Bunny Inspectors

Over at Chaos Manor, Jerry Pournelle talks about sequestration:

I note that the Department of Agriculture is threatening to lay off food inspectors, but there’s no talk of firing bunny inspectors. Every department has people doing things we don’t need done, particularly since we have to borrow the money in order to do them. 

Bunny inspectors, for those who don’t know, look for people keeping rabbits as pets and offering them for sale – or using them in a stage performance. Bunny inspectors go to stage magic shows and if the performance employs a pet rabbit they demand to see the federal license the magician must have, and no, I am not making this up. By the way, if the rabbit is killed in the act, say eaten alive, you don’t need a federal license. You may be in trouble with the ASPCA but not with the Department of Agriculture. And the bunny inspectors won’t be laid off under the sequestration. I bet if there were a 2% cut in the DOA’s budget they’d go. If not, a bigger cut would be in order…

Bunny inspectors never go.  At least, not willingly.  Jerry, of all people, should understand that.

I was just talking to a lady that we know earlier today; she's a federal fraud investigator.  While her department is apparently not going to have to deal with the sequestration, she mentioned that colleagues in the DoD and DCIS are going to either be furloughed or put on a reduced work schedule.  Roughy the same effect as a 20% reduction in staff.

Keep in mind, these are people who work to recover funds stolen from the government.

They are going to lay them off to save money.

Laying off fireman and police to scare folks into arguing against spending cuts?  Yeah, that stinks.  It's miserable and rotten.  Politicians do that sort of thing because it works, though.

This?  Laying off people who make up one of the very few groups who actually mange to save more money than they spend?  That doesn't even make any sense.  It is pure, unadulterated ignorance and stupidity at work.

Seriously.  I don't want to live on this planet anymore.