Forum Post: Bush appointees hated big government so much they stayed,

Here is a clip from an article by Christopher Lee, in the Washington Post after the last election"

"And no matter how much some in the Bush administration seem to look down on government, no matter how many say they long to return to the private sector or spend more time with family, a few political folks, in the end, will decide that they would rather not part ways with Uncle Sam. So they will try to stick around, angling to turn their short-term stint in an administration of their choice into a permanent job amid the ranks of career civil servants and federal executives.

"Remember, not everybody who comes in is going to have a very high-profile job where they are going to be able to leave and make really good money," said Carol A. Bonosaro, president of the Senior Executives Association, which represents career executives in the federal government. "Not everyone has had necessarily a strong enough background to go back out. They may just have been a campaign worker."

"A merit-based federal workforce is essential to ensuring a competent and effective government that will enforce laws fairly across administrations," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

In the most recent report, released in May 2006, investigators found that 23 agencies hired 144 political appointees into career positions from May 2001 to April 2005. In at least 18 cases the agencies did not follow proper procedures, the GAO found, citing problems such as hiring appointees with limited qualifications, creating positions for specific individuals and disregarding veterans' preference laws.

In one case, for example, a confidential assistant to then-Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson beat out 52 other applicants for the newly reestablished position of policy coordinator in the secretary's office. The job appeared to be tailor-made for the appointee, the GAO said. The new and old jobs even had identical salaries, $57,550. Although the appointee received the highest numerical rating among applicants, the file contained no documentation to show how points were assigned -- and the person doing the hiring was the appointee's old boss. "

So, I guess we can believe all of the GOP small government guys this time when they say they are going to shrink government just as soon as they get settled in their new appointed positions in Romney's administration, right?