After I posted the article Ultra High Price Gouging With No Relief, an anonymous commenter accused me of having a “a low opinion the of the people there and don’t give them any credit.” It was an article that was critical of the US Mint and its policies, I was not directing criticism to the people who work for the Mint but those who run the bureau.
First, let me say that unequivocally, I have tremendous respect for all government workers. I live in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and work with the government on various levels, I know how hard the career government employees work and the pressure of working with what seems like undue regulations in their job. I have seen those with commercial experience not do well in this tightly controlled atmosphere of a government job. But when I explain this to friends and relatives who do not have my insights, I am laughed at for being too close to the situation. I fully understand the environment working for the federal government and I have a lot of respect the work they do and their service to this nation.
My low opinion of the US Mint, and other areas of the federal government, is reserved for the appointees and some high-level special pay executives who set the policies the rest of the bureau has to implement. With the problems of the Mint in the last year, I have questioned Director Edmund Moy’s ethics and his policies. I have also been critical of the hiring of Andy Brunhart as Associate Director after his less than stellar job at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. With the Mint failures of the past year, both men deserve a tremendous amount of criticism for the work it appears they have not done.
Until Moy is replaced by someone more competent, I will continue to criticize him and the policies of the US Mint. Remember, this criticism is being levied against Moy, Brunhart, and the other bureaucrats. I am not criticizing the hard working employees of the bureau.
To my anonymous commenter, I apologize for making it sound like I was indicting the entire bureau for the problems caused by the bureaucrats who deserve the criticism. If you would like to talk further, you can send me a private email note and I would be happy to discuss this further.
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