Outrage: Federal employees make almost twice that of private sector employees.
USA Today's fine reporting has unearthed a troubling trend, it would appear that there is indeed a recession proof industry and this industry is the government where six figure salaries have exploded. While the trend of America's free market system moves rapidly towards corporate fascism and domestic socialism, the seat of government is transforming into a Soviet style conglomerate where the best and most lucrative jobs can be found.
During this recession the average salary of a federal employee has gone up 6.6% to $71,208 while the private sector went up only 3.9% to $40,331. Don't feel too impinged though, because state and local government employees' salaries also went up 3.9% although even they have higher average salaries at $54,101. It gets worse though.
As they say, the rich do get richer the federal government appears to be a booming business. But that is not all, not only has the average pay jumped, but so has the hiring. As of June the Federal government hired 192,700 people a 9.8% increase while the private sector is still at -7.3 million jobs lost. The disparity between salaries, raises and overall hiring is alarming.
The biggest problem of course is that the federal government along with state and local provide services. They do not produce or manufacture anything and they do not add to the domestic output of the country. They are essentially dead weight that needs to be supported on the back of taxpayers, a group that is rapidly shrinking and becoming rapidly discouraged from seeking work. After all, why are we slaving away? To pay six figure salaries of the folks at the Transportation Department? A department that could very well be shut down entirely?
The bottom line is simple. There should be reason what so ever why government employees make more than the average private sector employee. There should be reason why an individual seeking work should be more enticed to become a government worker because pay and benefits are more attractive and there should be NO reason for wages to go up in a recession. A recession is a period of contraction where poor investments and bad choices are liquidated and paid for - instead it has turned into a period of government largess. There is yet another sad consequence of this development, a permanent expansion of a committed voting base whose only purpose and desire is to expand and grow the government even further.
During this recession the average salary of a federal employee has gone up 6.6% to $71,208 while the private sector went up only 3.9% to $40,331. Don't feel too impinged though, because state and local government employees' salaries also went up 3.9% although even they have higher average salaries at $54,101. It gets worse though.
The highest-paid federal employees are doing best of all on salary increases. Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available.
When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000.
As they say, the rich do get richer the federal government appears to be a booming business. But that is not all, not only has the average pay jumped, but so has the hiring. As of June the Federal government hired 192,700 people a 9.8% increase while the private sector is still at -7.3 million jobs lost. The disparity between salaries, raises and overall hiring is alarming.
The biggest problem of course is that the federal government along with state and local provide services. They do not produce or manufacture anything and they do not add to the domestic output of the country. They are essentially dead weight that needs to be supported on the back of taxpayers, a group that is rapidly shrinking and becoming rapidly discouraged from seeking work. After all, why are we slaving away? To pay six figure salaries of the folks at the Transportation Department? A department that could very well be shut down entirely?
The bottom line is simple. There should be reason what so ever why government employees make more than the average private sector employee. There should be reason why an individual seeking work should be more enticed to become a government worker because pay and benefits are more attractive and there should be NO reason for wages to go up in a recession. A recession is a period of contraction where poor investments and bad choices are liquidated and paid for - instead it has turned into a period of government largess. There is yet another sad consequence of this development, a permanent expansion of a committed voting base whose only purpose and desire is to expand and grow the government even further.
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