I apologize for my sporadic blogging these past few days, but a lot has been passing through my mind lately, little related to politics. When I realized last Friday (another slow blogging day) that my e-mail box for this blog contained over 500 e-mails, I knew it was about time to start going through it. I cleared out over 200 that day — and found the process most draining.
Well, today (Thursday), I’m back at it and have reduced the number to under 200 (despite an never-ending stream of new missives) and keep chancing up e-mails I opened, then “kept as new” as they linked newsworthy articles. I haven’t decided yet how to address all of them, but may do a series of posts where I link articles which I still find timely.
I just encountered one from last December that remains salient: Government salaries soar in bad times:
This recession has been such a boom time for the tax-supported bureaucracy that “federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession’s first 18 months — and that’s before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.” USA Today was especially struck by the fact that there was only one career federal worker making an annual salary of $170,000 or more at the U.S. Department of Transportation when the current recession began. Today, 18 months later, there are more than 1,600 career employees making that much at Transportation. We can only hope that none of those additional 1,600-plus high-paid workers was responsible for the $2 billion Cash for Clunkers debacle run by the Transportation Department.
If the president were serious about cutting the federal deficit and having our government living within its means (as he hinted he would do during the third debate), he’d cut federal salaries across the board as many private employers are doing.
His failure to do so indicates either an unwillingness to stand up to the public employee unions or a lack of seriousness about our nation’s fiscal problems. Or both.
RELATED: Recession chugs on, except in government.
UPDATE: Time to rein in government pay.
UP-UPDATE: Even Democratic-appointees are concerned about costs of federal employees:
David Walker, the U.S. comptroller appointed by President Bill Clinton who continued in the role under George Bush, on Friday gave a bracing indictment of the pension and salary benefits being rewarded to government workers at the federal, state and local level. Walker said that public sector workers are growing prosperous on the back of private sector workers.
Read the whole thing. H/t: Glenn Reynolds.
Want to see Federal salaries and workforce numbers fall?
Make campaign contributions by government employee unions illegal.
When I was a very little kid, my parents would give me money at Christmas time which I then used to buy them presents they probably didnt really want, so that I could feel like I was giving and contributing
We do the same thing today with federal employees. We give them money out of our pockets for their exorbitant salaries, but also for them to “pay taxes” so that they can pretend that they are contributing when they are not, when everything they do is actually a drain on the economy.
So, I agree with your excellent point! I say we balance the budget by giving a 100% tax cut to all federal employees while cutting their salaries by the exact same dollar amount — or preferably much more.
Indeed, I think it should be illegal for any federal employee to make more than the median income for a comparable job held by the employers in the private sector who pay their salaries.
He may have said that, he never meant it. We the tax paying public were put on earth to cater and supply the money the goods and the quality of life for government officials, no the other way around.
I find some of these comments extremely ignorant. The fact that a sweeping statement to cut federal employees salaries is made without knowing what a lot of these jobs entail is irresponsible. I especially enjoyed the statement “We give them money out of our pockets for their exorbitant salaries, but also for them to “pay taxes” so that they can pretend that they are contributing when they are not, when everything they do is actually a drain on the economy.” Really? How ignorant and ill-informed is this person? As a federal employee, I’ve deployed 2 times (6 months each) to Iraq and once to Bosnia. BTW it is part of our job within the DoD to deploy; if we refuse we can lose our job, however I volunteered each time. I was in the Pentagon on 9/11 and for this country I went back to work the next day even though parts of the building were still on fire and many of the dead had yet to be removed. I’ve risked my life for this country. What has this person contributed? A lot of us work for those salaries; we put up with separations from our families, work in really dangerous areas like Iraq and Afghanistan, live in an extremely expensive area such as DC, work numerous task forces at all kinds of crazy hours, work 7 days a week while deployed 12-14 hours or more a day, as well as put up with immeasurable amount of malarkey in order to our jobs. I, and many others, do this job because we want to serve our country. We want to do something meaningful. I wanted to do more then make a paycheck though I still need one to survive. “I think it should be illegal for any federal employee to make more than the median income for a comparable job held by the employers in the private sector who pay their salaries.” My salary is actually less then what private sector person would make for this job. Contractors make more than I do. Regardless I do this job because I can see the bigger picture.
