Ask yourself this question.
"Should the federal government's employees make more money than private sector employees?"
Regardless of your thoughts, the fact is government employees make more than the average private sector worker in comparative occupations. In 2008, The average salary of a private sector employee was around 60K/year. The average salary of a government employee was around 68K/year.
How can a group of people that serve a nation make more money than the group of people that create the wealth for the nation? Money doesn't grow on trees, ya' know.
Oh, you say eight thousand dollars isn't a huge difference, huh? Well factor in employee benefits and tell me if you're still not angry. Private sector benefits averaged just under 10K. Government employee benefits averaged - get this - over $40,000. Add 'em up and you have a large gap between the people who serve the country and people who create the wealth.
"Oh, that's just because the evil rich people don't pay their employees enough.", some may say. Funny - the federal government is beyond broke - meaning they can't afford to pay this high unless they tax the wealth-creators more than they can afford - meaning the wealth-creators can't afford to pay current employees more or hire new employees. I've never gotten a private sector job from a poor person. Have you? By the way, as of August 31st, our unemployment rate is still over 9% - and that's just the people still looking for jobs!
What can our politicians do to - at least - level the pay scale? Should they even try? Who will be using this issue as political talking points leading up to the elections in November? The house GOP leader John Boehner is using the issue along with the general dissatisfaction with our administration's economy recovery plan to rally his troops for November. Conversely, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) submits that federal employees "are working in the public interest ... who serve the very public we represent". Think we should cut 'em some slack?
Did you know about this? Is it the job of our mass media to inform citizens about these pay scales or is it more important for the mass media to rave about a privately owned company's CEO bonus?
(http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N.htm)
(http://thehill.com/homenews/house/115863-gop-seizes-on-federal-pay-)
