Brian R.

Heres the real fd up part. If you are sick, or your kids are sick and you have to leave you get put into awol status...and you dont get back pay and you may not be able to come back to work.

What they should be doing is giving people their taxes back.

@SoilentGreen: Unfortunately, for every one of the diligent gov't employees you describe, there are at least three others who do about two hours' worth of work each day and spend the rest of their time smoking, talking with their coworkers, watching TV, and sleeping at their desks. I was a federal gov't employee for a time and observed this firsthand. These may be stereotypes, but stereotypes usually come into existence for a reason.