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Frozen cost of living increases for the past three years. Many of us are in high cost of living areas. Some in areas that are dangerous. Many of us put in more hours than what we get paid to do the job right.
Soon to come a 20% reduction in pay and anywhere from 14 to 22 days without pay still under restrictions of government employment that restrict some job opportunities.
Depending on a person's skill level and education, federal pay and benefits is really good. It is also one of the few businesses that dollar for dollar pays women and men equally.
If you think government employees get fat off of your tax dollars, then you have not compared us with the CEOs of the contractor company that gets paid by the federal government.
Those guys are making big bucks. A lot of war and government profiteers out there.
There is waste, fraud and abuse that can reduced. We can all debate the merits of one government program over another.
And yes spouses and loved ones will typically support one another in terms of supporting or voting in a way that benefits their family.
Anybody here think they are overpaid? Anybody who thinks they are overpaid going to give that money back to their employer?
Let me say this. Before griping that government workers are over paid, maybe just maybe we should be asking why are not some of our employers putting more money back into the company, in research and development, back into an employee's pocket.
Oil companies are making record profits. That is no crime but of course they are making record profits. They pushing premium prices. Same with drug companies.
There is a line between being rich and being so greedy as to make sure that fewer and fewer can climb up the ladder to middle class living. Because everybody knows that the more at the middle class level then those at the top will have to share more.
Some folks don't like to share.
Yeah there is a need to cut back no doubt. But instead of thinking that others are getting paid too much, ask why you are not paid more. Ask why you don't have the same quality of health care or number of vacation days or equal pay for equal work.
Ask those questions and make a video out of that.
The video wasn't about getting paid too much, it was about the expansion of the gov't. My wife has been a federal employee for the last 30 years excluding a 2 year span. So as the video suggest, I have a vested interest in gov't employment however I'm not going to support expansion of the government over the health of the nation.
Still, there are plenty of people "getting rich" working for the federal gov't. Look at congress! Hell, they can't even pass a budget. As a company CEO, do that and you are not a CEO for very long. Run your company that spend $1.00 for every $0.57 it takes in and you won't be president of that company very long, or continue to be getting rich. However work for the gov't and it doesn't matter if you are competent, a dedicated worker or make sound financial decisions.
I wouldn't label all of them equally. The House has passed multiple budgets, budgets that Harry Reid has refused to bring to the Senate floor for a vote.Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc
My dislike and view that they have failed is bipartisan. Granted, some bear more of that wt than others but no doubt both side of congress as well as the president are responsible.Quote:
Originally Posted by KeithKSR
To be fair Congress get rich while out of office. They get their money, if they didn't come to the job with it, working on K Street or at a think tank in between jobs.
Dick Cheney got a substantial amount of his wealth following his tenure under Herbert Walker Bush.
I'm a simple man. I call it "graft" and "corruption", b/c that's what it is. The thing I most want is to severely restrict the ability of Congressmen to make money from their office, either through campaign funds or once collecting once they step down. Also their staffs. Congress has much more lenient anti-corruption laws than are placed on Administration employees, and none of them are draconian enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by UKHistory
yes I know this goes against the profit motive. Corresponding to that I want them very well paid. I don't care if we pay every member of Congress $5 mil a year. Surely if Cal or Saban is worth it having the best and brightest in Congress is worth it, but they don't get a penny from cushy directorships and consulting firms when they retire from office. Those salaries are a pittance compared to how much corruption through big government and big business and big labor and the rest of the big interest groups are costing this nation.
Heck, pay them $20 million. It's p*** money in comparison to one defense contract forced on the military b/c of Congressmen who are going to get votes and big "consulting" paychecks for its passage. What's an extra billion a year to a) attract people to a job that is vicious and nasty to get, and b) insulate them from the corruption of lobbyists and interest groups? They spend that over lunch in one day on some bs project someone has pork barreled through.
History, I wish my income was frozen at what it was when Obama took office. I work more hours along with my wife but our income is down. We work 6 days a week. Take a check only when cash flow is good enough. Sales in our store are off 12% since Obama came in but our expenses are up, gas prices, shipping costs, utilities, taxes, supplies.
