Government Doesn’t Suck: Seriously, it doesn’t!

So for those of you who missed the Government Doesn’t Suck rally before the Rally to Restore Sanity on Saturday, it was a huge hit! We had so many wonderful comments on our signs, but more importantly, on our declaration that government doesn’t suck.

Government ROCKS. Seriously it does.

Now, I have never worked in government, but I have been surrounded by public servants since I was born. Government was the reason my parents met in the first place! I am what you’d call a “Government Brat.” I moved 6 times before I was 10 years old, my first time being a relocation from California to North Carolina at the ripe old age of 1 month. I have lived in the DC-area twice during my childhood. I have been present for speeches given by vice presidents and other high officials of government. I have held the Bible at numerous swearing-ins. I have done it all.

Both of my parents worked for the Internal Revenue Service. My mother worked in HR and my father spent his 30 year career with the IRS rising through the ranks from a tax collector in 1971 to become a senior executive (District Director, Director Collection Operations, Chief Operations Officer).

I have seen the amazing work that government employees do every day. (And I know the importance of April 15th) I have seen this through my parents, their friends, and the parents of my childhood friends who have spent most of their careers as public servants. These hard-working individuals are the opposite of lazy.

My parents always say that when you enter a career in public service, you enter a family. My parent’s agency fellows were/are our extended family. They have celebrated with us, worried with us, mourned with us. That just doesn’t always happen in a big profit driven company. Forty years after they began their government careers, my parents are still proud of the work they accomplished, and are still a part of the agency family. They can still see the work product accomplishments being used, updated, and bettered by the new generations of government employees.

As a child of two public servants, I have a great pride and respect for government employees…I wish everyone else would too.

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Tom Melancon

Thanks for your post. My father worked for the U.S. Department of Energy and I have been with the U.S. Department of Labor for 10 years. I work for and with very passionate, dedicated, competent and conscientious people, and it frustrates me when some politicians and pundits bad-mouth public service without offering their reasons or evidence to back their rhetoric. There is waste and fraud in every system, but I’m proud of what I do and who I work with and for.