January 8, 2015

Articles on the new Congress over the past few days were given rather different slants. One was captioned "Republicans eager to prove they can govern." More realistic were headings stating "GOP-led Congress ready to defy Obama" and "Clashes Ahead: Republicans Ready to Fight Obama Agenda".

The best, though, came from Andy Borowitz of The New Yorker. In a column entitled "Unskilled Workers Report for New Jobs,"[3]¹ he reported that the "new hires, who have no talents or abilities that would make them employable in most workplaces, will be earning a first-year salary of $174,000." They are the beneficiaries of a "a federal jobs program that provides employment for people unable to find productive work elsewhere." As with most federal programs, this one has its detractors: "Some critics have blasted the federal jobs program as too expensive, noting that the workers were chosen last November in a bloated and wasteful selection process that cost the nation nearly four billion dollars."

Mr. Borowitz commented that the newbies would work only 137 days a year; that, however, seems to me to be the only silver lining.

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3. http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/unskilled-workers-report-new- jobs?mbid=nl_ BOROWITZ