When Billions Aren't Real Money

IBD Editorials ^ | September 2, 2009 | INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY Staff

[Kaslin]

Washington: The White House is using the president's executive powers to scale back pay raises for federal employees. Instead of 2.4%, they'll now get 2%. Budget problem solved? Not even close.

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In an era when the budget deficit — nearing $1.58 trillion — and debt — $11.8 trillion — are at all-time highs, when it looks as if the expanding federal apparatus will soon swallow the entire nation, the administration found $2.7 billion in spending cuts.

Technically, it's not a cut. Instead of funding $22.6 billion for 2.4% cost-of-living allowances for 2010, the taxpayers will be responsible for providing $19.9 billion to pay for a 2% COLA. It's just a small restraint on raises.

Sure, $2.7 billion is a much bigger savings than the $100 million in cuts the administration recently wrung out of the 2009 budget. But that's like saying a pebble is bigger than a grain of sand when the real problem ahead is a series of large mountains.

The hardworking taxpayers who pay federal salaries should be outraged by the administration's inconsequential curb on pay raises. With the economy still struggling and the jobless rate at almost 10%, hiring freezes, pay freezes and firings are common across the private sector.

Yet civilian federal workers, who are almost impossible to fire for poor performance, are still getting raises on top of deals that are far better than those of their counterparts in the private sector.

[Kaslin]

[maica]

The federal workers? Some are necessary. But the country does not need 1.9 million employees taking federal paychecks that average nearly $120,000 a year. We'd all be better off if a large portion of them were forced to find productive jobs in the private sector.

305000000 = 160.5
001900000

That means one Federal employee earning $120,000 for every 160 Americans. Shall we add State employees and Local authority employees who are in that wage bracket, and then wonder why the bank of government is broken?