Regular readers of this blog know about our “Taxpayers vs. Bureaucrats” series. Well, now we have the video version.
There are three things in the video that deserve special emphasis. First, bureaucrats are vastly overpaid. The government data cited in the video show that total compensation for the federal civil service is twice as high, on average, as it is for workers in the productive sector of the economy. There are some bureaucrats who deserve above-average pay, such as scientists dealing with nuclear weapons, but it is outrageous that the average drone in the federal bureaucracy is getting twice as much compensation as the taxpayers (serfs) who pay their salaries.
Second, this mini-documentary debunks the silly argument (put forth by government employee unions, of course) that bureaucrats are underpaid compared to the private sector. The Department of Labor has data looking at voluntary departure rates by profession. If government workers were being underpaid, you would expect them to be more likely to leave their jobs in order to take new positions in the (supposedly higher paid) private sector. Instead, the video reveals that people in the private sector are six times more likely to switch jobs than federal bureaucrats.
Third, the video concludes with the essential point that most federal bureaucrats should be paid nothing because they work for departments and agencies that should not exist.
“… but it is outrageous that the average drone in the federal bureaucracy …”
Ha ha. I love it.
[...] workforce has expanded since the downturn began. And since compensation for federal bureaucrats is twice the average for other workers, it certainly seems like Obama is playing a perverse game of class warfare – particularly [...]
[...] workforce has expanded since the downturn began. And since compensation for federal bureaucrats is twice the average for other workers, it certainly seems like Obama is playing a perverse game of class warfare – particularly since [...]
[...] workers who get in trouble with the IRS. Compensation packages for federal bureaucrats are twice as lucrative as those for workers in the productive sector of the economy and their pensions are similarly extravagant. Yet they often can’t be bothered to fully pay [...]
[...] workers who get in trouble with the IRS. Compensation packages for federal bureaucrats are twice as lucrative as those for workers in the productive sector of the economy and their pensions are similarly extravagant. Yet they often can’t be bothered to fully pay their [...]
[...] what signs they’ll carry? Perhaps “Lazy People Have Rights!”? Or how about, “We Deserve Twice the Income of People Who Actually Produce”? I wouldn’t be surprised, however, if this event fizzles out because the bureaucrats are all [...]
[...] January 2, 2011 by Dan Mitchell This blog repeatedly has chronicled the huge discrepancy between the gold-plated compensation for government employees and the meager salaries and benefits of people in the productive sector of the economy, including a video conclusively demonstrating that bureaucrats are overpaid. [...]
Absolutely S*U*P*E*R*B video! Among the best that I have ever seen.
In the USA, with your superior political system where the people can actually somehow limit the power of the political class, you get such luxury salaries and benefits for bureaucrats.
Imagine how much worse are things here in Latin America, where the power of the people to limit the insatiable lust for money, power and control of the political class is much weaker.
[...] January 2, 2011 by Dan Mitchell This blog repeatedly has chronicled the huge discrepancy between the gold-plated compensation for government employees and the meager salaries and benefits of people in the productive sector of the economy, including a video conclusively demonstrating that bureaucrats are overpaid. [...]
[...] interesting, the report notes that reducing social welfare spending and reducing the burden of the bureaucracy are the two most effective ways of lowering red ink. The estimation results indicate that [...]
[...] interesting, the report notes that reducing social welfare spending and reducing the burden of the bureaucracy are the two most effective ways of lowering red ink. The estimation results indicate that [...]
[...] interesting, the report notes that reducing social welfare spending and reducing the burden of the bureaucracy are the two most effective ways of lowering red ink. The estimation results indicate that [...]
[...] interesting, the report notes that reducing social welfare spending and reducing the burden of the bureaucracy are the two most effective ways of lowering red ink. The estimation results indicate that [...]
[...] interesting, the report notes that reducing social welfare spending and reducing the burden of the bureaucracy are the two most effective ways of lowering red ink: The estimation results indicate that [...]
[...] data on total compensation clearly show a big advantage for state and local bureaucrats, largely because of lavish benefits (which is the problem that Governor Walker in Wisconsin is [...]
[...] data on total compensation clearly show a big advantage for state and local bureaucrats, largely because of lavish benefits (which is the problem that Governor Walker in Wisconsin is [...]
[...] data on total compensation clearly show a big advantage for state and local bureaucrats, largely because of lavish benefits (which is the problem that Governor Walker in Wisconsin is [...]
[...] data on total compensation clearly show a big advantage for state and local bureaucrats, largely because of lavish benefits (which is the problem that Governor Walker in Wisconsin is [...]
Government employment is welfare with the requirement to occasionally showup.
I interfaced with government employees for over 40 years which qualifies me to comment. Almost all of them are totally incompetent and unnecessary.
