* I’ve heard this many times over the past few days…
“The conventional wisdom in this building is that John Filan’s fingerprints are all over the budget,” said state Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon.
You remember Filan, right? Gov. Blagojevich’s budget chief who loved smoke and mirrors and didn’t much care for state employees? Well, he was, indeed, part of Gov. Quinn’s budget team this year as well…
Quinn spokeswoman Katie Ridgway acknowledged that Filan was involved in the budget-writing process.
That explains some things, especially as we look at the pension reform proposals today.
* Kristen McQueary writes about pension envy and Gov. Quinn’s pension reforms in her latest column…
Public pensions are one of the rawest nerve centers in politics today. If you don’t work for government, the pension system seems patently unfair. If you do work for government and you paid into the system since your very first paycheck, you feel entitled to the nest egg promised.
* The Bloomington Pantagraph says everyone will have to take a hit…
Everyone - including state employees - has to recognize that the burden of getting the state out of its dire financial straits will require sacrifices from everyone.
We might argue about the degree of sacrifice, but the bottom line is that businesses need to pick up part of the check, taxpayers overall can expect higher taxes and fees, motorists will have to pay for better roads, park users will face fees they haven’t in the past and public employees will have to accept some of the same financial hits that workers in the private sector already have faced.
Cost cutting is crucial when asking taxpayers to hand over more money.
Quinn’s plan calls for state employees to take four furlough days and pay more toward their health insurance. That closely follows the actions many businesses have taken to limit layoffs or other more drastic action in this recession.
The state’s financial problems will not be solved with turf wars, partisan sniping or self-serving opposition that offers no realistic alternatives.
The problems will only be solved by working together and sharing the burden.
* The governor once again calls for shared sacrifice…
Gov. Pat Quinn said teachers unions and public sector employees should be open to concessions and voluntary cost savings as all agencies from state government down to local school and municipal districts struggle to balance their budgets.
“What I have found is that in a bind, human beings want to help their neighbor. They want to help themselves, but they understand that working together often times is the best way to get through a crisis,” Quinn told the Daily Herald in an interview Friday. “The bottom line is shared sacrifice in tough times. That’s what Americans do.”
* The SJ-R takes a look at pensions, and has a bit about a little-mentioned proposed change…
The alternative retirement formula, which gives enhanced pension benefits to those holding hazardous jobs, will also go away.
Laurence Msall is president of the Civic Federation in Chicago, which has called for many of the pension changes being pushed by Quinn. He said good riddance to the alternative state employee formula.
“It’s been enormously abused by the state of Illinois,” Msall said. “Everyone in the Department of Corrections, including people who don’t do hazardous work, are in it.”
Quinn would’ve been better advised to stay away from Filan. Some of these pension reforms are reasonable. But Filan’s name attached to them may make his proposals too hot to touch. Not discussed in many of the articles above is the Quinn/Filan plan to short the pension systems of billions of dollars. It’s classic Filan.
- Princess - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 10:18 am:
It really did no take an einstein here to know Filan was behind some of this. Anyone having went through negotiations over the last contract would realize these proposals are a running takeoff.
- the Patriot - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 10:26 am:
Quinn has two competing themes which is costing him loyalty amoung state employees. First, state employees have put up with idiotic thugs hired by Blago who are over paid and under qualified. They have made life miserable for the rank and file. Until he Fires the department heads hired by Blago, he will get no cooperation from the state employees.
Second is the fact the unions will not endorse a republican and will almost certainly endorse Lisa Madigan in the Primary. Why does Quinn need to work with a group who is offering him nothing politically.
In my opinion AFMSE, IEA/NEA, and the other unions have 90 days to make their move. Tell Quinn if he meets their demands they will go with him or go all out for who ever the republican is. If they do not make one of these two move, the state employees will get hosed yet again.
- wordslinger - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 10:35 am:
When’s the day of reckoning with the current pension system? That is, when do the wizards set the date when available asset current won’t meet statutory obligations?
Or to put it another way, when is the date we’ll really have to decide on massive cuts and/or massive tax increases to pay pension obligations?
