This is a bit of a long read, but a nice one in terms of understandability for the non-professional in matters economical.
I couldn’t stop laughing at this comment:
“This is why my colleagues and I think a legally enforceable right to a job is important, meaning a federal jobs guarantee”
Why don’t we just hand out money to people for doing nothing? Oh wait…we already do that.
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So I’ll put you in the camp of those who think handing out money for doing nothing is better than paying them for doing productive work. I guess that makes sense to you.
I think you missed the sarcasm based on the Federal Jobs Guarantee in your article.
If your comment indicates that most federal workers are already getting paid for doing nothing, then that’s sorta more Libertarian cynicism than legitimate sarcasm. Not very helpful in either case.
I’ll add another link from a traditionally more conservative source.
A Federal job guarantee is basically a free meal ticket. There may be times when it makes sense for us to do that, but the conditions for justifying that step would have to be pretty severe.
What would you do if a person took advantage of the Federal job offer, showed up on time and sat on his butt and refused to do the job? If the job is a right, you couldn’t fire him, that would be impinging on his rights guaranteed by the government.
If you had rules requiring specific job performance be a condition of continued employment, that would be forced labor. That would be a violation of civil liberties.
I really think you’re suggesting that federal jobs and workers are generally just folks on the dole who can’t find a job anywhere else because they’re lazy slobs. That’s a pretty dark vision it seems to me. When the fed puts the brakes on the economy, good workers, holding decent jobs, frequently find those jobs have disappeared. Unemployment insurance is often difficult to get and usually well below a living wage for many, and unproductive too. Sorry, I just can’t share your dark vision.
I know people at the US Geological Survey they are brilliant and hard working. Same for colleagues at US Department of Energy (Hanford)
You “really think” wrong. I said “A Federal job guarantee is basically a free meal ticket.” When you start creating jobs from thin air and filling those positions with people with questionable qualifications who cannot or will not get a job on their own you’re gonna have some big problems trying to make the thing work in a productive or meaningful way.
I’ve been around a while and spent 4 years in the Navy and often worked with civilian Navy Dept. people. As an IBM field tech and outside salesman for 30 years I came in contact with hundreds of federal workers in all kinds of jobs. And on a personal basis I have had, past & present, friends, family and neighbors, who were and still are, employed in entry-level to executive positions with federal agencies ranging from the FBI, AFOSI & NSA to GSA, VA and EPA…
I do not and did not find them any less professional, motivated or hard-working than their counterparts in the private sectors.
And what I think is the jobless who really don’t want to work will settle for unemployment/welfare, but those who do – and I think there would be plenty – will take the federal jobs and be productive workers. The CCC and WPA during the biggest GOP Depression weren’t 100% successful but accomplished some lastingly good results and furnished a livelihood for millions of jobless.
BTW, I too spent time in the military, more than a dozen years, and worked regularly with federal civilian employees and found them, as a whole, more than first class and dedicated.
I agree with what you say. But I think that given a choice between a guaranteed government job and going on welfare most unemployed folks would jump at the chance for the govt job. Once there it would be very difficult to dislodge them for poor performance. Most govt positions have a lot of employee protections and firing hem is costly and time consuming for an HR dept already working at capacity. The program would have to be separate and apart from the normal govt employment systems with all the associated cost and protections that go with it.
In short, it’s a dumb idea with a high price tag.
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I think you’re making too many assumptions from predicting the outcome based upon what’s just a sketch of a proposal. It’s probable that federal jobs created and filled by these guaranteed job programs would be triggered by defined economic conditions and trimmed when those conditions change, hopefully for the better. They’d be targeted toward projects that have defined end, building/repairing bridges, roads, ports, waterways, and infrastructure in general. But then, I tend to see the glass as more than half-full, but can appreciate the wisdom of those who see the opposite. BTW many thought and still think that Social Security, Medicare, and ACA were expensive and dumb ideas, too.
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Here’s a fact:
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Wait a minute!! Are you implying that people would take advantage of a Federal program?? That’s just down right baffling…
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They still are…
I keep waiting for my $2,500 savings on health insurance that I was promised.
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Quit trying to take this polite discussion political, this isn’t about the former president. 
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Years ago there was a Government Hiring Freeze.
A Friend who worked for the Defense Dept complained that the ones doing the work were leaving and what was left were not doing the job.
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Sheesh, I thought I could get away from anecdotal evidence by spending some time here rather than the Lost Forum. Not so I guess.
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Then again, the governments are adept at “use or lose” when confronted with not using all their funds. I would think most agencies (to get those big grants) want to ensure getting those funds and find ways to justify their current staff and perhaps add more.
Consider all the local state and federal employees. I believe I saw that is 7% of the population but may be wrong.
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In the late 1970’s I made my living by selling IBM systems to medical teaching hospitals to use in tracking and applying for govt grants.
As a sales rep covering federal & state accounts I timed specific targeted sales calls to coincide with two major events; the settlement of labor contracts and the fiscal year’s end. I tried to be there when department heads were notified of any left-over funds at the end of the budget year.
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