[tanknetter]

Cutting government salaries and benefits is a major part of the deficit ocean.

Per information in another thread this morning "Federal workers would face a freeze on "federal salaries, bonuses, and other compensation at non-Defense agencies for three years," saving $15.1 billion. Pentagon civilians would take the same hit, for a $5.3 billion savings." and "The federal workforce would be cut by 10 percent, about 200,000 people, by hiring only two workers for every three who leave federal service. That would save $13.2 billion."

So, all told, those measures would save about $35 Billion (a year, I assume). Yes, a good chunk of money, but given that our annual deficit has been around $1.8 Trillion it's a drop in the ocean rather than a major one ... only about 2%.

Even Defense spending is a small piece of the pie. The only real way to cut the deficit and debt, given where we're going in the next several decades, is going to be to raise taxes in a major way, or take a scythe to the big entitlement programs (major reductions and means testing for Social Security, cuts and stepped up counter-fraud enforcement for Medicare and Medicaid).

[Sam Clements]

There are getting to be comments suggesting that govt pay cuts would be too insignificant to deal with the govt spending problem. There is also a chorus that what is really needed are big tax increases and gutting of social secutity. BS on all of this. Payroll costs including wages and benefits MUST be attacked and headcount MUST come down. The $1.8 trillion deficit includes wasteful stimulus spending and effects of tax receipt shortfall during the recession. Republicans will make sure stimulus as practiced by Zero don’t happen again. Tax cuts, not tax increases, will help right the economy and then receipts will increase and some govt expenditures to subsidize unemployeed people and underwater govt entities will actually go down. The idea that social security will be drastically reduced is bogus. Retirement ages will be tweaked as will future benefit increases. Everyone knows that drastic reductions in social security is a non starter and is only used to scare voters like the democRATS did during the Bush administration.

Cutting govt salaries, benefits, and headcount is so important out of a basic sense of fairness to private business and private employees, who afterall pay 100% of taxes. Our country needs to finish the debate between big govt and small govt and small has to win if we are to have a future as the greatest country on the face of the earth.

I see the term govt contractors discussed. If we are talking about outsourcing some functions which were previously handled by overpaid and inefficient govt employees, I’m in total favor of this. If we are talking about hiding govt workers by calling them contract employees and using this to manipulate budget line items, then this is not acceptable. Hopefully in the not too distant future there will be an inversion and more govt functions will be handled by private industry and govt bureaucrats will be drastically reduced and compensated at lower levels. Any suggestion that reductions in govt outlays for salaries and benefits will be too small to do any good is simply ridiculous. Look at the results of last week’s election. Why do we suppose that democRATS were handed their heads?