers in chicago say they'll walk

it all comes down to priorities

ie, first things first
 
The real clash in any kind of civil strife to come is not Repub against Demo, it is Government worker, vs. the rest of us....That would be much more dangerous.
 
Sort of reminds me of the priests and ministers who think it's appropriate to address matters political from the pulpit while maintaining a death grip on their tax-exempt status.

Both sides vent hypocrisy like farts after a bad batch of chili, so let's not try to pretend otherwise with a straight face.
 
TacticalEvilDan said:
Sort of reminds me of the priests and ministers who think it's appropriate to address matters political from the pulpit while maintaining a death grip on their tax-exempt status.

Both sides vent hypocrisy like farts after a bad batch of chili, so let's not try to pretend otherwise with a straight face.
Click to expand...


The question is whether or not the FAA exec violated the Hatch act...Is that what we want? A society that continually pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable based on a supposed 'well, the other guy does it too'...? This is 'big boy time' time to leave the school yard finger pointing to those less adept at recognizing political reality, and see miscreant behavior for what it is...
 
TacticalEvilDan said:
Sort of reminds me of the priests and ministers who think it's appropriate to address matters political from the pulpit while maintaining a death grip on their tax-exempt status.

Both sides vent hypocrisy like farts after a bad batch of chili, so let's not try to pretend otherwise with a straight face.
Click to expand...

I find it a bit more distasteful and dangerous when the government bureaucracy takes political sides than when priests do...but yes, hypocrisy is omnipresent.
 
Some people will see this as some officials overstepping their bounds, the military has similar rules for example.

Others will see this as an Obama driven conspiracy.

The first group is the intelligent one.
 
Wiseone said:
Some people will see this as some officials overstepping their bounds, the military has similar rules for example.

Others will see this as an Obama driven conspiracy.

The first group is the intelligent one.
Click to expand...

Oh come on now....I am not saying that it is driven by Obama, but for you to set it up in an either/or proposition is just plain foolish.
 
j-mac said:
Oh come on now....I am not saying that it is driven by Obama, but for you to set it up in an either/or proposition is just plain foolish.
Click to expand...

I didn't say you, I just meant in general
 
Nothing new.

Back in 2008, the construction unions here in STL forced their worker bees to watch "Inconvenient Truth" and told them to vote for Obama. Sheep follow their shepherds.
 
Wiseone said:
I didn't say you, I just meant in general
Click to expand...

Oh, I know....I am just saying, you are proposing yet another in the long line of people that call those who don't agree with what they think, as unintelligent, uneducated, less deserving to be listened to, or shown the respect of their opinion. It is a fools errand.
 
Velvet Elvis said:
Nothing new.

Back in 2008, the construction unions here in STL forced their worker bees to watch "Inconvenient Truth" and told them to vote for Obama. Sheep follow their shepherds.
Click to expand...

Yeah, The Fox News Channel.
 
such embarrassing lack of awareness on display

this political manipulation of staff is but one of the natural and inevitable consequences of big govt

our advocates of always-more govt are as aware as any, one would hope, of the real ugliness of american machine politics

why, historically, one can hardly to point to a single pretty example

but there are hundreds of incidents of the natural results of this kind of venal use of patronage, best seen in our big cities, many of em living under decades of single party rule

and it goes way beyond political manipulation of staff

the awarding of public contracts, littering our history, sometimes even to YOURSELF

richard daley, anyone?

or your friends, or your family, associates, supporters

george kaiser?

the bigger the govt, the more you're exposed to influence, the pull of lobbyists, the more picking of winners and losers, with paybacks here and punishments there

the greater the graft, bribery, nepotism

the collusion between public managers and public employees

everyone wins, except for everyone else

some of our biggest cities are so one-party, there are real questions about the integrity of the vote downtown

it requires both a lack of awareness and a lack of integrity to go blithely whistling past such glaring instances of filth and corruption

to actively agitate for more must be somewhere beyond that

more power to em, of course

Illinois Leads Underfunded U.S. Pensions - Businessweek

Illinois Pensions Underfunded By Up To $50B: Watchdog

S&P Downgrades Illinois' Credit Rating | Fox Business

Madigan reports $100,000 more from union opposed to pension reform - Sun-Times Politics

Obama: 'Chicago Is an Example of What Makes This Country Great' | The Weekly Standard
 
The Op was interesting an might have been discussion-worthy, if not for the post above.
 
The Prof said:
this political manipulation of staff is but one of the natural and inevitable consequences of big govt
Click to expand...

No, it's but one of the natural and inevitable consequences of human nature -- the pursuit of self-interest.

