Ok, at least you're very honest. And the previous poster was honest, too. In a perfect word, someone would objectively analyze every Fed position (with no union interference) and determine which ones should have the salary (or even position) cut. I'll be the first to say that some Fed employees (as well as state/local/military/etc.) earn every bit of their pay. But unfortunately there are a lot of freeloaders (as well as unnecessary positions), and we're going to have to start cutting somewhere... This reminds me of something I heard about the military receiving a 1.4% pay raise on the radio last night. Some retired officer was saying you can't compare the military to the private sector or other Fed employees due to their work. He used exterme examples of the most dangerous duty in combat zones. But what about the majority of troops who are in the U.S., Germany, Japan, etc.? He failed to justify why they get a pay increase while almost everyone else has to live on less these days...
The <i>assistant fire chief</i> in my small town is paid more than $200k/year. I, and my fellow taxpayers, only <i>wish</i> he would go "seek more income in the private sector"...
The vast majority of upper-mid level to lower level employees in the government sector are radically overpaid relative to the private sector. People in government do not seem to grasp that private sector employment is dying and real wages have been falling for a long time. The construction bubble hid this fact as the real estate sector created allot of high paying, bubble Dependant middle class jobs. If you think a middle class government employee is getting a raw deal, you have NO IDEA what it is currently like for middle class private sector family. The highest level government worker is underpaid, as the same person could often be a partner in a law firm, investment bank, etc. But even here, government employment is just an investment for when they return/transfer to the private sector. With all those new "connections" they can then go to an investment bank or law firm and REALLY pilfer wealth from the taxpayers.
"Just an investment..." is an important point. But at least equally important is that high-level Federal employees, particularly Democrats, gain a lot of value / compensation from the ability to control other people's lives. That's how they get their jollies. At the Ivy League universities, they come to believe they're very very special, and that the US would be a better place if only they had the power to run the poor benighted flyover people's lives for them.
It is time to get real. The post office and similar departments are job creation schemes for middle class people who have near ZERO opportunity cost vs. the private sector. Here in Chicago I see "diverse" individuals driving Mercedes, BMW, lexus, etc pulling out of the post office headquarters (It is near the grocery store i go to). Do you REALLY think they would have a chance in hell of maintaining their lifestyle in the private sector? The middle class lifestyle in the private sector is being killed by the cost of living arbitrage on one hand and bubble economy (home prices, medical care, education) on the other.
That is a very good point. For the elite it is about power and ruling the little people's lives. Apparently they do not let people from rural flyover country into the Ivy league anymore. They are not wanted. Have you seen the study where when SAT scores are controlled for, any signifier of a "rural" background (such as 4h club participation) is the single greatest hurdle to Elite school admissions? It is true. Harvard hates the "old" America.
If you're getting such a raw deal in your govt job, then why not go to the private sector? Oh, right.... they wont let you daytrade while you're on the clock.
You guys do half the work...so that would still leave you as overpaid. Like you said life isn't fair and more power to all government employees who game the system.