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EDITORIAL
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A common retort from those defending the generous compensation packages and iron-clad job security enjoyed by government workers is that these employees could easily earn far more for comparable work in the private sector.
Really?
A USA Today analysis of federal data -- published Friday -- found that in more than 80 percent of job categories, "federal employees earn higher average salaries than private-sector workers."
And this doesn't include the value of pensions and benefits. According to the review, federal worker pension and benefits averaged almost $41,000 per employee in 2008, vs. less than $10,000 per private worker.
Even those on the high end of the wage scale do well in the public sector. Surgeons on the federal payroll made an average of $176,050 compared to the $177,102 earned by the average private-sector cutter. For attorneys, the comparison was similar: $123,660 in the government job vs. $126,763 in the real world. Toss in benefits and guess who comes out ahead?
In fact, the "federal pay premium cut across all job categories -- white-collar, blue-collar, management, professional, technical and low skill," the newspaper reports.
Nor was this finding limited to the federal government. While state government workers earn about 5 percent less on average than those in comparable private-sector positions, they come out ahead when benefits and pensions are added.
Meanwhile, city and county workers earn an average 2 percent more than those with similar jobs in the private sector -- and again enjoy far superior benefits.
The problem of runaway public-sector compensation is reaching the boiling point, as states and local governments struggle with budget deficits and demand that the private sector contribute more and more to keep the party going.
The day of reckoning looms. After all, who's working for whom?
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I think people would be a little easier on government employees if they had to live by the same rules as the rest of us. Child molesting teachers that are still in the classroom, holocaust deniers still teaching, drug addicts still on the fire department payroll, sexual deviants still on fire dept. payroll, etc. and on and on and on and on and on.............. Even if these people "resign' they still get their huge benefits, health care, pensions, balloon payments. Man, what a racket.
Firehawk (KKK Repupublican),
Could you please STOP it with the Socialism name-calling?
You don't even know what socialism is!!!
LOL
The cadre of career pols presently ensconced @ 1600 PennAve are out to grab a trillion bucks of "health-care" air-money and use it to hire 1,000,000 new bureaucrats--new dues-paying Democrat/Socialist members for AFL-CIO.
The largest union in the AFL-CIO is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), with more than a million members. Big Labor killed U.S. industry. Big Labor is killing U.S. government. Obama & Co (along with Andy Stern) are in town to grease the skids for their buddies @ AFL-CIO.
Read more here: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Public-sector-unions-bleed-taxpayers-to-help-Dems-83652517.html#ixzz0f0mnc7dU
Read even more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704320104575015010515688120.html
Even with the failure of Socialism in California and Europe staring them in the face, absolutely everything Obama & Co. are doing is aimed at creating more government jobs for AFL-CIO. Look it up: Executive Order 10988 signed by JFK in 1962. EO#10988 allowed public employees/bureaucrats to join AFL-CIO and bargain collectively. Why? Bureaucrats then already had Civil Service protection. The Obama Administration is doing everything it can do to increase the number of jobs available to AFL-CIO bureaucrats. With Obama & Company leading the way, organizing government employees is Big Labor's last hope.