$$$$$$$$$

[AlisoBob]

December 16, 2009
Federal Employees at the Trough
By Paul B. Matthews

Last week, USA Today reported that nearly one in five federal government employees now earn over $100,000. The paper also reported the average federal salary rose to $71,260, almost $31,000 more than the comparative average private-sector wage.


Within the Department of Defense, over 10,000 employees (as of June 2009) now earn at least $150,000 per year, a 5½-fold increase in the number of employees eclipsing this salary threshold from just eighteen months ago.

At the same time as federal employee salaries have been soaring, total private sector earnings have steadily declined as the unemployment rate escalates (now at 10%) and the average workweek declines. In fact, in November, private-sector employees worked an average of just 33.2 hours, slightly above the all-time low set in October (33.0 hours) and well below the forty hours guaranteed to federal employees. Simultaneously, average private sector hourly earnings totaled $18.74 per hour, significantly below the implied hourly wage rates ($34.25 per hour) paid to the average federal employee.


However, simply analyzing the growth in total paid compensation fails to capture the true explosion in benefits paid to federal workers.


For example, government employees almost never work on weekends. And if a federal employee does work on Sunday, he becomes eligible for Sunday Premium Pay. Federal employees are also entitled to compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay, a benefit few private sector firms are able to offer.


Paid time off for federal employees is also extremely generous. Employees with less than three years' tenure earn twelve paid days off per year. For service between three and fifteen years, workers are guaranteed eighteen days off with pay. And when an employee reaches fifteen years of service, this benefit grows to twenty-four days.


Federal employees are also guaranteed ten federal holidays with pay.


With all this time off, some government workers might be hard-pressed to use actually use it. No worries -- federal workers have a very liberal carryover policy: thirty days for all employees. However, if you get stationed overseas, this policy expands to forty-five days. And if you become classified as a "Senior Executive Service," a "Senior-Level" [employee], or a "Scientific or Professional Employee," the policy expands to ninety days.


Naturally, at retirement, or if an employee decides to leave government service, any unused time is compensated for with cash -- a lump-sum payout that could easily amount to between $6,000 and $17,800 based on the "average" federal salary figure. For senior-level employees who earn the highest pay levels, such payouts could easily total $30,000 and might even exceed $50,000, thereby eclipsing the average annual salary of an American in the private sector.


The benefits continue. On top of paid time off, federal employees are also eligible for half a day of sick time per biweekly pay period. Thus, in a 52-week year, each full-time employee may accrue 13 days of sick time. There are also no limits on the amount of sick leave an employee may accumulate. Moreover, when an employee retires, any unused sick pay is added to the calculation of the employee's retirement annuity, thereby increasing the value of the annuity payouts received by federal employees during retirement.


And yet there is still more. As part of the Student Loan Repayment Program, a benefit enacted by Congress in 2007, all federal government employees are eligible for up to $10,000 per year in student loan forgiveness, a benefit capped at $60,000 per individual. (This benefit requires ten years of government service.)


Health care benefits provided to federal employees are also quite extensive and lucrative. Notably, there are a minimum of nine national pay-for-service health care plans from which an employee may select. To supplement these nine national plans, there are a number of additional agency-specific plans as well as state-specific HMO, HDHP, or CDHP plans that are also employee options.


On top of basic health care insurance plans offered to its employees, the federal government also provides a full range of vision and dental care plans. Of course, all of these insurance programs are heavily subsidized (up to 50% of the total cost for a family policy) by the U.S. taxpayer.


Finally, the federal government even provides a subsidized life insurance to its employees. Under this program, employees pay only two-thirds of the monthly insurance premium while the U.S. taxpayer covers the rest.


On top of all these incentives, Congress has recently decided to expand the handouts. While consumer prices have steadily declined throughout 2009 (the annual CPI rate fell 0.2% through October), the U.S. Congress just passed legislation that would provide an across-the -board 2% pay raise for all federal employees. As such, federal employees will soon receive a 2.2% real pay increase as private sector wages remain stagnant or fall.


Currently, the U.S. Office of Personal Management estimates that there are just over 4.2 million federal employees. Thus, based on the average salary figures reported by USA Today, total wages paid to all federal employees now total nearly $300 billion per year, or about $1,000 for every man, women, and child in the United States. Add to this figure the costs of insurance, paid time off, and retirement benefits (which have not even been quantified here), and the total federal outlay to "pay" federal employees soars by billions more.


Simply stated, this trend cannot be sustained.


With last year's U.S. federal deficit of more than $1.4 trillion, it will become increasingly difficult to reduce the government's level of red ink, particularly if the federal government continues to expand. However, it now seems quite obvious that the government employment will continue to expand, especially under a nationalized health care system or once Obama's new Consumer Financial Protection Agency officially becomes part of the government Leviathan.


