The Gap Between What Americans are Paid and What We Pay Our 'Public Servants' has More Than Doubled Since 2000

Pay for Government Employees Growing at Four Times That of Taxpayers

FortLiberty.com - Since 2000, pay for Americans has increased an average of 8.8%. At the same time, pay for federal government employees has increased by 36.9% — more than four times as fast.

Federal government employees have received larger average pay and benefit increases than private employees every year for the last nine straight years.

The net effect of this uncontrolled spending is that the gap between what Americans are paid and what we pay our “public servants” has more than doubled since 2000. In 2000, federal employees enjoyed a $30,415 advantage over people working in the private sector, by 2009 this number had risen to $61,998. The average working stiff earned $61,051 in total compensation in 2009. The comparable number for federal government employees — a staggering $123,049.

And yet, in spite of all of this, President Obama is still pushing for another 1.4% across-the-board pay raise for two million federal employees — regardless of performance. In addition, those same workers will also be eligible for automatic pay raises due only to seniority. How many of you will receive a pay raise this year, regardless of your performance?

The worst part of this is that the majority of existing federal workers are doing “jobs” which are unauthorized by the United States Constitution. Even if we manage to cut their fat salaries by half, we will still have more than a million unnecessary federal employees whose “contribution” to the U.S. economy consists mainly of creating forms for the rest of us to fill out.

It seems clear to me now, as it should be to you, that the federal bureaucrats are America’s new ruling class and that ordinary taxpayers are their unwilling slaves.

***

retired&luvit said:

I worked for the federal gov for 35 years. I started out at a low salary and retired making $113,000.00 a year, my highest level of education was high school as were many of my co workers. My pension is just under $68000.00 a year.

I can honestly say there was no stress, my jobs were varied over the years and I did not work nearly as hard as I would have in the private sector. All though lunch is 30 minutes, most Feds I knew took an hour and half for lunch. When I left I had saved enough vacation days to get a check for $18,000.00. Most folks could do this because they took off and didn't claim the days.

There is rarely any accountability and most folks were just copying what their managers did. There is no accountability to feds and getting fired does not happen. If you screwed up you moved up. We also received nice bonuses and when traveling made you extra money.

I knew a fed who ran two gas stations when he should have been working, I knew feds who ran real estate buinesses (this was a very popular side job) from work, and other businesses and everyone knew about it and just accepted it.

I am grateful for my $68,000.00 a year pension, I cannot collect social security because I did not pay into it for enough years. But because of my generous salary I was able to invest money and retire with my pension and a very nice cushion of invested money. I also have Medicare A, pay for Medicare B at a little over $100 a month and, since I was a federal employee, I was eligible to take my health care plan with me. This has been a god send because it only cost me a little over $100 a month and this pays for the 20% medicare doesn't pay for a major medical event and it pays for my prescription drugs.

Most of my retired friends from the private sector don't have pensions or their pensions are half what mine is and they pay at least $300 a month or more for their medical coverage compared to my cost of just over $200. I also took with me a basic $10,000 life insurance plan.

Although I am under the old federal retirement plan the new plan is also very good. I figured had I been under the new plan I would be making getting a pension of about $60,000 but the TSP (gov 401K plan) would have given me a tidy sum at 5% match. Plus I could have collected social security which would have been at a reduced rate because as a Fed you can not collect both federal plans (thanks to President Regan) and the health care benefits still transfer with you in retirement under the new plan.

You just can't beat working for the Federal Gov. My wife retired from a different department in the federal government and we live very comfortable and are still relatively young.

Editorial: Civil Servants Paid More Like Masters

August 11, 2010

Orange County Register - U.S. government staffers make, on average, double the salary and benefit of private-sector workers.

Workers in the federal government now earn, on average, double what private-sector workers make, according to a USA Today study released Aug. 10.

"Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation," the paper said. "Public employee unions say the compensation gap reflects the increasingly high level of skill and education required for most federal jobs and the government contracting out lower-paid jobs to the private sector in recent years."

The report was based on numbers from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. The federal pay and benefits also were much higher than the $69,912 average for state and local government workers.

"What do they produce besides deficits and debt?" asked Nicholas Bavaro, president of Bavaro Benefit Advisors in Modesto, when we talked to him. He's also a former member of the California Citizens Compensation Commission, a state panel that determines the salaries and benefits of California legislators and constitutional officers. "They don't produce any product that consumers purchase. They don't invest. They don't create jobs."

As to the "high level of skill and education" of the federal workers supposedly managing all that contracting-out, Mr. Bavaro responded,

"There's no comparison" to private-sector managers, who "are at-will workers. If they don't produce, they're gone. They live by the standards of their company. You can't do that with federal, state or local government employees" because of union contracts that make it nearly impossible to fire them. "That's why we're in the mess we're in" with the national economy, he said.

USA Today also found that, since 2000, federal workers' pay has risen 36.9 percent above the inflation rate, compared with 8.8 percent for private workers. Mr. Bavaro said that this has made federal workers' lives much easier than those who pay the taxes, with union contracts guaranteeing cost-of-living increases even when the economy is in recession.

By contrast, he concluded, "You and I eat what we hunt."

Such studies should give voters renewed impetus to scrutinize all aspects of public employee pay and benefits.

