[1010RD]

That is what makes me suspect that a lot of the government payroll deduction is actually being shifted to contractors and perhaps at a higher price.

[expat_panama]

GDP came in at 0.1% --here's how the good positive upbeat news is reported (from here):

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

BEA: Real GDP increased at 0.1% Annualized Rate in Q1

by Bill McBride on 4/30/2014 08:30:00 AM

 

From the BEA: Gross Domestic Product: First Quarter 2014 (advance estimate)
 

Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the first quarter (that is, from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014), according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
...
The increase in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected a positive contribution from personal consumption expenditures (PCE) that was partly offset by negative contributions from exports, private inventory investment, nonresidential fixed investment, residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased.

--and compare that take to how they reported the beginning of  THE GREAT RECESSION (from here):

Q4 GDP Plummets to .6%

By Kimberly Amadeo January 30, 2008

The BEA reported that the advance U.S. GDP growth for Q4 2007 plummeted to .6% from an 4.9% in Q3, and 3.9% in Q2. The total GDP for the year was 2.2%, down from the 2006 growth rate of 2.9%. The decline in growth was due to the housing market slowdown and related weak consumer spending. (Source: GDP News Release)

Coincidentally, it is the exact same number as GDP growth in Q1 2007. The last time GDP was that low was in Q1 2003, the tail-end of the last recession. A healthy growth rate is about 2-3%. For a review of the most recent GDP reports, see GDP Current Statistics.

[expat_panama]

...government payroll deduction is actually being shifted to contractors and perhaps at a higher price...

Agreed that we see a problem of sweetheart deals in 'sole-source' contracts breeding political paybacks, but most competitive bid contracts make costs much less as the private sector can get the job done sooo much better than gov't employees can.