Americans and the media remain almost uniformly against the large bonuses being paid to Wall Street bankers -- even though these bonuses must come from the (albeit subsidized) revenues generated by these firms. Given what has been going on in the public sector, perhaps it's about time for Americans to refocus their anger on the public bureaucrats who feed daily at the trough of the tax dollars generated by their indentured servitude in the private sector.

[redrocket190]

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/08/ ... id-ascent/

http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/

[redrocket190]

http://anepigone.blogspot.com/2008/03/g ... ge-of.html
In 2007, US was in 144th place with 19.9%. On today's trends the US would have jumped to 72nd place.

[AlisoBob]

Its hard to believe we spent 48% while kicking the entire worlds ass ( 1944) and 40% today..... while the US infrastructure is in Freefall.....

Canada , here I come.....

Roosty and I are opening a strip club together....

With all the MILF'S he met in sunny Florida....



We'll put Solid Gold and Teasers out of business in a month!

[RideRed]

I'm a Federal employee,

I only make $40K/yr....our wardens make close to $200K/year!
I work every Sunday that I can because its Time & A Half pay.
This is nice when working Graveyards or Swings because you get the shift differential too. (7.5%=Swings, 10%=Graves)
Observed holidays are also nice because thats double pay.

Yes, technically (but rare) you can work a Sunday (time+half), that is also a holiday (double pay) with shift differential...

I get 8 hours a month towards annual leave (former military get 12)
We all get 16 hours a month sick leave.
We have a 360 hours cap on annual leave. (Then it falls into "use or lose")

Health / Vision / Dental are all VERY expensive...almost not worth having.

I will NEVER see weekends off unless I have 10+ years of service or switch to an office job.

[sabreguy]

December 16, 2009
Federal Employees at the Trough
By Paul B. Matthews

Last week, USA Today reported that nearly one in five federal government employees now earn over $100,000. The paper also reported the average federal salary rose to $71,260, almost $31,000 more than the comparative average private-sector wage.

I don't make any where close to $70,000 a year! If I was offered some overtime maybe but nope!!


Within the Department of Defense, over 10,000 employees (as of June 2009) now earn at least $150,000 per year, a 5½-fold increase in the number of employees eclipsing this salary threshold from just eighteen months ago.

Maybe don't know for sure

At the same time as federal employee salaries have been soaring, total private sector earnings have steadily declined as the unemployment rate escalates (now at 10%) and the average workweek declines. In fact, in November, private-sector employees worked an average of just 33.2 hours, slightly above the all-time low set in October (33.0 hours) and well below the forty hours guaranteed to federal employees. Simultaneously, average private sector hourly earnings totaled $18.74 per hour, significantly below the implied hourly wage rates ($34.25 per hour) paid to the average federal employee.

Damn again I wish I was making $34.25 an hour!!!


However, simply analyzing the growth in total paid compensation fails to capture the true explosion in benefits paid to federal workers.


For example, government employees almost never work on weekends. And if a federal employee does work on Sunday, he becomes eligible for Sunday Premium Pay. Federal employees are also entitled to compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay, a benefit few private sector firms are able to offer.

This is true in my case I haven't been offered OT in about four years!
I don't know what Sunday Premium Pay is but where I work it is only time and a half!
I do not get compensated days off for time worked!

Paid time off for federal employees is also extremely generous. Employees with less than three years' tenure earn twelve paid days off per year. For service between three and fifteen years, workers are guaranteed eighteen days off with pay. And when an employee reaches fifteen years of service, this benefit grows to twenty-four days.

This is true in my case except I actually get 26 days a year plus 13 days of sick leave. I have too admit that ain't too shabby at all!


Federal employees are also guaranteed ten federal holidays with pay.

Hellz yeah CR500 time!!!!


With all this time off, some government workers might be hard-pressed to use actually use it. No worries -- federal workers have a very liberal carryover policy: thirty days for all employees. However, if you get stationed overseas, this policy expands to forty-five days. And if you become classified as a "Senior Executive Service," a "Senior-Level" [employee], or a "Scientific or Professional Employee," the policy expands to ninety days.

Once I have saved up to 240 hours of regular leave (30 days) then I fall into what they call "use or lose" which means if I don't use it by the end of the years pay cycle anything over 240 is gone! Never heard of any of those classifications but it is true about overseas, like if you went over to assist in the war you could bank a few more hours. Seems fair to me!


Naturally, at retirement, or if an employee decides to leave government service, any unused time is compensated for with cash -- a lump-sum payout that could easily amount to between $6,000 and $17,800 based on the "average" federal salary figure. For senior-level employees who earn the highest pay levels, such payouts could easily total $30,000 and might even exceed $50,000, thereby eclipsing the average annual salary of an American in the private sector.

