Government Needs Headhunters To Fill Positions

An interesting story at The Hill covers the use of executive search firms filling top-level positions.  It's a strange thing to think about, the idea that government needs to use headhunters to fill jobs.  Certainly anyone who wants to have a Cabinet level position is in a position to tell people they are available.  For large numbers of people in Washington and in State Capitols, it's the culmination of a life-long dream?

So why is it so hard?  The article has two reasons.  First, everyone is tainted with lobbyist ties.  The Obama Administration made a lot of hay about not using lobbyists, but now they've having problems filling jobs because everyone "qualified" in Washington had to find some kind of employment during the Bush Years, and there just aren't that many who went into the private sector.  Government is filled with lobbyists because that's how politicians make money.  Ask Tom Daschle and Trent Lott, both who have made millions after leaving the Senate.

I'm not sure what value such people have other than their contacts, but there's something seriously wrong with a government where no one wants to serve that didn't cash out their experience at the first chance.  It was a silly statement by Obama.  I can't imagine any Democrat in Missouri saying the same thing.  Without paid lobbyists filling government offices, how exactly would they ever fill any position?

 There's more to it than just lobbyists. Obama claims its the Senate scrutiny.

Obama said, “A lot of people who we think are about to serve in the administration and Treasury suddenly say, ‘Well, you know what? I don’t want to go through some of the scrutiny, embarrassment, in addition to taking huge cuts in pay.’ ”

This is very true, and it's true because politics turned personal. Starting somewhere around Robert Bork, politics got a lot nastier, as partisans started destroying reputations to hurt the power of their political adversaries. The result was a shortage of good people in Washington, as no one in their right mind would risk ruin to serve.

Take a look at what Democratic Senators have said about conservative judges, or what Democratic Congressman have said about CEO's, Bush appointees, and of course, Republican politicians.  When they're not accusing them of wanting to starve old people and poison children, they're smearing them with accusations of racism and domestic terrorism. In our own state of Missouri, Jay Nixon is out suggesting Republicans want to send children to coal mines.

Republicans haven't walked that path yet, but for a Democrat to complain about unfair scrutiny is a bit like a prostitute complaining about the difficulty of find a decent father for her kids.  Democrats made government to expensive a proposition for all but the wealthiest and the congenital liars, and now they're complaining about how tough it is to hire?

Here's an idea.  Stop peeing in the community pool, and people might start swimming in it.