bureaucracy news stories on Newser

US Bureaucrats 'Kill' Thousands Each Year (by Typos)

Neal Colgrass — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:32:05 CDT

The Social Security Administration is killing off thousands of Americans every year, at least temporarily. About one in 200 deaths typed into the agency's Death Master File carries a misprint that officially terminates a living person, cutting off credit, bank accounts, and government assistance for the newly "dead," the Chicago...

Feds Often Have 75 Programs Doing One Thing: Review

Kevin Spak — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:08:57 CST

The government is positively brimming with overlapping programs and offices, potentially producing billions in waste, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. There are, for example, 82 federal programs for improving teacher quality, 80 for helping poor people with their transportation needs, 47 for job training...

Feds' Lone Dog-Mushing Job Opens Up

Will McCahill — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:22:58 CST

Love dogs? Pristine Alaska wilderness? Then you’ll be pleased to learn that the lone federal dog-mushing job is open. The position at Denali National Park pays up to $66,542 (plus cost-of-living adjustment), but it’s not all easy sledding. The kennel manager is in charge of 31 dogs, and all...

Help Wanted: Fed Govt. Needs 600K New Workers

Drew Nelles — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:30:45 CDT

The federal government must hire 600,000 people over the next 4 years to balance a wave of retirement and keep pace with President Obama’s ambitions, the Washington Post reports. Nearly half of those positions are considered absolutely essential for agencies to provide their services, a new report states, chiefly...

DC Deficit Fixer: Print on Both Sides of Paper

Matt Cantor — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:12:23 CDT

A short while ago, President Obama called on his Cabinet to make budget cuts in their departments totaling $100 million. They came up with $102 million, but some of the cuts were so obvious one wonders why it took a presidential edict to elicit them, the Wall Street Journal notes....

Little Left for Fiancée of Fallen Soldier

Matt Cantor — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:32:01 CDT

To the US Army bureaucracy, love means little without a marriage certificate—so the fiancée of a man killed in Iraq was left with nothing other than what his family was willing to part with. Now, the Washington Post reports, Kyle Harper, 27, is trying to forge a path very...

Ex-CEO, Swift-Boaters Lead Attack on Health Reform

Matt Cantor — Mon, 11 May 2009 07:48:00 CDT

As leading Democrats prepare for a health care overhaul, the loudest opposition isn’t coming from GOP leaders—it’s coming from investor and former hospital CEO Rick Scott, with the help of the team that “Swift-boated” John Kerry, the Washington Post reports. Scott is spending $5 million of his own and...

For Bush Veterans, DC Jobs Are Scarce

Clay Dillow — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:15:02 CDT

Former Bush administration staffers are feeling the economic pinch as acutely as other victims of the sagging economy, Politico reports. GOP job-seekers in Washington face a triple whammy of economic chaos, minority status on Capitol Hill, and an excess of qualified Republicans. “The Washington side is a bit of a...

Foreclosures Draw Eager Buyers, but Banks Drag Feet

Clay Dillow — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:00:00 CDT

Bargain hunters are turning to foreclosed homes for deals, but many are finding that buying repossessed properties from banks is a bureaucratic nightmare, the Washington Post reports. Though the housing market cannot stabilize until the unprecedented volume of foreclosures is sold off, banks are sluggish to act and fraught with...