A new Time Magazine article investigates the placement of political cronies at all levels of the government. It's nothing new and all administrations, since the days of George Washington have pursued this approach. The Bush administration however has taken the practice to new levels and made it an art form. Indeed the article points out that they aren't apologetic for the practice they just "want government to work".
In the Time article:
Internal e-mail messages obtained by TIME show that scientists' drug-safety decisions at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are being second-guessed by a 33-year-old doctor turned stock picker. At the Office of Management and Budget, an ex-lobbyist with minimal purchasing experience oversaw $300 billion in spending, until his arrest last week. At the Department of Homeland Security, an agency the Administration initially resisted, a well-connected White House aide with minimal experience is poised to take over what many consider the single most crucial post in ensuring that terrorists do not enter the country again. And who is acting as watchdog at every federal agency? A corps of inspectors general who may be increasingly chosen more for their political credentials than their investigative ones.
Interestingly a just published study from Princeton University reported in Federal Computer Week, reports that career employees make better managers then political appointees.
Well, it is only Princeton.
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