Posted on 08/12/2010 8:38:35 AM PDT by toma29
Six-figure pensions. Impossible to be laid off or fired. Paid furloughs. Tons of vacation time. According to the media, these workers are the middle class.
From ABC News:
Civil Servants Find Themselves Cast in Unlikely Role -- Fat Cats
They are being cast that way because you only have to look at their salaries and pensions to deduce that.
Move over Wall Street traders -- seems there's a new vampire squid in town. Civil servants?Passage Tuesday of a controversial bill sending billions of dollars to states to shore up payrolls for public school teachers further stoked the debate over whether government employees, their unions and their benefits packages are bankrupting the country.
"[The bill] will make the teachers unions happy, but it won't make teaching in schools better," said Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., at a press conference Tuesday during which he and other Republican leaders criticized legislation earmarking $26 billion in aid for school districts and other state agencies.
Vampire squid? Btw, they are no longer civil servants. They are leeches.
"As a society, we meant well but we overpromised,"
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.usefulinfonation.com ...
The average public or government worker makes double what a private worker makes.....middle class my ass. Want to become a millionaire? Get a job as a public or government worker.... =.=
Just about everyone considers themselves middle-class, which is why the term is used over and over again without definition.
The leeches are sucking their hosts dry - it is already beyond that, but the general public remains ignorant.
Not in my case. I work in the education sector (IT Dept.) I make half of what I would be making in the private sector. The reason I do it is because I like to be a contributing element in the betterment of our children’s future.
It’s ironic when reading the various threads that when the Obamas call $250,000 rich we wail and moan, but when we talk about public emplyees who make less, they are not middle calss. Makes the head spin.
I filed for some permits for home improvements and now a city government worker is pestering me to hire him and his family members for projects. First he came on my property, flashed a police-looking badge, and said he is a city approved contractor. Obviously running a side business, he has way too much time on his hands. And the landscaping company that cuts my lawn is owned by a policeman. How many government workers have the time to run side businesses? The same one's putting in for $100k overtime every year because they can't get their jobs done?
Hmph! I thought that I was in the middle class, but NONE of that describes me and I have an MBA.
So, based on that description, I guess I am in the lower class. Which begs the question, "why am I paying taxes?"
An out of work private sector IT guy would likely be happy with about 80% of your current salary until he found something better or gets a few promotions.
I say cut every government workers’ salary by 50%, no matter what.
If it is so easy to get a gubmint job making six figures, then why doesn’t everybody do it?
So check out who owns the McMansions in your area and see how many cops, firemen and teachers live there. If you find they are loaded with civil service workers, then people need to kick their ass for not taking the tests and becoming one.
Not sure where you are getting your data to base your naive statement on... but you can reverse that trend here in North Carolina. State workers historically make 50-60% less than private sector personnel in the same jobs.
Also, our medical costs are beginning to climb tremendously with little to show for it, we’ve had NO pay-raises in the last 3 years and we expect to see furloughs for many shortly because of politically motivated budget cuts..
Yeah, we’re sitting fat, dumb and happy at the top of the food chain here doncha know?
Agreed. I've gotten into silly arguments with people over the term, some even throwing dollar figures at me as proof.
If you can lose your income tomorrow, you are not middle-class, my friend. You may have a middle-class "lifestyle" but you were only deceiving yourself.
(Try using lower middle-class and watch the brows furrow and the spittle fly.)
most do it the old-fashion goobermint way- retire at 50 and then get another govt job.
AKA “double dipping”
http://www.pensiontsunami.com/public.php
Pure BS. This is like saying the average lawyer makes 10 times the average Fry cook.
Does the average government equipment operator make double what the average private equipment operator makes?
Does a government lawyer make what a private lawyer makes?
Does a government engineer make what a private engineer makes?
This “double” number comes from the fact that you don’t have armies of burger flippers, chamber maids, lawn mowers, day care workers, counter clerks and countless other minimim wage workers in government. Since they don’t employ those classes except in very small numbers, government tends to be top heavy in more white collar work which is generally higher paying.
You have to look at the salaries regarding specific jobs, not just the totals. You are not comparing apples to apples.
If you still think the average government tractor operator earns double the average union (private) tractor operator, then post up their salaries for proof.
If you think the average government lawyer makes double the averge private lawyer, then post up their salaries for proof.
You are exactly right; what this really shows is that the government has succeeded with Pres. Bush’s initiative of privatizing blue collar jobs that could be done more cheaply by contract labor within the government.
A huge difference that I see in the SoCal beach communities between the 1970s and today, is that many of the people buying beach places today are government union people, like firemen.
1) excellent wages and benefits
2) nearly impregnable job security
3) gold plated retirement
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.