- Look behind the curtain - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 10:36 am:
It’s not just Filan. Deloitte consultant Lance Weiss designed the Rod-era “proportional savings” pension scheme and, guess what, Quinn’s current scheme too. Governor Gimmick is gone, but the crew that crafted the gimmicks remains. Big mistake on Quinn’s part.
- Just a Citizen - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 10:39 am:
Agree with the governor that shared sacrific is the only way to get the state out of this economic mess. And, furthermore, the first sacrifice on pensions and salaries must come from the folks who make the laws for the state–our legislators. If they are not willing to be the first to make a sacrifice, why should any of us?
- Just Because - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 10:44 am:
I truly don’t understand Quinn. He seems to be going down the same road as our former governor. He really needs to pick a road and some friends and decide on a path.
I also agree with the above, hire new department heads and calm down the friction.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 10:49 am:
Word-
Looking at one of the 5 systems, SERS in the last reporting period online(FY 07)-
Collected $224,722,599 from state employees
Collected $358,786,650 from state of IL in employer contributions
Made $1,779,907,177 in investment income
Held $12,078,908,954 net assets in trust for future payments to beneficiaries
Paid out $1,161,291,038 in benefits
Looks like there’s no immediate danger of running out of cash, when the money coming in exceeds the money going out at a 2 to 1 clip and having a $12 bil cash reserve. The 500 lb. gorilla must be the baby boomer retirements coming up in the next 5-10 years.
- Macbeth - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 10:55 am:
At the very least, the legislators should be a symbolic target of the expected sacrifice. They should be front and center — and sacrifice they make should be real money and cause a bit of squirming.
State employees should be part of the sacrifice — with a very public acknowledgment that they’ve sacrificed quite a bit already. Then, it’s everybody else.
But I’ll agree: the legislators need to front and center here.
- Irish - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 10:55 am:
Gov. Quinn is making big mistakes by not cleaning out the holdovers from Gov. Blago’s administration. Everything is the same except we have a new figurehead. Quinn is disappointing a lot of people and will be hard pressed to get re-elected unless cleans house and policies. A lot of people had high hopes when Blago went and Quinn was sworn in. Those hopes are being dashed as we are getting more of what we got with Blago. He shouldn’t be drinking the water or what ever it is that is causing htis. I almost choked the other day when he was asked if he was running in 2010 and his reply was I am doing a good job why wouldn’t I run. Chills ran down my spine, DE JAVU all over again.
- Leroy - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 10:57 am:
Aren’t state employees sacrificing more that a normal taxpayer? After all, they are taxpayers, and they are sacrificing as such. Why should they have to sacrifice again simply because they are state employees as well?
It really isn’t fair.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 11:03 am:
===Why should they have to sacrifice again simply because they are state employees as well?===
The ultimate sacrifice would be mass layoffs. They aren’t facing that prospect, unlike the millions who have lost their jobs in this country since last fall.
Just sayin…
- Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 11:05 am:
===SERS in the last reporting period online(FY 07)===
Look at GOMB’s latest report. The situation is very bad.
- Reality is - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 11:12 am:
The benefits negotiated by unions are about all they have to promote themselves so I dont think the unions are as concerned about layoffs. Those laid off will be the least senior and the state will eventually increase its head count again. When they rehire the benefits will not have been compromised.
- Excessively rabid - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 11:14 am:
I’m for getting rid of everybody Blago ever appointed, with one exception: Kevin Stein, the poet laureate. This guy is a working man’s poet. He may not be Carl Sandburg or Gwendolyn Brooks, but he is one active son of a gun. By the way, he doesn’t get paid or have a budget. Not one dollar.
http://poetlaureate.il.gov/
- MOON - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 11:27 am:
RICH
You should look into the Illinois Finance Authorities operations. From what I have heard many employees have left or are looking to bail out. Since Filan took over I have been told this agency appears to be in trouble.
- You Go Boy - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 11:29 am:
Governor: Why wasn’t John Filan out the door behind Blago? (rimshot….)
