Posted on 10/01/2013 4:19:36 AM PDT by Kaslin
While all eleven minutes of Obama’s apocalyptic “government shutdown” speech is well within the definition of “disingenuous”, there was one mundane comment that demands attention. The comment was more or less a throwaway line, aimed at illustrating the gravity of a government shutdown. Startling, the President uttered a fact during his 11 minutes of blaming Republicans. The Federal Government is, in fact, the largest employer in America.
“The federal government is America's largest employer” Obama reminded the press as he launched into a childish explanation of Keynesian economics. And now, some of those “non-essential” employees might be getting furloughed. (Inexplicably, Congress is still set to show up to work.)
Let’s put that into perspective:
Walmart has a stunning 2.2 million employees. The next largest employer is a Temp Agency – indicative of the part-time Obama-economy. . . But, the Federal government seems to be rolling right along -- with the capital raised from all those smaller businesses that independently produce wealth and innovation -- with well over 2.5 million Federal workers.
The Federal Government, unlike Walmart or any other private enterprise, is unaccountable to business models, market concerns, or even customer satisfaction. After all, where else can one take their business if they are unsatisfied with the level of harassment they receive from the IRS? And while the government, no doubt, has a large number of “essential” personnel, their quality of service (not to mention their constitutionally limited size) hardly merit over 2.5 million workers. (Although, in all fairness, Obamaphones are a far greater deal for consumers than anything at Walmart.)
Furthermore, the Federal workforce is not exactly indispensable contributors to the nation’s economic health. That’s not to say that many of them hold indispensable responsibilities that are essential to the continuation of any civilized society. . . But they are not net contributors to the nation’s economic growth. (Hehehe. . . I’m giving John Maynard Keynes a posthumous mini-stroke.) While it is true, as the President outlined in his speech (and Keynes argued to a fault), that these employees spend their hard earned paychecks at various businesses throughout their communities, they are not creating wealth with their hard earned labor.
After all, where did they get their money come from? The US Treasury? Where did the Treasury get the money to pay these dedicated 2.5 million workers? (Those are rhetorical questions, but for the sake of clarity here’s your answer: the private sector.) The money that is spent at the mom-and-pop grocery store by a government employee, was first taken from another mom-and-pop grocery store through taxation. To argue that wealth is created by taking money from the private sector (who arguably could have invested it wiser than our all-knowing Federal Government), and giving it to public sector employees (who may-or-may-not be members of a burdensome regulatory agency) is not sound theory for economic discussions.
And with our fractional reserve banking system, even if it had remained in the bank we would still have seen the Keynesian “multiplier” effect as the bank made loans based off their reserves.
In other words: regardless of their necessity, Federal employees are not largely beneficial to the economic growth of the nation. After all, if they were, why doesn’t the government simply hire all the nation’s unemployed to complete mundane tasks? Unemployment, and our anemic economic recovery, would be a thing of the past – according to Keynesians like Obama. And don’t worry, I’m not giving the Liberals in DC any new ideas. (They probably wouldn’t make it to this paragraph anyway.)
So while the furlough of a Federal Worker (who will likely get back-pay for their time away from work) might be heartbreaking to some along the DC beltway, it is hardly the end of the world. . . Or even the government. To the extent that a government shutdown will place inconveniences or burdens upon private industry, it should be a sign of the government’s overreaching involvement in our lives.
The accidental “fact” that Obama read from his prepared remarks is yet another demonstrable indication of government growth in the modern era. Businesses of all sizes, have had to evaluate what personnel are needed, or not needed, and make the regrettable choice to tighten their ranks. Dedicated employees, of private businesses, have seen their hours cut and their jobs jeopardized by an increasingly burdensome web of regulatory framework. And yet, Washington is panicking over the prospect of being incapable of legally borrowing enough money to fund their growth.
In a truly free nation, such a shutdown should go largely unnoticed. But something tells me this was not the train of thought Obama was looking for when he casually mentioned the enormity of the Federal government.
No that had to be wrong
I am told we are a wealthy country and we can absorb many millions of illegal aliens who don’t even have to careaboutthis country
And that we can provide free medical care for everyone
The Federal government is not an employer it is overhead. No real company could exist financially with 50+% overhead, which is part of the reason the country is dying.
Tucked inside of my FR profile page is a statement that I’ve had there since 1998.
The only amendment required to return control of our government back to the people.
Amendment XXVIII (28th.)
The government of the people, and by the people, shall not write or allow any law, directive, or regulation that shall cause, or require , any citizen or entity to purchase or utilize the products, methods, or services of any entity or individual.
D.C.H 1998
While FEMA was still “gearing up” to respond to Hurricane Ike, Walmart was giving away ie and water at their Galveston County stores.
That's a nice, concise point for public consumption. One could make the case that explaining Galileo's "scale effects" would make people realize the galloping gigantism of FedGov - or specifically Obamacare - is unsustainable, but it's too arcane for the American public. Your illustration is understandable, and that's what is needed.
Mr. niteowl77
Transation: The federal government is America’s largest, most expensive, and most profligate waster of your money.
The irony:
the government shutdown is still about as porous as the secured border.
The wastrel is not an asset to your family and has no redeeming social or personal characteristics...and will always BE the boat anchor around your neck!
Federal government employees, in the aggregate, earn well above the national median salary. They are a powerful, well-funded, and leisure-rich interest group in favor of ever-expanding government power and spending. Then there are their counterparts in State and local governments, ditto ditto.
In the bad old days of Soviet Russia, everyone had an important government job, Comrade.
Need to add something about “Nor shall Congress exempt itself from any existing or future Federal Law.”
A lot of you are going to have to make decisions above your level. Make the best decision that you can with the information that’s available to you at the time, and, above all, do the right thing.
Walmart CEO Lee Scott
message to employees as Katrina approached
Thank God Wal-Mart isn’t shutdown. That would really hurt.
I believe that was one of the items in the "Contract with America" and passed in 1995/
Let me look it up.
First, they made all the laws that applied to the rest of the country apply to Congress itself; this indicated that Congressmen should be treated like other citizens and not remain a privileged elite, often immune from the consequences of the very laws they imposed on the rest of the country.
Not that Congress would really OBEY the laws of the Land.
Yep, nearly fell out of my chair when he said that but didn't because I knew it was the sad truth. Good, shut it down. Pink slip 80% of them and it'd still be too large.
I love Walmart. One fantastic company. Tough as nails.
Even they’ve been forced to kneel at the throne in the last five years or so.
It’s that, or the Feds will put you out of business. They don’t care how big, important, or vital you are.
Ask John Mack, “Your most important client is the United States Government.”
Jamie Dimon is LIVING this right now. Opens his mouth, and Holder hammers him with an $11B suit on stuff that happened BEFORE he bought Bear Stearns.
This must be what Europe was like in 1930.
Some from the taxpayers and some from loans from the Red Chinese. My company did business with the Red Chinese over a decade ago. Even way back then, they were energetically downsizing their massive bureaucracy and encouraging them to find work in the private sector. Those who had successfully made the shift turned into some of the best capitalists on the planet. I kid you not.
Bush had to sell bonds to the Chinese.
Baraq just has Bernanke and Lew create the fake dough electronically.
The Founding Fathers would have approved of this??
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