I'll be the first to admit there are some government employees who are nothing more than oxygen thieves. But, Professor, do you really believe that payroll is the largest area of wasteful government spending? Or the most deserving target of spending cuts?
YES! In fact if you review business spending, the largest expense by far is employee payroll and benefits.
These are areas the unions excel at extracting more than they deserve.
Compensation of government employees is a major issue but there are many other major issues. Government employees receive much higher compensation than the private sector especially considering retirement benefits and job security. Government pay scales never decrease. Private sector compensation fluctuates. Retirement benefits for government employees are off the charts. The compensation value of the benefits is outrageous. Government employees think they have birthright to retire in their 50s with inflation protection, early retirement medical care, and high replacement income. I have finished two studies of retirement compensation for state government workers so I am very well informed about retirement benefits.
McCain called for a spending freeze at the federal government level. I think this was a sensible recommendation. Elimination of pay raises should be part of the solution for the short term. There are many other areas to review also so I am not focusing just on compensation. If you think that elimination of pay raises is not justified, try to find work in the private sector now.