- Six Degrees of Separation - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 11:45 am:
Look at GOMB’s latest report. The situation is very bad.
As a snapshot in time, it’s bad. We are (hopefully) on the tail end of the worst stock market tanking since the Great Depression, which caused the unfunded (future) liability to go up some 20 billion because of investment income losses. If the stock market has a good run similar to the late 1990’s, the pensions could become more flush again without doing too much different. They were close to 80% funded around 2000, IIRC, based mostly on good investment performance.
- preservationist - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 11:46 am:
I am appalled to realize that John Filan has anything to do with the “new” administration. As a state employee, I’m quite willing to take my share of hits in terms of pension and health care benefits. But Filan was partially responsible for making some of the worst management decisions in the history of Illinois government. For instnace, he was part of the “Blago” team that under the cover of “economies of scale” centralized services in CMS. Their version of economizing, however, meant that agencies were double charged for services. For example, when public information officers or graphic artists were centralized by being reassigned from agencies to a centralized pool in CMS, their salaries plus the overhead associated with their positions also were transferred from the agency budgets to CMS. That’s reasonable if one accepts the “economy of scale” argument (which I don’t). But then–and here’s the brilliant part of the scheme–the agencies were charged by CMS for their services. What a deal! What a plan! What a stupid idea, unless your sole motive is to centralize power for reasons that have nothing to do with economizing.
As a result of this and other dippy management schemes, my support for Quinn has nothing to do with his plans for the pension and health care benefits. It depends solely on the extent to which he brings in real managers–people who are able to administer government, not just aggrandize themselves and centralize power. Blago wasn’t just a disaster because he was a crook. He was more of a a disaster because he didn’t care about governing and the people around him weren’t able to manage anything. God help us if people like Filan are on the inside track.
- Bill - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 11:55 am:
Now is probably the worst time in history to skip over $4 billion in state payments to the pension plans. Not only do the plans fall deeper in debt but they lose the opportunity for appreciation as the market recovers.
- Hank - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 11:57 am:
Almost everything in this budget is pure Blago except the personal and corporate tax increases. The only item missing is the GRT. MJM should do a series of resolutions and declare this lated Filan on steroids budget DOA.
- Irish - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 12:05 pm:
I am not against the tax increases. As many have pointed out something has to be done and Illinois has the lowest state income tax of the surrounding states. However I also tend to agree with Leroy. It would be nice if the media would recognize that state employees are taxpayers also. I have yet to see any articles or news reports that make the statement that state employees are having their taxes raised AND expected to make concessions on their pensions.
The pension thing is a real sore spot because it was not the employees’ fault that we have this pension debt. It has been the fault of Governors and Legislators that wanted to get re-elected so they gave the citizens what they wanted, pork projects where the politicians could get their picture taken cutting the ribbon. Now everyone has had their fun the party is over and the piper is here for his check. And the GA and the Gov. turn to the servants to pay the bill. And the Gov is STILL not paying the pension bill.
So some are saying the pension and healthcare increases are something we should be willing to do because the private sector has made those sacrifices already. I would be willing to make these sacrifices if the following were true.
1. The carryover deputy director/political hires from Blago’s administration in positions we didn’t have before at $120,000.00+ are gone.
2. The state employee hating policies and policymakers ie; John Filan are gone.
3. The GA, Constituional Officers, Judges, etc are all rolled into the same pension and insurance system as the rank and file employees. If this is such an important item then everyone should be willing to take part. It should be real not symbolic. Those whose salaries cannot be adjusted due to State law should donate the proper portion of their salary to State of Illinois not a charity of their choice. After all the rank and file don’t have a choice where their donation is going.
4. State Employee salaries are raised to the level they would earn if in the private sector. As has been pointed out in the past the reason why people stick with State employment rather than go to the private sector is the benefits. If State employees are to have the same benefits as the private sector then let us have the same salaries.