The Prof said:
and it goes way beyond political manipulation of staff
Click to expand...

Just like it goes way beyond party lines.
 
So we have no actual quote to go on, just what some of the people at the place interpreted the quote to mean? yeah, that seems like faux news to me.
 
Velvet Elvis said:
What does this have to do about anything, or is this just a hack shot at FoxNews just out of the blue?
Click to expand...


That's how Pete rolls....nothing to offer? take a shot at Fox....Boy it really burns up progressives that they don't have total control over the narrative doesn't it?
 
it's but one of the natural and inevitable consequences of human nature
Click to expand...

all the more reason

advocates of always-more govt may pretend to believe they're doing it to help people

but they are actually enabling and empowering only more of the same tired, old ways

How Obama's Alternative-Energy Programs Became Green Graft - Newsweek and The Daily Beast

HuffPo: AIG Bonuses In 2010 Total $100 Million

Unions Get Exempt from Cadillac Tax - WSJ.com

Why Can't Obama Bring Wall Street to Justice? - Newsweek and The Daily Beast

Corzine: 'Simply don't know' where money is/USAToday

Obama embraces K Street - The Washington Post

Fannie-Freddie Bailout Could Cost Taxpayers $1 Trillion - CNBC

Obama jobs chief -- the CEO of GE -- pays no corporate taxes/USAToday

White House officials caught out with lobbyists: Private E-mail Accounts - Telegraph

get real
 
Last edited:
The Prof said:
advocates of always-more govt may pretend to believe they're doing it to help people

but they are actually enabling and empowering only more of the same tired, old ways

get real
Click to expand...

You seem to be taking the view that this behavior is the exclusive purview of the Democrats. It isn't. Government has continued to grow for a very long time under the leadership of both parties.
 
Wiseone said:
Some people will see this as some officials overstepping their bounds, the military has similar rules for example.

Others will see this as an Obama driven conspiracy.

The first group is the intelligent one.
Click to expand...

yup. here's hoping they get fired, the same as my C.O. would.
 
It seem some people don't like to get their noses rubbing their own doo-doo...so we get responses like this:

TacticalEvilDan said:
Sort of reminds me of the priests and ministers who think it's appropriate to address matters political from the pulpit while maintaining a death grip on their tax-exempt status.

Both sides vent hypocrisy like farts after a bad batch of chili, so let's not try to pretend otherwise with a straight face.
Click to expand...
pbrauer said:
Yeah, The Fox News Channel.
Click to expand...
TacticalEvilDan said:
No, it's but one of the natural and inevitable consequences of human nature -- the pursuit of self-interest.



Just like it goes way beyond party lines.
Click to expand...
tererun said:
So we have no actual quote to go on, just what some of the people at the place interpreted the quote to mean? yeah, that seems like faux news to me.
Click to expand...
TacticalEvilDan said:
You seem to be taking the view that this behavior is the exclusive purview of the Democrats. It isn't. Government has continued to grow for a very long time under the leadership of both parties.
Click to expand...


The danger for all of us is that, with the excuses, deflections...the "but the other guys do it too", we result in a group of people who would dismiss the law because they don't like the bad news that there are law-breakers. This dilutes the reasons the laws were enacted in the first place and increases the likelihood that such violations will occur more frequently.

It's a weakening of the moral and ethical fabric of our society. And for what? Blind partisanship?
 
First off, you might not want to include me when you say "their own doo-doo." I'm not a liberal, or a Democrat, or an Obama apologist.

Furthermore, if the managers involved end up fired, that won't bother me a bit. I'm not saying it's okay because both sides have their own version of this, I'm saying that neither side had better be shaking their finger at anybody -- unless they enjoy being hypocrites.
 
Um... We stopped considering Fox News MSM a while back.

Someone tell prof.
 
TacticalEvilDan said:
First off, you might not want to include me when you say "their own doo-doo." I'm not a liberal, or a Democrat, or an Obama apologist.

Furthermore, if the managers involved end up fired, that won't bother me a bit. I'm not saying it's okay because both sides have their own version of this, I'm saying that neither side had better be shaking their finger at anybody -- unless they enjoy being hypocrites.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you should stop with the "but everyone does it" stuff, then. You know, if you don't want to be perceived as an Obama apologist.
 
Do you not understand the difference between:

  • Everybody does it, so who gives a ****?
and

  • Everybody does it, so don't pretend your side has the moral high ground any more than the other side.
In case you don't understand the difference, one dismisses the possibility of things ever getting better, the other suggests that perhaps the appropriate focus is the problem rather than on who you can point the finger at.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom