Alan L. Greenberg's Blog (43)

The Government Man has been quiet lately. I'm running out of things to say about the non-scandal involving my long time employer, GSA.  I have plenty more to say about our dysfunctional Congress but I'll give it a rest for a while.  Feds have enough on their minds these days, given sequestration and furlough issues (created, by the way, by the aforementioned Congress because of their inability to pass a budget).

            It's time for some more fun stuff from my…

"The Government Man" has been quiet lately but an obscure news release over the weekend pushed my buttons again about one of my favorite topics, our ineffective and morally lacking Congress.

Buried in the news on a Saturday before New Year's weekend, the slowest media day of the week, if not the year, was a release that the…

I have been using this blog as a forum for satirical commentary concerning some elected officials and certain components of my former lifetime employer, GSA. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no humor to be found in discussing Hurricane Sandy, one of the great disasters of a lifetime.…

How do you communicate with someone you don't talk to?

This is some more fun stuff excerpted from my book,Confessions of a Government Man. Underlying the levity, however, was a serious personnel management issue. Have any of you faced a similar situation?

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My last few blogs departed from the fun stuff from Confessions and shifted to some caustic commentary about the GSA scandal with just a few barbs pointed at the Office of the Inspector General. My…

This is basically a repeat of the blog I posted last 9/11.

On the eleventh anniversary of the worst day in the history of this country the Government Man will dispense with the usual satire and comedy. Poking fun at what people take seriously is something I enjoy doing but there is nothing funny about 9/11.

Since it has become fashionable to trash and bash govies these days I will reflect upon the marvelous job my fellow feds did responding to 9/11. I was a…

I was hoping that I could stop commenting on the GSA scandal and get back to some of the fun stuff from Confessions. Well, just when you think the dragon has been slain it rears its ugly head again. Notwithstanding my prior opinions, the GSA scandal is not over after all – in fact it’s gathering more…

The Government Man has been pretty quiet lately, save for an occasional blog or You Tube posting. The GSA scandal has been long out of the news.

My insiders tell me that GSA has taken disciplinary action against those implicated in the alleged wrongdoing. As I said before, I am not attempting to defend those who made unconscionable decisions in this episode, but I will defend those who were railroaded for a political show or who did not receive due…

My blog posts on the GSA so-called scandal and my first You Tube posting received plenty of attention so I figured I would follow it up with more good cheer.  I hope my message got across and reason is starting to prevail.

What happened to the GSA scandal? It’s barely in the news anymore – even the Washington Post seems to have forgotten about it.  No more hearings. I kind of miss the hearings because I love bad acting. No more people being put on administrative leave pending…

The media frenzy over the peccadillos of a few GSA people has quieted a bit, thanks to the Secret Service scandal. The issue, of course, will be a political battle of grandstanding for a while. It's easier for the committees to relate to the cost of Beef Wellington and Monte Cristo sandwiches than the national debt. The GSA problems will be resolved but not soon forgotten.

Rather than another blog on this - there's not that much new to report - I posted a video on…

Well, I must admit that I took a bit of heat for my initial post on this subject.  My general position stands  although much more has surfaced  in the last week and this gets uglier by the day.  I doubt whether anyone initially expected this to go viral.

I’ll repeat in no uncertain terms that I do not condone reckless spending and inappropriate behavior at taxpayer expense.  My record at GSA supports that. Check out my Dorobek…

I am sure that I will annoy more than a few people with my take on the matter.

Most of my prior posts were intended as fun items, and were based on the book I wrote about my experiences in my 38 years with GSA. This post, however, is quite serious because things are getting ugly with the GSA scandal.

I am a retired GSA senior executive.…

Today's blog is a little less on humor and more on commentary. Consider it a primer for interpreting some of the political fluff the public will be subject to in this election year.

     Those who have read my book, Confessions of a Government Man, or listened to my meanderings, know that I have an absolute disdain for orchestrated comments coming from politicians and government agencies (which are run by…

In my last blog I posted another excerpt from my book, Confessions of a Government Man. It was part one about a quirky character named Calvin Coolidge Coburn. You might want to check the previous blog for a little background.

    When we left CCC he was somewhat in an inebriated state and had gotten himself into still another jam while purportedly managing a construction project in Buffalo, New…

First, a brief commercial.

      At he risk of being accused of blowing my own horn, my book, Confessions of a Government Man, would be an ideal gift for any govie, past present and future. Check out my website for more information. …

In my book, Confessions of a Government Man, I offer some tongue-in-cheek negotiating advice. My chapter on negotiating is appropriately called, The Sport of Negotiating, not only because negotiating is a sport to some, but because I draw many lessons from the sporting world.

     In one of…

A while back I asked about your quirkiest boss.  Now I ask that you think about the most unforgettable character you encountered in your government career. In my book, Confessions of a Government Man, I discuss many that I met many in my career. "Large Lewis" Levine was in a class by himself. He was a senior technician when I was a trainee. He had his own style, exempt from logic and most rules and regulations. Although Lewis was honest and hard…

During these days prior to the tenth anniversary of the worst day in the history of this country the Government Man will dispense with the usual satire and comedy. Poking fun at what people take seriously is something I enjoy doing but there is nothing funny about 9/11.

Since it has become fashionable to trash and bash govies these days I will reflect upon the marvelous job my fellow feds did responding to 9/11. I was a senior member of the response team in New York and…

My last blog was uncharacteristic of me. I’m more comfortable telling tall tales than doing political commentary but the extraordinary events surrounding the debt ceiling crisis put me over the edge. This week I revert back to the tales.

     Some of you might have noticed in prior blogs and commentaries just a hint of disdain for certain political appointees whose qualifications and agendas are questionable. The excerpt from…

The Government Man is turning serious, now that our Congress has created the illusion of resolving our debt crisis.



When I wrote Confessions of a Government Man my intention was strictly humor, not political commentary, but between the lines there were a lot of truths which our legislators are now…