In article , krw wrote:
In article ,
says...
In article , krw
wrote:

BTW, how do we continue to pay the government employee, making
*twice* what the civvies make?

Most scientists and engineers in government service are making significantly
*less* than their counterparts in the private sector. The disparity is even
greater for managers.

You certainly have not taken into account their benefits. *I*
certainly don't get their health and retirement benefits, though
will be paying for them until I die, and after, if the Democrats
have their way.
Even taking the value of benefits into account, civil servants still don't
make anywhere near twice as much as their civilian counterparts (as you
claimed).

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/P...20/the_great_w
age_gap

The author of this article begins to display his massive ignorance as early as
about the fifth paragraph:

"Average compensation for federal civilian workers last year came to $106,579
— which Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute notes is "exactly twice the
average compensation paid in the U.S. private sector." Throw out the benefits
and the difference is less, but still a whopping 62 percent more for the
federal worker."

Even if the figures are correct, the comparison is at best meaningless,
because it's comparing the average of *all* government employment to the
average of *all* non-government employment. This is an apples-and-oranges
comparison, because it's not comparing similar jobs.

The lowest wages in the private sector are found in retail stores and
restaurants. Q: how many retail stores and restaurants does the Federal
government operate? A: zero.

The Federal workforce also contains disproportionate numbers of scientists,
engineers, and managers -- all of which pay more than average.

When you compare _similar_jobs_ between the Federal civil service and the
private sector, you find that wages are almost always higher -- and not by
just a little bit, either -- in the private sector. That's why the Federal
government has a hard time retaining its top people: business hires them away.
You just don't hear about businesses losing their top people to the Federal
government because the pay is better. It just doesn't happen.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.