[...] the discussion is too narrow for two reasons (though both reasons are connected to the fact that government workers are overpaid relatively to people in the productive sector of the [...]
[...] difference between a real job and working for the government? I used the think the answer was that bureaucrats are overpaid, usually for being in positions that shouldn’t even [...]
[...] data on total compensation clearly show a big advantage for state and local bureaucrats, largely because of lavish benefits (which is the problem that Governor Walker in Wisconsin is [...]
[...] The biggest beneficiaries of the current system are the army of bureaucrats that receive very comfortable salaries administering various [...]
[...] done a video on excessive compensation for bureaucrats and I’ve written many times about wasteful spending, but here’s a cartoon that manages [...]
[...] done a video on excessive compensation for bureaucrats and I’ve written many times about wasteful spending, but here’s a cartoon that manages to [...]
[...] the way, here’s the…ahem…best video I’ve ever seen on the topic of costly and excessive [...]
Most arguments using ‘big picture’ thinking sound good, but big picture ideals don’t produce change. Change happens in the details of carrying out the big picture.
So, how do you minimize the too big government? Fire the workers? Eliminate regulations? We’ve already seen what a company will do without government oversight. Sweat shops, child labor, unsafe working conditions, and harrassment by supervisors. Oversight and regulation is needed, and it can’t be just internal “we’ll police ourselves.”
So, lets take a specific case, and see how it compares to this video. Take me, since that is something I know about. I work for the government. Got my automatic pay increases the first 3 years on the job, then have hardly seen one since, and its been 8 years! And being a government employee, President Obama has FROZEN my pay for a minimum of 2 years. Two years of inflation, with no cost of living increases or anything. And a hiring freeze. So no chance to move into a better paying position. And with budget cuts, ALL of the department manager positions have been eliminated. Not furlough, not drawn dawn, but eliminated. Axed. Ceases to exist. So no transfer or promotion opportunities there anymore. And that displaced already hired workers, and now I have to compete with them for any position I might find. — little to no room for advancement.
Now, my current job is to be a prison guard. I got two weeks of training, and then NONE after that. None. Been in for over a decade, and I don’t get training even though our programs have every employee fill out training requests every year. I guess no funds for the guys on the bottem of the totem pole.
In MY job, I “work” with about 500 convicted criminals BY MYSELF. Sometimes in a single story building, sometimes in a three story building. But always by myself. No partner. No other staff in the building. Oh, and no personal protection equipment either. In the Federal system, we don’t get whistles, or “night sticks”, or mace, or any of that stuff. And we are not allowed to bring in our own! So, I work in a building fill of grown men that not only are capable of breaking the law, but are willing to do so. Work alone. Without protection. And its done anywhere between $14 – $25 an hour, depending on how long you’ve been in. $53,000 a year is the base pay. And he have to work nights and weekends and holidays. And sometimes we are forced to work a double shift, without notice, and we can’t refuse it. Ya, they will pay us overtime- it’s the law. Everyone gets paid a minimum (for us that means the maximum) of 1.5 times the normal hourly rate unless we agree to work for “comp” time (if we can get it). But, you can get worked 16 hours straight without any overtime pay if it crosses over midnight Sunday. Its called “a free double”.
OK, there you go. The facts of one government employee. I work full time, and if I work for 25 years straight without changing agencies, I can collect when I retire. Otherwise I wont see a penny until after I turn 55.5 years old. And if I work 30 years, I can retire at half my normal wages. That will mean I’ll collect about $2,500 a month for retirement. In California my mortgage is $1,450 a month for a 4 bedroom house. Add $220 a month for utilities (Heat and water, not including phone or TV) and that leaves $830 a month for food, transportation, phone, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe our government has gotten to become too big. Really, how many people does it take? The point I wanted to make is when talking big picture, it can cause a distortion of what it means to be a civil service worker.
I think there should be a whole lot more transperancy in government. And I wish I knew what positions where paid what. I guessing its the upper management positions that are taking the 6 digit saleries. And I personally don’t understand why anyone in a gov positoin should be getting paid that much.
Damn, I work shoulder to should with criminals and I make about $50,000
[...] This is an excellent idea since domestic programs are overwhelmingly to blame for America’s fiscal problems, and those programs employ hundreds of thousands of unnecessary and over-compensated bureaucrats. [...]
[...] fact that 11 government agencies responded. If that doesn’t tell you right away that we have too many government bureaucracies and too many bureaucrats with nothing to do, then you must be in a [...]
[...] data on total compensation clearly show a big advantage for state and local bureaucrats, largely because of lavish benefits (which is the problem that Governor Walker in Wisconsin is [...]
[...] more information about the overcompensation of bureaucrats, this video is loaded with [...]
[...] more information about the overcompensation of bureaucrats, this video is loaded with [...]