Thursday, September 20, 2012

Romney Wishes Some Federal Workers Weren’t Unionized

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, in remarks secretly taped at a recent private fundraiser in Florida, intimated that he would make deeper changes to the government workforce if federal employees weren’t unionized.
Romney, in the now infamous speech obtained by Mother Jones magazine and posted on the publication’s website, was responding to a question that recommended cleaning house in Washington to reduce corruption and cronyism. Specifically, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are “disaster areas,” the person asking the question said.
“I wish they weren’t unionized, so we could go a lot deeper than you’re actually allowed to go,” Romney responded, before giving his broader view on voter perceptions of President Obama and his policies. It was unclear whether Romney was referring to all federal employees who belong to unions, or only the employees at the specific regulatory agencies mentioned.
The brief exchange is in keeping with the GOP nominee’s public proposals to reduce the federal workforce through attrition and to reorganize government with an eye toward improving efficiency. In a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles on Monday, Romney said that reducing the federal workforce, bringing federal pay into line with private-sector compensation, reorganizing government, and improving its efficiency would result in savings of $500 billion a year within four years after he took office.

Read more: http://nationaljournal.com/politics/romney-wishes-some-federal-workers-weren-t-unionized-20120919

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