- disgusted again - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 12:13 pm:
filan as involved in the current budget and now head of the illinois finance authority is a travisty ….as former director of gomb he tried to stop every good project ifa did all over the state from biodiesel projects to to helping out struggling public schools and etc etc. he is said to be ruthless with staff, a poor manager, and doesnt understand the basics of sound financial management or of humanity….FACT: under his rule, state financial ratings dropped, the deficit grew, no budget he every proposed got passed. not hard to believe he would try to balance his failures on the backs teachers and state employees. he shows up late to legislative audit hearings and has no respect for the people we elected to serve us. get him and all the other blago people out…quinn is waiting way too long to make a very big positive statement to voters and legislators. our elected officials, not former blago appointees, should be running this state.
- Jacksonville - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 12:16 pm:
New employees in IDOC central office have not received the alternate formula retirement for the last 4-5 years. Only those employees that work in a prison,parole, apprehension, etc. Receive it.
- Anonymous45 - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 12:17 pm:
I agree with you go boy…why in God’s name is Filan and other RBB appointed flunkies with ties to his GOMB still hanging around protecting their self interest and giving Pat bad advice? So much for “fumigation”.
Did Quinn make a deal with the devil (MJM) in exchange for a later perk after Lisa ascends to the Governors office? Pat must chart his own course with his own picks…otherwise he is rolling over for the Madigans and they will have a stranglehold on the State and this can’t bode well for anyone…
- Upstate - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 12:24 pm:
John Filan is a brilliant financial mind. Quinn is lucky to have someone with his intellect and understanding of government to bounce ideas off.
But nobody elected Filan. He’s an informal advisor. If people don’t like the budget, take it up with the guy who’s accountable to the voters.
- FastWalker - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 12:28 pm:
What’s with the possible “folding” of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency into the Department of Natural Resources? Is Quinn trying to get rid of the IHPA “Board of Trustees” (Julie Cellini,Chair For Life)and bring it under his office’s control?
- MOON - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 12:29 pm:
ANON 45
You got it all wrong with regards to MJM, Filan and Quinn. MJM wants Filan gone now, he has no respect for him.
Quinn and Filan are tied at the hip. Their relationship goes way back to the “Walker Days”. Quinn is a”Big Fan” of Filan’s. Filan will be around as long as Quinn’s in office!
- preservationist - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 12:33 pm:
Dear Upstate. A “brillint financial mind”! You’ve got to be kidding! But you are right that nobody elected Filan. So my advice to Quinn is to stop “bouncing ideas” off of him.
- Fedup2 - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 12:36 pm:
Government Illinois
Name FILAN JOHN
Title DEPUTY TO GOVERNOR
Salary $134,809.92
Start
Dept Illinois-GOVERNOR
Now he makes $150,000 +
Gets $16,000 raise just to change agencies no wonder we have such debt!
Didn’t the State borrow from the Pension System to pay his salary years ago? Are they still borrowing for the increase also?
- tanstaafl - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 1:18 pm:
Fedup2 - borrow implies a good faith attempt to repay. We haven’t seen that with the pensions. I would suggest the term “steal”.
- One of the 35 - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 1:43 pm:
Filan’s “brilliant financial mind” was behind the gamble to skip 2 year’s worth of pension payments and invest at a higher rate of return. This arbitrage like scheme will end up costing us more than it would if we had just made the pension contributions. He is in the same category with the wall street types who bought insured, substandard mortgage traunches destined to fail.
- not as rabid - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 1:46 pm:
Blago’s appointed head of Illinois Finance Authority, - John Filan - announced on Nov 12. 2008. Rod arrested within a year for using the Illinois Finance Authority to hold up the tribune staff, the wrigley field deal, and to extort a childrens hospital employee by holding up a transaction until he made a campaign contribution, etc….all while Illinois Finance Authority running under Filan’s direction…….Quinn keeping Filan and adding him as a consultant to his team is much more than disturbing. by the way….in his new job, Filan is not part of the Illinois pension system, as the Illinois Finance Authority was never made a part of the state pension system…no impact on him personally if pensions are slashed or no contributions made.