***

The biggest pay hikes in the federal government have gone to employees who have been with the government for 15 to 24 years. Since 2005, average salaries for this group climbed 25% compared with a 9% inflation rate. Since 2000, federal pay and benefits have increased 3% annually above inflation compared with 0.8% for private workers, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Members of Congress earn $174,000, up from $141,300 in 2000, an increase below the rate of inflation. [Source]

Private sector wages are closely tied to productivity. Government employee wages are based on the Federal General Schedule (GS) pay scale, which determines the salaries of 70 percent of the federal workforce. Advancement is achieved through seniority and has nothing to do with productivity! This explains the incompetence and laziness of Federal workers. Government jobs are more lucrative than private sector jobs. Government jobs are almost impossible to lose thanks to the unions! Government jobs are very attractive to minorities. overnment job compensation needs to be lowered to match their private sector counterparts. This would only be fair! Government employees need their pay cut along with their benefits as the private sector has. Government employees should never be paid more than private comparable occupations. This would cut the deficit drastically! As far as their claims of superior intellect and skills, just look at our politicians, it pretty much makes and solidifies my case! [Source]

On the retirement issue, FERS (Federal Employee Retirement System) is a real retirement plan for government employees, while Social Security for the rest of us is an expensive piggy bank for Congress. With FERS you can retire at 55 compared to 65-70 with Social Security. Without going through the advantages of FERS over Social Security, lets see if government employees would trade their FERS for Social Secuity and vice versa. You know the answer, so why don't all the workers in the country have a private retirement system like FERS? If government employees are public servants, then how do servants have better benefits than the master? [Source]

Millions of workers in the private sector lost their jobs in the last year, how many Federal Employees lost their jobs? Millions of private sector workers received pay cuts and reduced benefits, how many Federal Employees had this experience? Most Federal Employees can retire under FERS, ten or more years earlier than those on Social Security. FERS has better pensions and unlike Social Security you don't have to pay into the system from the time you began work until you retire and then if you earn wages after you retire, Social Security is still taken out of your wages. [Source]

How is it that the public servants (government workers) are entitled to a different and better system than the people that they are supposed to be working for? Why isn't the government workforce run the same as the workforce in the private non union sector? It seems that government has the motto, do as I say and not as I do. [Source]

Are you ready to trade your benefits and FERS for the dearth of benefits in the private sector and take Social Security and put your job at risk and at the whim of your employer? Most of the private sector works on an at will type employment, where the employer doesn't even have to give you a reason to let you go. Losing jobs because of being outsourced happens more in the private sector than in government. The private sector has lost millions of jobs, and companies have gone out of business, this doesn't happen in government. Federal agencies and departments can't go bankrupt, so when they are running in the red, the taxpayers have to bail them out. Yes, I know that you pay taxes as well, but you should also be against bailing out badly run government agencies. The bottom line is you wouldn't change your job and your benefits and your retirement and job security for any of those in the private sector. [Source]

When the Federal Government has one system for themselves and another inferior system for the rest of the country, why would they pull the plug on the money for that funds their system. The majority of voters, vote either Row A or Row B and neither row has a desire to kill their golden goose. It just doesn't make sense for us to pay for the premium retirement system enjoyed by the government and at the same time have the government that created the inferior Social Security system blame the recipients of SS. If Social Security was so good, why won't you trade your FERS for it? Does this sound like the work of a country that was founded by the people, for the people and of the people? [Source]

why should public servants get benefits and job security that most of the non government, non union workers in the private sector can get from their employers. This is not to say that all or even most government workers are no doing a good job, but there are a lot of them that don't pull their weight and you know who you are in that category. My point is that there are too many government workers on the payroll and the people in the private sector are taxed to pay for them. Yes, government workers get taxed but they have a secure job and great benefits that are in a class by themselves.You say that the government is always hiring but you don't say that the public sector is laying off in the millions. There is something basically wrong that government should be immune to an economy that has crashed and burned. [Source]

Another private employee complaining about the benefits of the feds, about the over burdened system. I would suggest you go to USA Jobs and post your resume, but know what? Most agencies aren't hiring! At least, Social Security Admin isn't... I am paid very well for my job (approaching $72k in 09/2009 - GS12-step 3, look it up). I would never trade my job for any private job. I cannot retire at 55 because I will not have enough years in. I will, however, retire at 62. [Source]

I left a federal job when I was 33 year old because I thought I had more potential in the private sector, rationalizing that I could make more money, get big bonuses, and be more creative and independent. That was true to a point. Then came the reality of mergers, layoffs, reorganizations, lower revenues, etc. After applying to about 200 federal jobs I finally prevailed and got a federal job at 50% of my private company salary. Six years later I make more that I ever made in the private sector (moved 3 times) and am back in my home state with a cumulative total of 22 years federal service. I will stay here until I retire. Say what you want about your skills and expertise and abilities and creativity-----nothing beats a 40 hour week and job security with great benefits. [Source]

I was a government employee for one year 40 years ago. It would have been an easy piece of cake for me if I had stayed, but the actual work was useless paper pushing. I did not qualify for the military because of poor hip joints that continually left me flat of my back. I thought that the work as a civilian engineer for a military base might make a difference. I was wrong because the work was of no value; employees were more concerned about which politician would get them the highest pay increases. I quit and moved into the private sector. It was a much lower paying job but was more demanding and thus more satisfying.

The only way the government can employee such a large workforce is through taxation. The smaller the government is the better our standards of living are. [Source]

Related:

Number of Federal Employees Getting Automatic Grade Promotions Jumped 75 Percent in Past Three Years, with Raises of 10 Percent to 20 Percent in One Year