The Fool On The Hill

 

NOTICE:  This is an opinion page, (check out the lyrics from “The Fool on the Hill by The Beatles”).  It is a gathering of the most accurate rumors (accurate rumor?  Means I cannot prove it but it is logical given the information available at the time) and stuff known to be available or suspected by the author.  Data may be posted from other un-cited sources.  Take what you read with a grain of salt (or a whole salt shaker) as this data may be impossible to prove and the source of the data may deny any knowledge of the data.  If you make life altering decisions based upon what you read here then your family should question your sanity and your friends should look at you oddly.  Data will be updated, added, changed, or eliminated on a haphazard basis without warning or notice.

 

1/19:   FSA is back at their office chopping plan.  It was posted here on 10/18/05:

 

           “THE PLAN IS NOT DEAD!  FSA still wants to close these offices!  FSA is simply going to be underground       with their effort, while they devise a new plan which they hope will not be opposed by Congress”.

 

On 1/13/06 the new Administrator issued new instructions to State Directors.  This time the plan is supposed to be state generated, not DC generated.  While the approach may have changed, the goal of saving money by closing offices is likely unchanged.

 

1/18:   The computer geeks that provide tech support to FSA don’t really want to learn to work with the AS/400 mainframe that FSA uses for its farmer programs.  It’s easier to say that the AS/400 is obsolete, needs to be eliminated, move it to the web.  Problem is that web apps cost money to develop, money that FSA does not have, for a project that OMB has not approved.    ……  Yeah, no OMB approval for the project….  And how will the FSA customers feel if they find out that their data would be moved from the local hacker free system, and put on the internet for every hacker to line up and whack at the firewalls.

 

2006:  Happy New Year.  Let’s hope for a logical one.

 

10/19  NAFEC is credited with being a significant force against office closures.  Check the Washington Post quote at the top of their home page http://nafec.org

 

10/18  FSA put the Office Closure Plan “On Hold”  SED’s are not to discuss the plan, no conference calls, no meetings, but here is the key:  THE PLAN IS NOT DEAD!  FSA still wants to close these offices!  FSA is simply going to be underground with their effort, while they devise a new plan which they hope will not be opposed by Congress.

 

10/16  It has been very interesting to watch all the news on http://nascoemembers.org 

 

10/15  NASCOE needs to get behind HR:3974 to stop office closures until after the new farm bill is completed.  It is logical to see what and where the new farm bill puts work, then make decisions about staffing and office locations.  Remember to keep the horse in front of the cart, not the other way around.

 

10/5  NASCOE has been on “The Hill” educating Congress about the office closure plan.

 

9/27  Nope, the right hand does not know what the left is doing. 

 

USDA officials report that this round of office closures is designed to make FSA:

1.     Better Trained.  (How does an employee become better trained just by terminating a lease?)

2.     Better Equipped.  (How?  Is more new equipment coming?  Will they be replacing our modern Pentium computers already?)

3.     Connected to the internet.  (Every machine at my local FSA office is connected to the internet and to a high speed laser printer.  Even their mainframe system is online and updated through a web application called SCIMS.)

 

So where is this aging non-functional non-internet infrastructure located at?

 

9/9  Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing?   Sen. Saxby Chambliss said he expects a delay in work on $3.1 billion in agriculture budget cuts because of the focus on mammoth hurricane damage.  The cuts were ordered this year as part of reining in federal deficits.  "We will have an agriculture disaster portion" in the post-Katrina spending bills, Chambliss said.  He said he met Thursday with Secretary Mike Johanns to discuss losses from Katrina and other causes.  In the Midwest, he noted, drought "has been ongoing throughout most of the year.

 

At the same time FSA is cutting employee ceilings and preparing to do a round of office closures.

 

Looks to me like the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. 

 

9/7  Big news in the members section over at http://nascoemembers.org   Have you heard about the storm on the horizon? (not Katrina)  That storm is building up strength and headed your way, and it is way bigger than you thought it would be.  It looks like time for action.

 

9/2  NASCOE announces the creation of a relief fund for those NASCOE members who were impacted by hurricane Katrina.  Good job NASCOE!  Details in the member section of http://nascoemembers.org and on the front page at http://nascoe.org (inside the little scrolling window).

