Posted on 12/24/2016 10:29:05 AM PST by boycott
The federal government employs 2.1 million civilian workers in hundreds of agencies at offices across the nation.1 The federal workforce imposes a substantial burden on America's taxpayers. In 2016 wages and benefits for executive branch civilian workers cost $267 billion.2
Since the 1990s, federal workers have enjoyed faster compensation growth than private-sector workers. In 2015 federal workers earned 76 percent more, on average, than private-sector workers.3 Federal workers earned 42 percent more, on average, than state and local government workers.4 The federal government has become an elite island of secure and high-paid employment, separated from the ocean of average Americans competing in the economy.
Spurred by the large budget deficits of recent years, policymakers have trimmed the growth in federal wages. In particular, they imposed a partial freeze on federal wages from 2011 to 2013, which saved billions of dollars. To find further savings, policymakers should turn their attention to the generous benefit packages received by federal workers. They should also reduce the overall size of the federal workforce by terminating low-value programs.
(Excerpt) Read more at downsizinggovernment.org ...
I took a 30% pay cut to take care of soldiers. Military depends on it’s government employees to keep the machine running.
I chose to do what I am doing because I wanted to give a little back to the military. If they cut my pay anymore, I’ll need to do something else, still have a family to take care of.
Not an Executive Order, a law —Federal Labor Relations Act — that Congress could abolish or amend by doing away with representation time, grievance procedure and other unnecessary provisions.
That’ll create a revolving door for fully vested in federal bennies so no thanks. Make it shorter, not fully vested with exceptions requiring public review and approvals subject to periodic review. That’ll slow it down.
First, fire half of the federal workforce.
Second, abolish federal pensions for new hires. Give them 401K accounts like the rest of us. Let them know that their own retirements are dependent upon a healthy US private sector.
Ockham’s razor or Gordion’s knot: no, not “cut them loose”.
Amortize-out their useless agencies over the next few years.
Privatize and contract-out for anything we actually need.
Drain Foggy Bottom.
“Before Federal employment became an alternative to welfare, it took some brains to get a gov’t job. At least in the intelligence sector where I worked. Today, not so much.”
I took early retirement when first eligible and available. Too much diversity nonsense.
Patriots, please keep in mind that the states have never expressly constitutionally authorized probably most of the agencies that federal employees work for.
But that’s why patriots “hired” Trump. When patriots help Trump drain the federal swamp, he needs to put a stop to unconstitutional federal taxes being used to fund unconstitutional federal agencies.
“Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States.” —Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
”From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added].” —United States v. Butler, 1936.
After unconstitutonal federal taxes are stopped then the states will probably find a tsunami of new revenues that they won’t know what to do with. And Trump can work with the states to use a part of those revenues to create jobs for former federal workers.
Thanks for this info. Should be published on at least page 2 of every American newspaper and featured on TV. The Federal Employee Unions should be called upon to justify what we see here before any further increases and/or judicious cutting.
These fat Govt. agencies should be moved to the depressed coal-mining reigons of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The last Federal Employees fully covered by a defined benefits pension were hired in 1983. Since then, it's been partially defined benefits, the remainder 401k.
bmp
California has 280 billion unfunded due state worker pensions on its own.
One of Trump’s moon shot projects should be bringing federal government IT to current private sector standards. Many of these federal positions could be eliminated with the proper application of modern information systems. When he met in Trump Tower with Larry Page, and the other titans of Silicon Valley, I hope he asked them to bring information security and modern organizational methods and systems to the Federal Government. It would be hugely beneficial to our economy and could enhance national security greatly.
“Except uniformed services pay.”
Excellent point - totally agree.
Agree. Modernized systems could eliminate a lot of federal positions.
The really sad thing is that the federal employees themselves are being told (by the federal government, of course) that THEY ARE UNDERPAID. I read some months ago that the “panel” (made up of government employees and union representatives, of course) charged with “studying” this issue and making recommendations concluded that federal employees are underpaid by 34%.
You truly cannot make this stuff up.
Second, abolish federal pensions for new hires. Give them 401K accounts like the rest of us. Let them know that their own retirements are dependent upon a healthy US private sector.
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I like that.
I personally know government employees (I don’t like to use the term worker because it doesn’t apply to many of them) that retire when they’re about 50. I’ve known some to even retire in their 40s. They then get all the benefits for life and almost all of their income. They then get another cushy job that almost doubles their income.
If government employees don’t deserve anything more than private citizens. If they don’t produce a good enough environment for us to have such a situation, they don’t deserve their income and benefits.
These jobs shouldn’t be there because of them. They should be there for us — the tax payers.
AHEM, many of us ARE UNDERPAID! 10 year military vet, 12 year federal service vet, still not getting paid over $30,000 a year.
Next time get your facts straight before lumping us in the same clay.
The average career politician is the primary threat to a healthy private sector the average GS’er not so much!
Force the Feds to give all lands they currently hold in the west back to the states, & then terminate every agency that exists to ‘manage’ these lands. Get rid of Energy, Education & Commerce, too. Then apply the savings to the debt, or maybe increase pay for our military, the lowest rungs of which are really underpaid!
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