The govt. does need to take care of its spending but instead of suggesting that “we balance the budget by giving a 100% tax cut to all federal employees while cutting their salaries by the exact same dollar amount” (awesome suggestion) perhaps we should look at all the pork congress has in their bills, the so-called stimulus bill, the fact that illegal aliens costs the govt. approximately $10 billion per year for basic human services, or the fact that members of congress get retirement even if they only serve one term. You are going after the wrong people.
Excellent point, Dan. Ditto NDT, AE, and Leah. Dispite the scandals of some of the Wall St. houses. most business are fiscally responsible. When going through hard times, they freeze salaries and reduce or eliminate bonuses,. If they´re still bleeding red ink, they downsize. If that doesn´t help and busines doesn´t improve, they resort to Chapter XI, bankruptcy. If they can´t turn the business around the final solution is convert to Chapter 7 and close the doors, as did Montgomery Ward. Can anybody imagine our government freezing employee salaries? How about our elected officials, federal, state and local? How many have refused a salary hike? Bell. CA. for instance. Since the Obama administration has plunged us into what appears to be an insurmnontable deficit, why not try to negotiate a settlement with our foreingn debtors.like 50 cents on a dollar? How about cutting foreign aid? Why are we giving billions to arabian countries who are charging us top dollar for oil?
Republicans need to get serious about smaller government. Reducing the size of government was part of Newt Gingrich´s Contract with America. What the Republican take over in 1994 did was a drop in the bucket According to Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institue in op ed piece in the May 1998 edition of Fortune Magazine, indicated that while a handful of gevnment agencies closed, most remained operative and duplicating services such as 342 federal programs devoted to economic development, 163 to job training and 131 to help juveniles. He names several agencies whose dubious existence bloats the federl budget, even by a Republican lead House. I would hope that every Republican candidate for Congress will have read Freedom to Choose by Milton and Rose Friedman; at least chapters 6,7, and 8, so they know before hand which agencies need to be consolidated and/or eliminated.
As part of the private sector I create all the wealth in this country that makes your job, your salary, your benefits possible.
I pay your salary. I pay for your benefits. I pay for your home. I pay for your food. I pay for your clothes. I pay for your car. I pay your medical bills. I pay for your insurance. I pay for your internet connection. I pay for your movie tickets. Every penny you have comes from me, the PRIVATE sector worker. Including the money you think YOU are paying in taxes. MY taxes are higher so that you can pretend you are paying taxes too.
I pay for everything you do.
That’s what I do.
You’re welcome.
And what is ignorant is your attitude that you are entitled to a single penny of it without severe scrutiny from me and every other taxpayer. I’m glad you dont make as much as someone in a comparable position in the private sector. You SHOULDN’T make as much as the people who pay your salary. You also enjoy job security that NONE of the people who pay for you to put food in your mouth have.
Your claim is also contrary to recent studies which show that government employees are making on average 30% MORE than their private sector bosses.
Sorry! YOU dont get to decide if your job is essential. WE do.
The private sector — the people who PAY your salary have had to cut back, sometimes drastically. Why shouldn’t you?
Its time to put the “SERVANT” back in “public servant”.
I find some of these comments extremely ignorant. The fact that a sweeping statement to cut federal employees salaries is made without knowing what a lot of these jobs entail is irresponsible.
Oh good. Perhaps Shannon can explain to us why the government needs so many workers to download and post kiddie porn.
At taxpayer expense, of course.
I joke that I can make anyone a small government conservative in two weeks.
Make them take Fed calls.
Wow I’ve completely changed my mind on all of your logical arguments on why govt. workers should have their pay drastically reduced. I never thought how the private sector does everything for me and gives me free money to use for anyway I want. I should be grateful that the private sector supports me and allows me to sit back, do no work, and get free money to pay for my movie tickets, car, mortgage, medical benefits, food, clothes, insurance, my Match.com subscription, and internet connection. But let me say a special thank you for paying for my several plane tickets to the world renowned holiday vacation spot Iraq, the “lovely” hut I lived in, the high-class portapotties/spa, the completely hygienic Iraqi food I ate when chow hall food was unavailable, the gastroenteritis and 6 months of diarrhea from said local food, the insurgents who only wanted to be my friend, the mortars, the suicide bombers, and the death of friends from said suicide bombers. Let me bow down to the private sector that never asks for anything from us but to give us free money… which of course I never use to pay my federal or state taxes. The private sector does that as well.
So next time when the US is attacked or next time I am ordered to deploy for this ungrateful nation I’ll just say American Elephant or North Dallas Thirsty, will deploy for me because I just want to sit back here in my cushy job and do nothing but download kiddie porn on govt websites.