If you earned the leave but didn't use it shouldn't you get paid back for it?
You don't get what you make hourly for one hour of leave though it is sold back at a reduced rate.


The benefits continue. On top of paid time off, federal employees are also eligible for half a day of sick time per biweekly pay period. Thus, in a 52-week year, each full-time employee may accrue 13 days of sick time. There are also no limits on the amount of sick leave an employee may accumulate. Moreover, when an employee retires, any unused sick pay is added to the calculation of the employee's retirement annuity, thereby increasing the value of the annuity payouts received by federal employees during retirement.

This is true for older civil service employess but when I joined my sick leave was just going to go away when I retired . They are changing the law for that now though so I will be able to sell it back.
Again if I earned it but didn't use it shouldn't I be compensated for that? I think so!


And yet there is still more. As part of the Student Loan Repayment Program, a benefit enacted by Congress in 2007, all federal government employees are eligible for up to $10,000 per year in student loan forgiveness, a benefit capped at $60,000 per individual. (This benefit requires ten years of government service.)

Don't know nothing about this never heard this one????


Health care benefits provided to federal employees are also quite extensive and lucrative. Notably, there are a minimum of nine national pay-for-service health care plans from which an employee may select. To supplement these nine national plans, there are a number of additional agency-specific plans as well as state-specific HMO, HDHP, or CDHP plans that are also employee options.

Yes we have health care plans they are ok, but they aren't the greatest thing out there by no means.


On top of basic health care insurance plans offered to its employees, the federal government also provides a full range of vision and dental care plans. Of course, all of these insurance programs are heavily subsidized (up to 50% of the total cost for a family policy) by the U.S. taxpayer.


Not sure about the 50% thing but yes we can get dental and vision care. Again they are ok but there are better ones out there.


Finally, the federal government even provides a subsidized life insurance to its employees. Under this program, employees pay only two-thirds of the monthly insurance premium while the U.S. taxpayer covers the rest.

Again yes we can get life insurance plans not sure how much the gov pays for them though.


On top of all these incentives, Congress has recently decided to expand the handouts. While consumer prices have steadily declined throughout 2009 (the annual CPI rate fell 0.2% through October), the U.S. Congress just passed legislation that would provide an across-the -board 2% pay raise for all federal employees. As such, federal employees will soon receive a 2.2% real pay increase as private sector wages remain stagnant or fall.

True but it is the smallest pay raise we have seen in a while. I believe last year it was like 2.9%


Currently, the U.S. Office of Personal Management estimates that there are just over 4.2 million federal employees. Thus, based on the average salary figures reported by USA Today, total wages paid to all federal employees now total nearly $300 billion per year, or about $1,000 for every man, women, and child in the United States. Add to this figure the costs of insurance, paid time off, and retirement benefits (which have not even been quantified here), and the total federal outlay to "pay" federal employees soars by billions more.


I think it is a small price to pay for your freedom. Even though not all federal employees work for the military. Alot do!!!


Simply stated, this trend cannot be sustained.

Why not it has been for years and years? Now that we have an idiot in charge the defiect has risen faster then ever and you want to blame federal service employees!!


With last year's U.S. federal deficit of more than $1.4 trillion, it will become increasingly difficult to reduce the government's level of red ink, particularly if the federal government continues to expand. However, it now seems quite obvious that the government employment will continue to expand, especially under a nationalized health care system or once Obama's new Consumer Financial Protection Agency officially becomes part of the government Leviathan.

This I agree with we don't need a bigger government, we need a more efficient government. Not all federal employees feed at the trough!!

Americans and the media remain almost uniformly against the large bonuses being paid to Wall Street bankers -- even though these bonuses must come from the (albeit subsidized) revenues generated by these firms. Given what has been going on in the public sector, perhaps it's about time for Americans to refocus their anger on the public bureaucrats who feed daily at the trough of the tax dollars generated by their indentured servitude in the private sector.

[Roostius_Maximus]

...... Roosty and I are opening a strip club together....

With all the MILF'S he met in sunny Florida....



We'll put Solid Gold and Teasers out of business in a month!

Those were some high class bitches, but there were 2 of them that came over to bro and i to ask us some bs questions, left thier familys eating lunch and were orbiting arround us yaking like a pair of chickens. OH and they had some big-ass titties that they kept adjusting
There was some kinda "lil miss" pagent shit going down in the hotel so there was a pile of them and they were all trying to out skank the others.

[AlisoBob]

they were all trying to out skank the others.

[Rosco-Peeko]

I saw this "abused" at Edwards. With the exception of Sabre.....most of the civies at Eddies are crooks. I wont get into it too much.... Should have kept the military in Maint Group. You can work our asses 24-7 with no difference in pay.