7THE NIGHT WATCHMAN
Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job. Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies. Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One was to do the studies and one was to write the reports. Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created two positions: A time keeper and a payroll officer then hired two people. Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary. Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $918,000 over budget, we must cut back." So they laid-off the night watchman.
NOW slowly, let it sink in.
Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter...Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY during the Carter administration? Anybody? Anything? No? Didn't think so!
Bottom line is, we've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency....the reason for which few, if any, people who read this can remember! Ready? It was very simple... and at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted on 8/04/1977.................. To LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL. Hey, pretty efficient, huh? AND NOW IT'S 2012 -- 35 YEARS LATER -- AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS "NECESSARY" DEPARTMENT IS AT $26.4 BILLION A YEAR. IT HAS 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES; AND LOOK AT THE JOB IT HAS DONE! (THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?")
34 years ago 30% of our oil consumption was foreign imports. Today 70% of our oil consumption is foreign imports. Ah, yes -- good old Federal bureaucracy!
NOW, WE HAVE TURNED OVER THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE, AND A LARGE PORTION OF THE AUTO INDUSTRY TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT? Hello! Anybody Home?
Signed, The Night Watchman
- In 1942, during World War II, the United States started the Manhattan Project, a project to develop the atomic bomb, under the eye of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After the war, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was created to control the future of the project.
The AEC was reinstated and gave way to Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which was tasked with regulating the nuclear power industry, and the Energy Research and Development Administration, which was tasked to manage the nuclear weapon, naval reactor, and energy development programs.
The 1973 oil crisis called attention to the need to consolidate energy policy. On August 4, 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed into law The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 (Pub.L. 95-91, 91 Stat. 565, enacted August 4, 1977), which created the Department of Energy.[3] The new agency, which began operations on October 1, 1977, assumed the responsibilities of the Federal Energy Administration, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Federal Power Commission, and programs of various other agencies.
It appears that the DOE is a consolidation of several departments that already existed and was used to create a cabinet level position after the scare of the '73 oil crisis.
This does seem to be a pattern, doesn't it? After the scare of 9/11 we got homeland security.
Your seem to be in the destruction camp, narrowly interpreting things like oil consumption percentages without taking any stock of the causes of these changes or considering what the alternative costs and benefits of not having public policy and regulation of the energy sector would be. Every policy and bureaucracy has a cost and a benefit, the focus should be how can we maximize the benefit and minimize the cost of the DOE by eliminating waste and providing more useful services. Maybe you would rather have massive pollution from an energy sector with no efficiency or pollution standards?
And by the way, nice caps bro. Is this your original work? No I didn't think so, might try crediting where ever you got it from. The way you have presented it looks a bit like you are claiming authorship. It's a nice story for the Tea Baggers, but is it true? I tried to find some evidence that there is any truth to this story online, but after a few searches, 20 or so pages of results, I can't seem to find anything that proves that "Nightwatchmen Gate" ever happened. I'd love for you to support your Tea Bag propaganda with a little evidence. If you are just here to share a bit Tea Bagery then thanks but no thanks.