Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why is it matter if it is page 6 or 60. High wage or low wage? The point is, the government need to downsize. When the country is 14 trillion dollars in debt, then they need to cut down the debt instead of increasing it.
Downsize sure. Cut the wages of people without proving they are making too much is another matter.
A good way to judge if the person bitching about what we pay government employees knows what they are at all talking about is to ask them to form an opinion on what we pay Foreign Service Officers.
So lets have it. What do you think about what we pay FSOs?
Most of those start at $34k.
And many of them are in the DC area.
You should always look at the exceptions, and only the exceptions; that's a great way to start discourse.
These jobs were around during the Bush administration.
Didn't hear you whine then.
Oh yeah, couldn't be partisan if that were the case.
stupid spending wasn't quite so much an issue at the time of Bush, considering the national debt was just over half of what it is now.
Bush doubled the debt and sent deficits soaring. You either are against spending or you are not. Please don't try and rationalize something that is clearly irrational with us.
As I listed with factcheck.org, none of the studies done are valid. The government is working to undergo a new study, such as the one done in the 1990s, that does a true comparison. Until then, none of these studies on either side are worth anything and CERTAINLY not any that are performed by two organizations that are on the payroll of Republicans. You cannot make decisions to cut people's salaries and benefits until an honest study is done.
I know you really WANT to believe the federal workers are overpaid and others WANT to believe they are underpaid. Right now, no one can really determine what is fact.
And these days, I will agree, that benefits in the public sector "might" outpace private because the corporations have stripped their employees down to bare bones (unless you are up at the top).
A federal worker no longer gets a pension.
They get a 401K plan
The get 4 hours of annual leave plus 4 hours of sick leave per pay period--this does increse with time in service.
The get the employer to pay for some of their insurance premiums. A single policy is running the employee about $75 per pay period and a family policy is closer to $200 per pay period.
Not as good as the private company I left but better than what a lot of people get.
Sick leave never increases from 4 hours per pay period.
The insurance gets increased annually; I believe a single now pays around $85/pay period.
You're right, instead of holding private industry accountable, they want to hit the people who took lower wages over the decades for security/holiday time.
If these jobs are so lucrative, why aren't these people applying?
I think anyone that has lived in the DC area can tell you that they know many people that seem to have pretty cushy careers working for the government / military. Many of them retire at very early ages, have ridiculous amounts of built up sick leave and vacation days, and seem to be pretty well off ... when compared to their civilian counterparts.
The discrepancies tend to be a lot larger when you compare some of the mid-level types of jobs the government comes up with, and what the employees are actually doing on a daily basis. (ie; admin assistants, secretaries, warehouse workers, security guards, clerks, middle management, etc.).
They often become real obvious when you actually interact with these government workers, and find yourself wondering how in the world they keep upgrading their pay level every few years ... when you wouldn't even entrust them to park your car or balance your checkbook.
I'm not saying there aren't a lot of hard working, intelligent folks in our government ... but once again, if you've ever lived around the DC area, you probably know what I'm talking about.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
