I do hate government unions.
I agree with much you said....70 percent might be a bit much but 40-50 percent I can get on board with. There is a bunch of government workers that have been in so long that if they all left it actually would cost a fortune in retirement benefits. I think that is how they are ultimately going to cut government is not replace people who retire. The number of government workers between 60-85 is UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!! Seriously. Sometimes at the Academy, I think I am working at a geriatric facility and I am not exaggerating that at all.
Our home office is like that too. We have stroke victims, wheel chairs, and one guy who rolls around on a little low dolly with his ass way up in the air. Some kind of hunchback issue.. I feel bad for the guy, but he was eligible to retire 10 or more years ago and he still rollin around.
I think that is how they are ultimately going to cut government is not replace people who retire.
Some the agencies we deal with are now starting furloughs for the existing workforce. Yet theses same agencies are hiring scores of interns, starting at the GS-7/9 levels. Attending various debriefings, was amazed at the twenty/thirty somethings in attendance. Personnel eligible to retire did NOT approximate the number of 'interns'.