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.
It is true that GS-9 and below government employees make more than their civilian counterparts but as you get into the higher ranks the government employees start making less than their civillian counterparts. Most of those "fat cats" you describe around DC would make a great deal more doing the same job in a private corporation. They choose to stay in government primarily because of job security. It is a trade-off, one generally made during boom times when everyone else is going for the higher pay in the private sector. Government secretaries, security guards, clerks, janitors, daycare workers, and other jobs with low qualifications, on the other hand, make far more than their civilian counterparts. The federal government has the lowest wage gap between the highest and lowest paid employees than probably any other employer in our nation.
Absolutely right. There is no shortage of underperformers in the lower GS ranks, but in GS 11 and above (approximately) the degree of dedication goes up as the salaries become lower in comparison to private sector pay. That is why so many young professionals see govt work as a place to get some experience -- "getting their govt ticket punched" -- before moving on to higher paying private sector jobs.
Why is it good to fire federal workers but bad to eliminate factory jobs? Aren't they all jobs?
People on the federal payroll are playing the game with house money. Employees and entrepreneurs in the private sector created the wealth and income from which the taxes were derived in order to make the public sector jobs possible. People employed by goverment don't have to create something out of nothing, make a profit doing it, then pay a portion of that profit to various levels of government. The economic activity heavy lifting that provides the financial wherewithal to pay government employees at all levels ultimately comes from the private sector. When it comes to the basic economic activity that enables a government employee to collect his/her paycheck, it's probably the only instance where B. Hussein Obama would have been correct when he said (and if he had been addressing government employees,) "You didn't build that! You didn't make that happen! Somebody else made that happen!"
The government, of course, has no money of its own. What money it has to spend originated from private business activity which yields the tax revenue to finance those government jobs. Which is not to say that there aren't important government jobs that need doing, or that there isn't a need for government in general. But it is in the overall interest of a market-oriented economy to maximize the number of jobs in the private (productive) sector, while minimizing the number in the public (non-productive) sector.
The difference between a private sector job and a public sector job is that the former tends to increase aggregate wealth, while the latter tends to consume (and in some instances, waste) it.
Amazon's success has given new life to the USPS, including weekend delivery.
And no, private drone delivery is not going to replace traditional delivery services.
...couldn't we just instigate a little biding war between UPS,Fed Ex or whoever in the private sector to do this very same thing? To the highest bidder or split it up just like that government did with Conrail to Norfolk Southern and CSX RR use the money by start paying down our nation debt. Face it with online bill payments and such all the USPS delivers here are fliers and coupons....the Mailman gripes about this at certain times of the year.
The IRS is second on my list as is the Dept. of Education,the Welfare offices ... hell the welfare office here is nicer than the city or county buildings and is the cottage industry of laziness.
Wouldn't be surprised that there is thousands of dollars worth of art work there like at the VA offices hospitals...there is another one needing reform and the priority list for our Veterans God Bless them!
Absolutely right. There is no shortage of underperformers in the lower GS ranks, but in GS 11 and above (approximately) the degree of dedication goes up as the salaries become lower in comparison to private sector pay. That is why so many young professionals see govt work as a place to get some experience -- "getting their govt ticket punched" -- before moving on to higher paying private sector jobs.
It depends on what private contractors you're talking about. Ever since BRAC started, in 1988, more and more military functions have been handled by private contractors at higher cost.
Please note the year.
Halliburton was one of the companies which benefitted, mostly because it was the only one with the capabilities to handle the tasks. Which you find at all levels of government.
BRAC did not start in 1988.That was the Carlucci Commision. The actual BRAC started in 1990.The last BRAC was in 2005 ,none was done during the Obama administration!
BRAC did not start in 1988.That was the Carlucci Commision. The actual BRAC started in 1990.The last BRAC was in 2005 ,none was done during the Obama administration!
I didn't say it was during the Obama Administration. You dumped it onto the GW Bush years when it actually stretched across three Administrations with the bulk coming in the latter years of Clinton.
Come back and tell us how happy you are when you have to spend a half-day in some office for something that once required one hour to do.
When the water in your kitchen sink is too polluted to drink anymore, who you gonna call, if the guy who kept the water clean lost his job and was never replaced? Is that a cushy job? Or an essential one?
Or both, since clean water chemistry is kinda technical and requires some training and those who have it are hard to hire on the cheap? Want to try to clean the benzine out of your drinking water yourself?
Federal, state, county and city employees' numbers had all the fat cut away from them in the Bush administration, and the Bush Recession cut the numbers down to the bone.
If you think a federal grunt job, which is the majority of the jobs, pays 6 figures a year, think again.
Those days are gone for good. If you think losing some more top administrators- those who do make those salaries- is going to make the bureaucracy more efficient, you had better think again about that too.
Those few are the ones who had the executive skills needed to keep their jobs in 2008, when the sluff-offs were getting the axe.
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.
like at the VA offices hospitals...there is another one needing reform and the priority list for our Veterans God Bless them!
