Possible for Trump to move federal agencies to "flyover country"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And you wonder why HRC lost Michigan. All those dumb fuck UofM grads. And MSU may not be Ivy, but it graduates some smart people. Chicago and Northwestern are 150 miles away.

God you people are assholes. And oblivious to that fact.

And, it does happen that quite a few of those people who went to the almighty Ivy actually came from the middle.

The factory workers and unemployed smucks voted for him. Many fewer of the college educated ones

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With 7 of the 12 richest counties in the US surrounding DC, Trump should work on decentralizing this vulgar concentration of bureaucrat wealth by moving federal agencies to the middle of the country. Example: Dept. of Education to Betsy Devos's hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich. That alone would lock up Michigan as a red state in 2020.

The agencies can slash bloat and wages in the process (lower cost of living in flyover country), it would be a boom for non-coastal economies, and policies would likely better reflect real America versus insulated coastal elite outlook.

It wouldn't be practical. There's lots of interaction with different federal agencies with each other, Congress, etc. I could see bits and pieces being moved out of Washington, but most places probably don't have anything close to the necessary infrastructure/physical plant, and it would be very expensive to build out remotely.

[Anonymous]

In some cases, it would take an Act of Congress to move an agency. The RS barely have control of the Senate and two Republican senators are barely Republicans. None of this chicken little crap is happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A better question would be why the people in Michigan, etc. feel they are "entitled" to Federal jobs. The D.C. area has an educated workforce. Federal careers aren't a welfare program. Any attempt to redistribute our Fed agencies should be called out as a redistribution of wealth.

The federal "swamp" built this. This place was a dump 25 years ago. Now it's just vulgar compared to the rest of the country. 7 of the richest dozen counties! No wonder all the agencies are out of touch and useless.

If Michigan became part of Canada know one would care.

haha - though I think all of the blue states would rather annex with Canada and let the red welfare states survive on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And you wonder why HRC lost Michigan. All those dumb fuck UofM grads. And MSU may not be Ivy, but it graduates some smart people. Chicago and Northwestern are 150 miles away.

God you people are assholes. And oblivious to that fact.

And, it does happen that quite a few of those people who went to the almighty Ivy actually came from the middle.

I'm one of them. But it's still a really stupid idea to move the fed agencies out. Transactions costs on it are huge, you would lose your best employees because we are the ones who would have no trouble finding jobs that allow us to stay where our families are rooted and our spouses are employed. It's nothing but spiteful stupidity.

Agreed. The smartest and best would just find something else to do rather than live on fly over country (many of us fled to D.C. From those shitholes after college). There would not be enough educated or experienced people outside the area to effectively run the government.

Keep in mind. They almost bankrupted the auto industry and made it the rust belt because of their inability to adapt and change to the market needs. Sounds like another kind worse kind of swamp to me.

+1 - we all worked hard and got out of those places, why send people back to cultural and educational black holes? Bring down the whole country to the lowest common denominator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And you wonder why HRC lost Michigan. All those dumb fuck UofM grads. And MSU may not be Ivy, but it graduates some smart people. Chicago and Northwestern are 150 miles away.

God you people are assholes. And oblivious to that fact.

And, it does happen that quite a few of those people who went to the almighty Ivy actually came from the middle.

I'm one of them. But it's still a really stupid idea to move the fed agencies out. Transactions costs on it are huge, you would lose your best employees because we are the ones who would have no trouble finding jobs that allow us to stay where our families are rooted and our spouses are employed. It's nothing but spiteful stupidity.

There was an article by Matthew Yglesias at vox the other day on this topic. It might not be a good idea (though personally I like it) but it is hardly all "spiteful stupidity".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With 7 of the 12 richest counties in the US surrounding DC, Trump should work on decentralizing this vulgar concentration of bureaucrat wealth by moving federal agencies to the middle of the country. Example: Dept. of Education to Betsy Devos's hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich. That alone would lock up Michigan as a red state in 2020.

The agencies can slash bloat and wages in the process (lower cost of living in flyover country), it would be a boom for non-coastal economies, and policies would likely better reflect real America versus insulated coastal elite outlook.

There is a reason they are called flyover states - nobody wants to live there.

[Anonymous]

Every fed on this board bitches and moans about going to the office and that everyone should telework from home because going in in so 1990s. Until the prospect of moving the agencies crops up. Now everyone needs to be together because there is sooooooo much interaction.

I guess telework isn't practical and those of you who do are fleecing the taxpayer and really ought to be canned.

[Anonymous]

There is a reason they are called flyover states - nobody wants to live there.

And, attitudes like this are what cost Hillary the election......

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bueuracratic wealth? When was the last time you looked at the usg pay scale. The money is the lobbiests.

Considerably better than average income of $51,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you know most federal jobs are already outside Washington DC, right?

This. I hate to burst OP's bubble with facts but 14% of federal employees work in the entire DC region, 86% are around the world. There are nearly as many civilians in Texas or California as there are in DC. DOD civilians and VA staff account for over half of all civil servants, they are working on bases and in VA hospitals around the country and world. What remains in DC is mostly headquarters, which makes sense for any large organization to be co-located.

I know you are a fed and all that, but you do understand that the population of Texas and California are multiples higher than the population of DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With 7 of the 12 richest counties in the US surrounding DC, Trump should work on decentralizing this vulgar concentration of bureaucrat wealth by moving federal agencies to the middle of the country. Example: Dept. of Education to Betsy Devos's hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich. That alone would lock up Michigan as a red state in 2020.

The agencies can slash bloat and wages in the process (lower cost of living in flyover country), it would be a boom for non-coastal economies, and policies would likely better reflect real America versus insulated coastal elite outlook.

There is a reason they are called flyover states - nobody wants to live there.

Actually, nobody wants you to live there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There is a reason they are called flyover states - nobody wants to live there.

And, attitudes like this are what cost Hillary the election......

No that is why liberals are concentrated in larger urban areas - many decided they they no longer wanted to live in these flyover places. Nothing to do with wining or losing, mostly personal choice and the desire to be competitive in our career. Or at least want a career in a specific field that does not exist in the fly over place we grew up in. Frankly I work in international development, I would not mind moving back to my small new england town, but there is NO work in my industry there and I would have to start from scratch doing something more manual laborish. After a few degrees and a ton of work, I have decided it's too much of a sacrifice right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bueuracratic wealth? When was the last time you looked at the usg pay scale. The money is the lobbiests.

Considerably better than average income of $51,000

That includes unemployment and day labor type jobs. The DC are has a very high concentration of people with college degree that take white collar jobs. They would inherently pay more than most other industries. This is why the average income here is higher, better educated people tend to find jobs that pay more.

[Anonymous]

Missile defense agency was moved to AL. It survived. In fact major contractors opened offices there too.