The Veterans' Administration scandal. The IRS scandal. The Secret Service Scandal. Why can't corrupt or incompetent bureaucrats be fired?
Well, it used to be easy to fire bureaucrats, far too easy in fact. It was called the patronage system, the spoils system. Democrats fired Republicans. Republicans fired Democrats. Whoever won elections fired their opponents. Qualifications mattered very little. All that mattered were political considerations.
This is called corruption, and the results were bad policy, bad administration, bad government.
Then Congress created a professional civil service with the Pendleton Act. It was intended to be a merit system, one? that protects competent workers from political pressure. Services should be provided to all citizens equally. The Hatch Act was added to prohibit partisan political activity while on the job, and to limit political contributions.
So far, so good. The administration of services should not be politicized. All? citizens should be treated fairly, and the bureaucrats who deliver those services should do so professionally, free from political pressure.
Now it is true, of course, that we can go too far. Bureaucrats can be shielded from their incompetence and misbehavior, and that would be unacceptable. But we must not strip away all the protections that shield us? as citizens from excessively politicized bureaucracy.
The statement may be crude, but it is still accurate to say that we should not throw the baby out with the bath water.
I'm Bob Evans, and that's my perspective.
