We’ve all heard of irresponsible government spending and bureaucratic laziness, but National Institute of Health scientist Edward McSweegan seems to advance the art to an entirely new level.
According to a controversial Washington Post article, McSweegan is paid $100,000 per year to conduct absolutely no productive work. He has an office and a generous salary, says the Post, but “what McSweegan says he does not have — and has not had for the last seven years — is any real work. He was hired by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1988, but says his bosses transferred the research grants he administered to other workers eight years later, leaving him with occasional tasks more suitable for a typist or ‘gofer.'”
Luckily, Senator Charles Grassley has brought this problem before HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. “We want to make sure we get the most bang for our buck, the most research for our dollars. McSweegan, who has written three novels to pass the time at work, agrees: “It’s not my idea…I have pointed it out repeatedly over the years. I suppose they are just waiting for me to get bored and frustrated and quit…It would be nice to get a real job doing real work.”