Re: Good enough for government work?

Thank you very much for your comment. The comment in the article was somewhat tongue in cheek but it did convey that the federal government finished ahead of state and local governments in the ethics survey on which the article was based. The fact the federal government finished ahead of other levels of government in the ethics study is good news--certainly much better than if we had lower levels than other levels of government. The study also compared governments (at all levels) to private business and did not find any significant difference. Your point that federal contractors may have more ethics problems than federal employees may be true. The report did not address that as it was not just about issues at the federal level. (Our attorney prefers we have a citation for any statements that may mention specific individuals or organizations.) We certainly see various articles about criminal behavior among contractors--unfortunately, it seems we are also seeing quite a few from among our own community and it does not seem to be diminishing--which never ceases to amaze me because, as I have sometimes referenced in columns, my expectations for my former colleagues in government have always been high based on my own experience in working for a few different agencies. Unfortunately, I sometimes saw a different side of how government contracting works when I worked as a contractor. After working on both sides, some of the court cases and independent studies are not as shocking as they would have been before that private sector experience.