We’re going to have to admit we were wrong.
We seriously underestimated the number of Kelvins contained within a letter from Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, (or better yet: "Sen. Landlord") to the average indifferent federal bureaucrat.
Earlier this year Ernst wrote to federal agencies demanding an audit of how much empty office space taxpayers were paying for while the bureaucrats "worked" from home.
In September we wrote, "The good senator’s letters will be filed with requests for DNA samples from hidden alien corpses and interrogatories regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s client list.
"Federal agencies have no fear of the tissue paper tigers in Congress.
"And to confirm the agency’s contempt, Ernst will dutifully vote for the upcoming continuing resolution to prevent a 'government shutdown' that will fully fund every agency ignoring her letters." (You can read the complete column here.)
Whoops!
Evidently, either her letters were incandescent or Ernst reached one of the few remaining federal bureaucrats with a sense of obligation to taxpayers.
In a news release this week, the senator announced, "Following U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst’s, R-Iowa, continuous advocacy and demands for accountability for wasted taxpayer dollars due to federal 'telework' policies, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced it would downsize 3.5 million square feet of federal buildings, which will save taxpayers over $1 billion."
We stand corrected.
Then Ernst explained, "Getting rid of just 23 underutilized GSA properties will save taxpayers more than $1 billion in unnecessary costs.
"GSA has over 8,300 buildings but is using as little as 10 percent of the available office space. Imagine the return for taxpayers if GSA got serious and downsized to fit its actual use," said Ernst.
"Due to Bidenomics, Americans are struggling to pay their own rent. They can’t afford to be financing empty castles for bureaucrats who aren’t even showing up for work!"
Doing the math, eliminating 23 buildings only represents two one-hundredths of a percent of total federal office space, but we suppose it’s a start. Cynics that we are, we assumed all 23 of the buildings would be in red states as punishment for the landlords.
That wasn’t the case either. In a real demonstration of balance 11 of the buildings were in Red states and 12 were in Blue jurisdictions.
Not an outcome one would expect from this administration.
We now enthusiastically wish the senator continued success in her efforts to eliminate office space waste in the federal government.
In fact, we’ve decided to become optimists regarding the campaign.
Eliminate wasted office space now.
And eliminate the employees later.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.