Federal Aristocracy
Enough is Enough

WASHINGTON EXAMINER

April 29, 2010

"Government is not reason. Government is not
eloquence. It is force. Like fire, it is
a dangerous servant and a fearful master."

Full article 50 State Aristocracies

- George Washington

$106,579 dollars a year compensation.

Is that the compensation of an experienced CPA, a Chemical Engineer, maybe a Computer Scientist or Physicist?

No, that’s the “average” compensation earned by a federal civilian worker.

Gov't workers feel no economic pain

Security, wages, benefits beat private sector's

By David M. Dickson

Excerpts:

The recession and the ongoing jobless recovery devastated much of the private-sector work force last year, sending unemployment soaring, but government workers emerged essentially unscathed, according to data released Wednesday by the Labor Department.

Meanwhile, the compensation for state and local government employees continued to easily outdistance the wages and benefits for workers in private business, a separate Labor Department report showed.

Private-industry employers spent an average of $27.42 per hour worked for total employee compensation in December, while total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $39.60 per hour.

Full article David M. Dixon Washington Times

How does that figure compare with the ones who pay it--taxpayers?

It is exactly double the amount, private sector workers make.

Is this the way things should be?

2000 House Staffers Make Six Figures

Politico

Excerpts:

Nearly 2,000 House of Representative staffers pulled down six-figure salaries in 2009, including 43 staffers who earned the maximum $172,500 — or more than three times the median U.S. household income.

Starting salaries on Capitol Hill are still low — many entry-level congressional jobs pay less than $30,000 a year. And many of the most highly paid staffers could make several times the maximum by jumping to lobbying and consulting jobs in the private sector.

But the salary data, compiled for POLITICO by LegiStorm.com, show that it’s possible to make an enviable living in Congress, even without winning an election

Full article 2000---TWO THOUSAND STAFFERS IN U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES GET SALARY OF $100,000 PLUS UNBELIEVABLY HUGE AMOUNTS OF BENEFITS

Ignore this please: [[[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/35050.html#ixzz0jI0uqX3z]]]

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Oregon Catalyst

Lars Larson:

Federal employees not paying their taxes

Sunday, March 7. 2010

Excerpts:

You know I’m not crazy about paying my taxes either, but if you’re working for the government you really ought to pay the IRS.

The story is kind of stunning. Hundreds and hundreds of people who work for the federal government simply haven’t paid their taxes. According to Politico, 447 House employees and 231 Senate workers didn’t pay their taxes in 2008.

That’s 2008. We’re going on two years since then and the total amount owed is $10 million. And, now the Democrats have pulled a bill that would have made all those people to either pay their taxes, come to some kind of settlement with the IRS, or lose their job in the government.

Full articles Lars Larson Oregon Catalyst

USA TODAY

March 5, 2010

Federal pay ahead of private industry

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

Excerpts:

Federal employees earn higher average salaries than private-sector workers in more than eight out of 10 occupations, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data finds.

Accountants, nurses, chemists, surveyors, cooks, clerks and janitors are among the wide range of jobs that get paid more on average in the federal government than in the private sector.

Overall, federal workers earned an average salary of $67,691 in 2008 for occupations that exist both in government and the private sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The average pay for the same mix of jobs in the private sector was $60,046 in 2008, the most recent data available.

Federal Workers Average $40,785 in Benefits Civilian Workers Average $9882 Dennis Cauchon USA TODAY

Who votes such favorable salaries to these recipients?

Your elected representatives, of course.

Congressmen pay themselves $168,000 a year, an obscene pension and other very generous benefits. Their salary is 4 times the per capita icome of U.S. workers.

The Cato Institute's Chris Edwards tracks government compensation, and he finds that in 1950 the average federal bureaucrat received $1.19 for every dollar that a private employee earned. By 1990 that ratio had risen to $1.51, it is now --$2, for every dollar earned by a private employee.

In 2005 federal wages rose 5.8% compared to 3.3% in the private sector.

Federal pay has risen by 38%, from 2000-2005, two and one half times the 15% pay increase in private pay.

While it’s true, that many federal jobs, call for above average skills, the rewards are still proportionately higher than in the private sector.

Federal workers are virtually guaranteed a lifetime job, no matter what the economy is doing.

And how much skill, competency and dedication is demanded by superiors?

1 of every 5000 employees is fired for cause each year.

And, believe it or not--public-employee unions (a very powerful force in America) continue to say their members are underpaid.

What were GW's words about government "a dangerous servant and a fearful master"

These Unions want the Federal Aristocracy to grow ever more powerful.

Federal Aristocracy

Mr. Edwards related the following:

“one federal manager recently told us of an administrative assistant who missed work "about half the time" thanks to an assortment of ailments, sick children and funerals for a mother who died on three separate occasions.

When the agency heads finally fired her, they were slapped with an anti-discrimination lawsuit and the half-time worker pulling down a full-time salary was reinstated.”

Wealth is created in the private sector. There is no direct wealth created by government or government workers.

So do we in the private sector, want to say, “we are hiring you and paying your salary, so you deserve more compensation than we do.

Not just more compensation, twice as much.”

There are 93 million workers who at the end of each year pay a “net” tax. If federal civilian workers were paid the same as private sector workers each of the 93 million workers could have their taxes reduced by $1100.00.

And the momentum for higher federal pay is growing.

One of the biggest challenges facing the nation is bringing the federal government under control.

We need to start finding 25 year olds to run for the House of Representatives, who will take only half the salary to set an example and start scaling the federal government down to what it needs.

These young congressmen would still be making almost double today’s per capita income, plus hefty benefits and a great start in life.

They should also set a goal of reducing federal spending as a percentage of GDP over the next 5 years by a realistic, but bold amount.

Breaking down wages excluding benefits, the average federal civilian worker takes in $71,114, compared to $43,917 in the private sector.

From 1990 to 2006, the increase in average compensation for federal workers has been 129 percent, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

In the private sector, the increase has only been. 74%.

Rudy Giuliani is saying that 42% of the federal workforce will be retiring in the next 10 years and that he wants to re-hire only 50% of them.

That would be a super start to getting this out of control behemoth, the federal government under control.

Federal Aristocracy

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Chris Edwards is the Director of Tax Policy Studies at the Cato Institute

Federal Aristocracy

Below is his conclusion to the study:

Conclusions: Federal Aristocracy

In the near term, Congress should restrain federalcompensation by freezing federal wages for a period ofyears and examining fringe benefits programs for possible savings.

The Congressional Budget Office has proposed numerous savings ideas for federal retirement plans. In the longer term, the coming surge in federal worker retirement as baby boomers enter their sixties offers an opportunity to downsize federal agencies without problematic layoffs or buyouts.

As government air traffic controllers, space scientists, and others retire in coming years, these activities should be handed over to the private sector so that they can be better managed and have more efficient compensation policies.