Free Republic

The federal government fired 0.55% of its workers in the budget year that ended Sept. 30 — 11,668 employees in its 2.1 million workforce. Research shows that the private sector fires about 3% of workers annually for poor performance, says John Palguta, former research chief at the federal Merit Systems Protection Board, which handles federal firing disputes. The 1,800-employee Federal Communications Commission and the 1,200-employee Federal Trade Commission didn’t lay off or fire a single employee last year. The SBA had no layoffs, six firings and 17 deaths in its 4,000-employee workforce. When job security is at a premium, the...

EW ORLEANS, La. – The American Enterprise Institute, a D.C.-based think tank, recently released a working paper which finds that federal employees receive a salary premium of 14 percent, a benefits premium of 63 percent, and extra job security worth 17 percent of pay. That makes the total federal compensation premium approximately 61 percent. The study’s authors estimate that if federal employee compensation was reduced to private levels, taxpayers could save $77 billion per year. The BEA website highlights four factors that contribute to the wage disparity. First, private sector employee salaries range from minimum wage workers to the highest...

Republican leaders in Congress think so, and they are calling for an overhaul of the entire federal pay system to help slash government spending. Democrats and other defenders of the government work force say federal workers are actually underpaid compared with their private counterparts. A closer look at the data shows that both sides have a point but that supporters of federal workers are a bit closer to reality.... That argument is backed up by a 2002 study of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. It found that federal salaries for most professional and administrative jobs lagged well behind compensation offered...

When the Wisconsin General Assembly voted to pass Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill, the Democratic legislators made themselves indistinguishable from the protesters surrounding the assembly floor. They wore the same pro-union orange T-shirts. They behaved in the same sophomoric way, breaking out in a noisy demonstration. They chanted the same ubiquitous word: "Shame!" They might as well have brought guitars onto the floor for a Woody Guthrie sing-along and touted "Walker = Hitler" signs. In Wisconsin, it's less that Democrats act to protect a special interest than that they belong to a special interest. A complete identification has long...

<p>“I'm sure the President knows that most federal employees do not have collective bargaining for wages and benefits while our plan allows it for base pay. And I'm sure the President knows that the average federal worker pays twice as much for health insurance as what we are asking for in Wisconsin. At least I would hope he knows these facts.</p>

Obama Administration Encourages Federal Workers to Stay Home to Lessen Carbon Footprint on Nation’s Capital (CNSNews.com) - Thousands of federal workers stayed home for at least some part of this week after pledging through teleworkexchange.com not to commute to work to mark Telework Week, Feb. 14-18.The Web site, which acts as a platform for federal agencies and other interested parties to promote and implement telecommuting, claims that 39,141 people – much of them federal workers in the D.C. metro area – pledged to work at least some of the five-day workweek from home. The amount “saved” by cutting commuting costs...

Today Barack Obama froze the pay for overpaid federal employees today...Federal workers make twice as much as workers in the private sector...Lock it in!

Earlier this morning, I noted that President Obama's proposal to freeze the pay of federal employees (excluding the military) for two years wouldn't have much impact on the debt. Now we have more specifics. In his press conference, Obama claimed that the move would save the government $28 billion over five years. Taking that number at face value, that would represent a sixth-tenths of one percent reduction in the projected $4.52 trillion deficit over that same period (2011 through 2015). [Snip] To demonstrate this visually, I put together a pie chart.

NOTE The following text is a quote: Acquisition Reform Plays Key Role in Pentagon’s Cost Savings By Lisa Daniel American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, July 15, 2010 – The Defense Department has the opportunity to save billions of taxpayer dollars through acquisitions reform, but only if it grows its workforce with the right federal workers in place to oversee contracts, a senior Pentagon official said today. “There is a significant opportunity to save billions of dollars, but only if we have a well-trained and sufficient workforce,” Shay Assad, the acting director of the department’s procurement and acquisition policy, said during...

Don't call it Chevy. General Motors leaders are asking Chevrolet employees to refrain from the shorthand etched in America's consciousness for decades. Or, as the New York Times put it, "If General Motors has its way, you won't be driving your Chevy to the levee ever again." The Times quoted this company memo sent Tuesday: "We'd ask that whether you're talking to a dealer, reviewing dealer advertising, or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate our brand as Chevrolet moving forward. "When you look at the most recognized brands throughout the world, such as Coke or Apple, for instance,...

Even as the Feds sanctimoniously ban Wall Street executives from receiving end-of-the-year bonuses, the government of D.C. rewarded its employees with a hefty one...to the tune of $15 million bucks. And for what? D.C. is one of the most mismanaged metro areas in the nation, squandering untold millions of dollars each year, even spending itself into oblivion during a recession. That was not enough, however, to prevent D.C. from rewarding its incompetent employees with millions in taxpayer-provided loot.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Before he was elected as the incoming U.S. president, Barack Obama spelled out his goals for change at seven government agencies in letters to federal workers, the Washington Post reported on Monday. The letters, all but one written on October 20, were Obama's effort at "wooing federal employee votes on the eve of the election" on November 4, the newspaper said. They reveal a candidate adeptly tailoring his message to a federal audience and tapping into many workers' dismay at funding and staffing cuts in the Bush years, the Post said. The letters describe Obama's intention to...

December 12, 2002 Dear Parents/Guardians: We have been asked to complete an IMPACT AID SURVEY form for the District. This survey is needed to identify those children whose parents/guardians are employed on federal property, or are members of the uniformed armed services on December 17, 2002. This information is confidential. Please call the office by December 16th if you are employed at one of the facilities below: . . . (lists approved federal facilities in the Pittsburgh region) Postal employees or FBI employees are *not to be listed.*

Why a Flexible Homeland Security Agency is Critical to Our National Defense September 25, 2002 1. After September 11, 2001, the Customs Service wanted to require its inspectors at the 301 ports of entry to wear radiation detection pagers to help detect attempts to import nuclear or radiological materials across our borders. The National Treasury Employees Union objected, saying that wearing the pagers should be voluntary, and sought to invoke collective bargaining over the issue, which would (under the best of circumstances) have taken at least a year to resolve. In the end the union backed down, and the Customs...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) --  More than half the explosive-detection machines now at airports are not being fully used to screen checked baggage, even as the government plans to buy hundreds more of the minivan-sized equipment, the Transportation Department said Thursday.</p> <p>Inspector General Kenneth Mead said the machines should screen at least 1,250 bags a day, but only 12 of 138 machines are reaching that level. Transportation Security Administration head John Magaw acknowledged the problem and said it would be fixed as trained federal baggage screeners replace private employees.</p>

<p>MIDDLETOWN, R.I. — Two top employees of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center have been replaced for allegedly misusing personal time.</p> <p>Patricia K. Dolan, a spokeswoman at the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, told The Providence Journal that Jeurgen G. Keil and John E. Sirmalis abused personal time that was taken for reported religious reasons.</p>