As has been pointed out, a private sector job is not permanent if you do a bad performance but with he fed gov you have a job for life unless you kill someone.
Tell me why a lawyer or doctor making the money good ones make would run for a seat in congress that pays $165,000 a year? Why take a big cut in pay. Why did a good friend of mine give up his private dental practice to teach at he dental school. Easy, he keeps his private practice at the school, has an asst that is employed by the school that he only pays when working for him, pays a really small rent but gets insurance, paid vacations, retirement, paid trips for "seminars" to 5 star resorts, gets to leave early if he doesn't have a class or patient and gets paid in excess of $190,000 by the school plus what he makes from patients.
Why is it federal workers make double what private sector pays for the same job
Kind of a delicate subject. Here's how I put it. When I first started, a govt job was stable, had good benefits and a defined benefit pension. But it paid half to two thirds what a private sector job paid. Then came all these expensive studies, "equity issues" "competing for employees with the private sector" etc, and suddenly, government employees were getting higher salaries than the private sector, still getting all those bennies, kept the pension, but had none of the risks of the private sector.
When the economy shrank, the fed govt didn't. States and localities did some, not in proportion, though, but unions still tried to negotiate big raises and govt execs still rationalized big increases for their professional staff. Fed govt compensation and employment is now completely disconnected from the economy. And don't tell the private sectors about "cost of living". Those employees and biz owners have dealt with that and furloughs and lower incomes too.
Now the best job in America is a mid level manager govt job. Go by the book, take no risks, accept no responsibility, and convert oxygen to carbon dioxide. After thirty years retire comfortably. That's not going to move this country forward. And don't even get me started on tenure and seniority!
I guess I failed in my attempt to be gentle. I've just seen the self satisfied mediocrity too much. The expectation that time passed so a raise is deserved is ridiculous. Even "I did a good job so I deserve a raise" is a bit much. I'm paying you right now to do a good job.
I'm a mid level govt worker. My salary has been frozen and it should have been at least that. In 2009 we cut our personnel costs 25% and I proposed and budgeted furloughs for anyone making > 47.5k a year, including me, which was very unpopular with the rest of campus, and ultimately forbidden as a bad precedent. I took on payroll/HR and desktop/server support, all the work, that is, and the management of three other departments. We cut a million bucks out of a four million budget. Campus whined about cutting a million out of an $80 million budget. There is so much fat in govt because its not stressed. Look at the whining about 2.4%. Dont hire admin assistants; make the dept heads learn outlook and word. Cut out travel and all the thousands of get togethers in exotic locales, and the dues to all those organizations. Go to a 39.5 hr work week/salary but change no duties or expectations. Stop one regularly scheduled meeting. Drop buying donuts and coffee. Stop printing everything, or anything. Expect employees to pay for their own parking. Go to staggered lunches of 30 minutes. Make them shower/work out/eat breakfast/drink coffee on their time.. Sell advertising on trucks, they don't need to say go cats on the sides of garbage trucks. Stop giving 40 dollar tax rebates that cost fifty bucks to do. Cut regulations in half. Cut the law book in half. Require any new program be funded out of current dollars. Require new employees to be fully funded by voluntary revenue or current dollars. Rent, don't build; lease, don't build. Embargo furniture purchases for two budget/legislative cycles. Require time sheets charged to tasks and "billable hours" models, then set efficiency goals. I could go on and on. No pain, no gain.
Sky when are you running for congress and where do we send on campaign contribution. You nailed it
In miss we have what is known as a 13th check for stat retiree eps. It is money that they put and the state also puts in so they get their regular retirement checks plus one check a year,13th check that gets bigger by the year. A guy in my golf group is a retired major in the hwy patrol, retired at 54 with 30 yrs, his first 13th check was for $7600. He told me it will grow each year and top out around $20,000 per year. Our state cannot afford to pay into their regular retirement plus this additional check for every state employee including that dental school prof.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jazyd
Skip I think we all have to understand we no longer have a government, but they do govern, more importantly they are self serving.