 

8/31  NASCOE in the News:  USDA preparing to use buyouts to reduce FSA county office staffs  The author points to a letter from a group of Congressmen who request that Secretary Johanns provide more funding for FSA field staff.  “We would request that USDA provide for more permanent non-federal employees and additional funds to hire temporary employees to meet the workload estimates, allowing producers to make the most of whatever market opportunities arise.”  The article also discusses the big secret (Office Closures).

 

8/30  Wow, big changes over at http://nascoemembers.org

 

8/30  Very interesting comments by Secretary Johanns regarding Animal ID and privacy.  It appears that the public comments indicate that livestock movement records are too sensitive to be trusted to a government agency; instead those records need to be held by a private organization/company.  Quite an interesting perspective, I guess the Social Security folks cannot be trusted with our SSN’s?  And FSA has all the rancher names, addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, farm numbers, track numbers, cropping histories, payment histories…… Hrmmm, are those things more sensitive than livestock location information?  Perhaps all of that data needs to be moved to a private company who will not sell or market the data?  And while we are at it, can the FBI or CIA or Homeland Security folks be trusted with the confidential records that they hold?

 

8/28  The FSA Employees and NAFEC Members in the path of the Hurricane are in my thoughts a lot tonight.  Let’s hope and pray that tomorrow afternoon finds them safe and their homes and businesses intact.

 

8/24  Are you a member of NAFEC?  Have you signed up your COC as members of NAFEC?  I need NAFEC to help look out for my rights as an employee and to help me keep jobs in the County Office.  Dues are cheap, check out NAFEC.

 

8/24  NASCOE is preparing for an executive board meeting this weekend. 

 

8/23  Kentucky is planning to close about 1/3 of its FSA county offices.  Rumor has it that the employees were involved in designing the plan and selecting the offices.  It’s an interesting concept, just imagine for a moment; planning a wholesale realignment of the field structure and letting the employees have input about the best place/method of getting the work done.  FSA of Tomorrow plan is supposed to be awaiting approval, I wonder why Kentucky is moving to office closures now?

 

8/23  APHIS and FSA mgt met this week.  Probably discussing FSA role in Animal ID, or lack thereof.        Do you think they want FSA jobs?  Or are these jobs already headed for NBCA (National Beef Cattlemen’s Association)

 

8/22  Did you read the 2^nd paragraph of PM-2477?  “Despite FSA’s attempt to secure full funding for continuing FY 2005 FTE levels, the most recent projections for FSA’s FY 2006 budget will result in about 850 fewer budgeted positions (FTE’s) than authorized in FY 2005.”  Translation:  We tried, we really tried, but “they” would not give us enough money so you are loosing your jobs, we plan to terminate 850 positions because that’s easier than finding more funding or making other budget cuts.  What?  You don’t like that translation?  How about this one:  We plan to continue to invest in automation upgrades, new computers, new printers, more money for the web farm, and we’ll spend money on to convert the AS/400/36 programs to the web, and all of those automation costs will come out of the employee salary and expense budget.  While we make these expensive upgrades we will also be getting rid of about 850 positions.  That’s right; any spending on IT is most likely coming at the expense of employees, those same employees who are supposed to be getting the job done in the county offices.

 

8/22  Buyout plan has been announced for FSA.  After all the secrecy it’s somewhat surprising that the notice included numbers for all affected states.  I wonder if the plan that was submitted to OPM will be equally public anytime soon?

 

8/20  Check out the new format of the NASCOE web page http://nascoe.org

 

8/10  Check out http://nascoemembers.org  The domain was recently registered, I wonder what the plan is for that space?

 

8/3  Interesting reading.  I wonder, what are they really planning?  Linky

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have an opinion about the content of this page?  Do you have a complaint about this material?  Do you want to know more?  Then ask/tell your state association officers or your NASCOE area executive.  They will probably disavow all knowledge, but it’s good for them to know that you are paying attention.  If you have good stuff for this page you can be part of the solution by telling everybody you know, make it public knowledge, and then you too can be a fool on the hill. 

 

It’s a big hill and there is lots of room, so come on up and enjoy the view with me.