Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

smallest government in 45 years? (be ready for a talking point)
The Atlantic ^ | 8/3/2012 | Jordan Weissmann

Posted on 08/07/2012 7:20:58 AM PDT by HenryArmitage

Since the official end of the Great Recession, America's public sector has shrunk. And shrunk. And shrunk some more. We've said goodbye to about 600,000 government jobs, handing the economy a nasty self-inflicted wound in the process.

But how small has our public sector really become? Here's one way to think about it: Compared to our population, it hasn't been this size since 1968. Your dreams are coming true Baby Boomers. We're almost all the way back to the Summer of Love!

First, credit where it's due. The Hamilton Project has produced a beautiful graph illustrating the government employment to population ratio. As it shows, there are now fewer public sector employees per American than at any time dating back to the Carter administration (To be clear, we're talking state, federal, and local here). ...

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: 2012electionbias; dnctalkingpoints; obamasczars; pravdamedia; smallgovernment
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-28 last
To: catman67

When all costs are considered, the cost of Govt vs contractor are negligibly different.

But — you can fire or get rid of a contractor on a moment’s notice. You can end a contract tomorrow (termination for ocnvenience) and lose a lot of contractors all at once. Try firing a Government employee - impossible.


21 posted on 08/07/2012 8:30:38 AM PDT by USNA74
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: HenryArmitage

Quite right. State and local governments have had to cut back because of declining taxes. The federal government doesn’t have to.


22 posted on 08/07/2012 8:50:49 AM PDT by Daralundy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: HenryArmitage
Money spent is a far more accurate way to judge the scope and power of Gov.

...as well as rules and regualtions.

23 posted on 08/07/2012 8:54:00 AM PDT by BookmanTheJanitor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HenryArmitage
A little indirection going on here.

The size of government is more properly judged by HOW MUCH IT IS SPENDING.

By that measure, we have the largest government in the history of the world.

24 posted on 08/07/2012 8:57:31 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Government is the religion of the collectivists.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HenryArmitage
Out of curiosity, how many of those jobs lost were military?

And how much are we paying the people still around? Is the average salary higher? Are we dumping the low-income workers out into the streets to fend for themselves and keeping the bloated bureaucracy that should be able to find work elsewhere?

25 posted on 08/07/2012 9:48:50 AM PDT by Tanniker Smith (Rome didn't fall in a day, either.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HenryArmitage

So many things wrong with this incredibly slanted story.

First - what about the TOTAL number of people employed in ANY capacity by the Federal Government (including contracted labor)?

Second - From the “peak” of 2000-2001 to today, we have over half a million MORE Federal workers today! And this doesn’t include the jobs that have moved over to contractors. If you add in those former federal jobs that are not contracted out, the number of Federal employees would skyrocket.

But intellectual fraud is a hallmark of the media - and of these Leftist groups.

How about we also include as “employees of the Federal Government” the millions who live off of social programs!

And lets take it a step farther - in the last decade, what is the INCREASE in the number of those dependent in part, or totally, on government handouts?

I’m not talking about those who paid in to Social Security for a lifetime and are now receiving benefits - they earned those.


26 posted on 08/07/2012 9:58:01 AM PDT by TheBattman (Isn't the lesser evil... still evil?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HenryArmitage

Ah, thanks. Seems pretty meaningless, since you know those numbers will only be used in the context of the size of the federal government. I bet that if you factor out state and local government, as well as DoD workers, the size of the fedguv is bigger than ever.


27 posted on 08/07/2012 10:03:14 AM PDT by andyk (Go Juan Pablo!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: andyk

I would agree. That is why they lumped it all together. How many have noticed reduced services in your town. Less grass cut, less litter pickup and so forth. The locals can’t just print money to hire more workers. Check out the following video
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=xOAgT8L_BqQ&feature=player_embedded


28 posted on 08/07/2012 10:21:19 AM PDT by shoff (Vote Democratic it beats thinking!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-28 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson