| Comment Number: | OL-10502965 |
| Received: | 3/3/2005 2:42:56 PM |
| Subject: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Title: | National Security Personnel System |
| CFR Citation: | 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
I've been scratching my head over this NSPS since I first heard about it. The system was proposed because in some way DoD civil servants are a threat to national security in this new "environment of terrorism." From what I recall of the events of September 11, 2001, the PRIVATE sector - specifically the airlines our tax money later bailed out - were the ones who failed Americans and threatened our national security by not properly searching passengers and enforcing their own laws as well as federal laws controlling air travel. Civil servants - specifically DoD civil servants and military personnel - were the ones risking their lives to save the wounded at the Pentagon that day. Civil servants - specifically New York City firefighters and policemen - were the ones who risked their lives at the World Trade Center to rescue the wounded there. This conversion to NSPS should not be covered in the mysterious veil of words like "terrorism" and "national security." This conversion is something the Secretary of Defense has probably wanted to do for many, many years (well before 2001) and he is now using the events of that day to make this new personnel system happen. The NSPS is being enacted to turn the clock back to pre-Teddy Roosevelt days when the federal government was awash in nepotism, cronyism and favoritism. The NSPS is not a move forward but a step back to a time when the federal government was for sale to the highest bidder and there was no system of checks and balances.