On Monday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report revealing that federal government employees receive a 16% advantage in compensation over private sector employees. Conservatives have long complained about the unaffordable pay and benefits that government workers get compared to the private sector employees who fund their salaries. With the non-partisan CBO backing those allegations up, can we now move past that debate with liberals?
The CBO's report found that federal civilian employees receive 2 percent more in cash wages, but an eye-popping 48 percent advantage in the form of benefits. Maybe it's not fair to call their insurance plans the Cadillac plans. At 48% more it's probably more appropriate to deem them Rolls Royce plans.
House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) said of the report on Facebook:
The public sector should not enjoy special treatment at the expense of those in the private sector. After all, the tax dollars of hardworking families across the country finance the compensation of government workers. Restraining the explosive growth of the federal bureaucracy is critical to spur private sector economic growth and job creation.
In the middle of the Great Recession, American workers will not be pleased to learn that their paychecks, or unemployment insurance checks, are being garnished to fund higher salaries for bureaucrats who have been mostly insulated from economic pain and job loss.
Here in Colorado we see a desire to do exactly the opposite of what this report would logically lead most folks to do, which is freeze salaries.
In 2010, Democrats pushed an automatic pay raise for bureaucrats, despite the fact that private sector workers funding that pay haven’t seen a pay raise in years.
Leading supporters of that idiotic proposal include stars from Compass Colorado's ignominious Dirty Dozen Job Killers list such as Rep. Daniel Kagan (D-Denver), Rep. Sal Pace (D-Urination), and Senator Evie Hudak (D-Westminster).
With the CBO's report on federal workers igniting a conversation in Washington about overpaid bureaucrats, maybe it's time we start discussing the same here in Colorado.
How about private sector companies start paying their employees more and their executives less?
Private companies have this little thing called the market that helps set salaries. They pay employees what the market says is the going rate for that service, coupled with the employees’ education, experience and talent.
If they pay too little they can’t attract or retain good employees.
Government bureaucrats get paid based on how many years they’ve sat in the same seat, filing the same paperwork.
The fact that gov’t workers are getting fat benefit packages paid for people struggling to survive a down market is unacceptable.
The days of pensions and huge benefit packages for government employees is over. Reality has set in. We can’t afford it.
But it is something companies can do now, all on their own. Isn’t that what you guys want?
Also, “we” don’t have to afford it. Just get corporations to pay income tax. Billions and billions of dollars of corporate welfare are out there. Time to treat these “citizens” like everyone else.
BTW, if you think the “market” really sets those multimillion bonuses to executives of failing companies, I’ve got a golden parachute you might be interested in.