Federal Eye Highlights Sen. Kaufman
I was interviewed today by Ed O’Keefe of the Washington Post’s Federal Eye column for a story on our junior Senator, Ted Kaufman. Kaufman caught the Federal eye by his highlighting of your average federal workers during his allotted time for floor speeches in the Senate, putting a face to the caricature conservatives love to demonize. A preview of the full print story is available online now.
Kaufman is quoted in the story preview as follows:
Kaufman says he will not run in next year’s special election to finish Biden’s term. Instead, he will keep giving speeches about federal employees.
“I said when I took the job, that it’s a two-year deal,” he said.
O’Keefe wanted to know how local Delaware Democrats view Kaufman. I told him that we view him favorably, that he has proven to be a diligent worker in the Senate on the issues we care about, that he got a louder ovation at the state convention a couple months ago than did Senator Carper, and that if Beau Biden does not run (and in some cases even if Biden wants to run), many in Delaware want Kaufman to reconsider his intention to step aside and not run for election in his own right.
It isn’t the individuals who are criticized. However, the size, scope and effectiveness of government is something to criticize.
There are plenty of good employees who work for bad companies.
However, when you have too many federal employees you have higher taxes and too many programs and regulations.
Mike Protack
Many federal employees perform a great service. Some are even heroes. Who has kept us safe from terrorists the last 7 years if not federal employees? Who caught the poison from China? Who inspects are food? Who fights for our freedom?
Some are useless or worse. The regulators who were warned 8 times about Bernie Madoff come to mind as worse than useless. Understanding that they are not a special breed of people is vital to demanding reasonable performance. They are like everyone else. The fact that one is a federal employee does not make one virtuous nor does it make one evil.
Surely the fact that somethings are not done as well by government as the private sector is not attacking federal employees. I would love to see this alleged demonization of federal employees by conservatives. It is just another symptom of liberal derangement.
Well you can start with the whole “government can’t do anything right” schitck. Although when it comes to bombing somebody, or trying to withhold civil rights from some group of people you don’t like or trying to stop women from making their own medical decisions, you do find the government and its employees quite to your liking, thank you very much.
Back on topic, I was one of the D’s at the state convention that happily applauded Senator Kaufman MUCH more than dear ole Tommy C.
When Carper listens to Delawareans more than to health care lobbyists, then he will be respected in Delaware.
When Carper listens to Delawareans (Democratic party majority) more than the Republican senators, then he will be respected in Delaware.
When Carper stands with his (supposedly) fellow Democrats, in favor of a choice of a public health insurance option (with guaranteed insurability, no pre-existing condition limitation, and lower cost through Medicare- and VA-like low overhead, as opposed to private-health care high overhead), on that day Carper will be respected.
Until that day, Kaufman is hands-down my favorite Delaware senator.