It's A Gov'ment Thang'

Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?"
So they created a planning position and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, GS-12 and one person to do time studies, GS-11.
Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?"
So they created a QC position and hired two people, one GS-9 to do the studies and one GS-11 to write the reports.
Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?"
So they created the following two positions, a time keeper, GS-09, and a payroll officer, GS-11.
Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?"
So they created an administrative position and hired three people, an Admin Officer GM-13, Assistant Admin Officer GS-12, and a Legal Secretary GS-08.
Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $280,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost."
So they laid off the night watchman!
Originally published June 25, 2003.