- Skirmisher - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 1:47 pm:
Before he took office as governor, Quinn was getting the word around that his first act would be to fire all of the Blago appoiintees, which would have been very good policy and which certainly should have included Filan. Then after he took office, one of his first statements was to the effect that he would get rid of those appointees not doing their job (Big difference). As it stands, he has replaced only a couple, and there are a whole lot of others who need to go if Quinn is to remain credible. As someone else said today, one of Blagos greatest offenses was loading up state government with overpaid incompetents and most of them are still with us. I include Filan in that group.
- change no one is believing in - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 1:51 pm:
ok - so has any reporter or public official made a list of all state appointees, what they do, how much they are making, and whether they were appointed by Blago or Quinn?
it would be a real interesting report. what percentage of blago people are still around? must be 99% at least.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 1:52 pm:
===Rod arrested within a year===
Within a month. Your date is wrong.
- Benefit of doubt - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 1:57 pm:
I’m going to give Quinn the benefit of the doubt regarding the current budget proposal. he had to get something on paper for people to shoot at. Now is the time to consider all the ideas. Get all the parties together and hammer out a working plan to get benefits needed, funding for systems. The system need to be solvent into the future. The proposal from the budget would take the SURS benefit to the employer cost to 2% of payroll. If I was a faculty member, I would go to Purdue or Michigan State where your employer pays 6.2% into Social Security and 15% toward a Defined Contribution plan. Where will we send are children to college when the faculty in Illinois are ones that could get a job in another state.
- Benefit of doubt - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 2:00 pm:
by the way U of I should revote Lance Weiss degree
- Anonymous45 - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 2:21 pm:
The jumping of Blago appointed cronies to less visible and “under the radar” poistions prior to the Gov’s arrest should not provide cover for these insiders…they were the enablers, and Quinn is playing with fire keeping them around much after the budget address…time is running out for his run of goodwill with the elctorate…
- tax payer - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 2:21 pm:
Filan? With his track record with the state unions good luck! Gov. Quinn needs to save us the burden of paying for all these deputy directors in corrections and dept. of juvenile justice.
- steve schnorf - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 2:43 pm:
I continue to believe that in the long run Filan’s POB initiative will prove itself to work well. It’s a pretty simple concept, but not well-measured by a “point-in-time” analysis. In the long run the only question is “will the bonds earn more that they cost and thereby contribute to the welfare of the pension systems”, and I think the answer will be “yes”.
Btw, if the answer is “no”, it means that over the course of thirty years the market provided a return of less than 6%: if that proves to be the case the success or failure of POBs will be way down the list that we as Americans will need to worry about.
- lincolnlover - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 3:25 pm:
I agree with whoever suggested making a list of Blago appointees. Lets “out” them and see if they can justify their positions before we start asking state employees, or tax payers to do anything. As for Illinois Historic Preservation Agency being rolled into DNR, could it be because Jan Grimes, the IHPA head, is a Blago appointtee? She was in charge at CDB before she came over to IHPA.
- Obamas' Puppy - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 3:57 pm:
Deja Filan Vu - this pension debate is about the contribution amount. If the systems were on a reasonable funding plan and not his goofy ramp with its periodic political dips and dives we would not be looking at $4 billion. Benefit cuts are just a smoke screen for shorting the systems on the contribution.
- Quinn T. Sential - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 4:40 pm:
76.4 million baby boomers
• Leading-edge boomers turn 62 in 2008
• Another baby boomer turns 60 every eight seconds
• In 2000, 35 million Americans were 65+
• By 2030, 70 million Americans will be 65+, and will comprise 20-25% of the US population
Average baby boomer will live to be 83
• Today, a 65-year-old man has one in four chances to live to 92
• 65-year-old woman has one in four chances to live to 94
• Married couples that are 65, have one in four chance of at least one spouse living to 97
• Boomers will have 30+ years of retirement
• When Social Security was established in 1935, retirement age was established to be 65
but life expectancy was only 61
Young people will be leaving this state in droves because the un-funded pension liability is going to consume so much of their wages that they will not be able to live the lifestyle that they want here in Illinois.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 5:24 pm:
AA agrees with Schnorf that the POB deal will probably work out over the life of the bonds. The chances for success would be higher had one-fourth of the bond cash not been used for current pension contributions.
