Lebanon Democratic Blog

I learned from my cousin the other day that when folks retire out of positions at the FDA, they may not be replaced by federal employees – they must be replaced by contractors. This is a fiendishly innocuous way to disable governmental protections. I have no doubt that there’s an executive order floating around somewhere that states, “whenever a federal employee retires, the department may replace that employee only with a private contractor.” Since contractors (1) cost more and (2) can be dropped from the payroll at will, this policy must be reversed posthaste to prevent the complete gutting of government protection and oversight (plus to reverse the transfer of government functions to corporations). I can only imagine how many executive orders will have to be drafted and signed for the past eight years to be reversed …

There is one thing I want President Obama to do on Inauguration Day. I want him to outlaw torture. As soon as he returns to the White House I want him to sign an executive order which has been prepared in advance. The order must be complete and absolute. It must apply to all United States personnel (civilian and military) and to all contractors.

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