As far as Deloitte and Weiss, not only did they ho themselves out in doing that job for Filan, but then they confirmed it by writing nice checks to Rod’s campaign fund after the deed was done.
Actuarial pay to play? How much lower can you get?
- Time for Blago appointees to go - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 5:40 pm:
The IHPA director was indeed head of CDB before Blago parachuted her into the job that she has, by any assessment, botched. The best reason for “folding” HPA into DNR is that it would get rid of a cynical, if not incompetent HPA management team.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 6:05 pm:
• When Social Security was established in 1935, retirement age was established to be 65
but life expectancy was only 61
I think I see a solution here, and Quinn is somewhat on to it. If no one can retire until they die, problem solved. Of course, that creates another problem, which is people holding onto their jobs well past their prime, and denying slots to young entry level workers. But every action has a consequence.
- Quinn T. Sential - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 7:59 pm:
{When Social Security was established in 1935, retirement age was established to be 65
but life expectancy was only 61}
In the 50’s, people used to retire at 65 and die at 72. Now they retire at 58, and live to 88, requiring 30 years of benefit payments rather than 7.
The PO Bond was a great idea for those that got a piece of the action, like Hurtgren and Individual K(Aramanda, Rezko, and who knows how many others as well) but the ROI has imploded and upside down and is bleeding red all over.
I am not as convinced that it will be a good trade long term because the actuaries did not project in the market devastation that has taken place recently, or the fact that they would continue not to fund the pensions when calculating the projected assets on hand to pay benefits when they become due.
I wonder if Individual K & Co., get back end withdrawal fees as benefits are paid as well. Has anyone read the fine print on that deal?
- Marianne North - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 8:03 pm:
I don’t understand why the Civic Federation, media, et al, believe government is the same as private industry. It’s not. I don’t even need to go into the ways we are different. It’s like comparing mooses and squirrels. I will work without pay 4x this year, I’ve done it once before under the Ryan admin and contributed my $200 to balance the state budget; I will pay $687 more in taxes (it will actually be $1500 less if I bump up my def comp). But, keep your stinking hands off my pension.
- Mighty M. Mouse - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 8:54 pm:
There’s a saying that if you want to go hunting, it’s a good idea to bring along a good hunting dog - but you don’t give the dog the gun!
Anyone who has spoken with John Filan can tell you that he is has a brilliant mind. And he is one who is prone to centralizing government.
But since Blago was uninterested in governing, he gave the dog (Filan) the gun. Filan did what he thought best. But now the opposite is true.
Gov. Quinn is a total policy wonk. Under Quinn, Filan proposes and Quinn decides. The budget is Quinn’s and HE makes the decisions, not Filan, not any more. And that is a huge difference.
- CPA/MIS - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 9:07 pm:
Filan is Enron, Madolf, and AIG all rolled up in one. I worked for him briefly back in the early 90’s on an audit for PTW on a state agency. He wanted me to pad the bill and his lead auditor threatened me with termination if I refused. I still refused. I wasn’t terminated, but felt so uncomfortable working for such an unethical person as Filan, I quickly found other employment. Obviously any governor that values Filan’s advice must have the same low ethical standards.
- Bobs yer - Monday, Mar 23, 09 @ 9:15 pm:
How sad for Quinn. Moral failure so soon for an otherwise moral man.
- chicagoexile - Tuesday, Mar 24, 09 @ 7:22 am:
I agree with many of the previous posters, it is hard to recognize Quinn as a true reformer when he has done so little to reform agencies with new competent heads who have substantive knowledge in the areas that the agencies deal with. It seems he is keeping political friends and hiring new political friends without any regard to compeence. The most glaring example of this is the retention of the agency head for hfs whose testimony during the impeachment committee was disgraceful and who epitomized the blago era.