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Federal Workers Making Over $180,000 Increase By 2,000% In Past Five Years
For all those wondering how to cut down on government expenditures, here's a thought: cut the skyrocketing salaries! A study by USA Today, using US Office of Personnel Management data, confirms what has been widely known: that the biggest beneficiaries of government largesse over the past 5 years as a worker cohort, are none other than Federal workers themselves. The numbers are stunning: those earning over $150,000 in the past five years have grown from 7,420 to 82,034, a 1,006% increase. More shockingly, those earning over $180,000 has surged from just 805 in 2005, to 16,912 in 2010: a 2,001% increase. And it is on the background of this that Congress is planning on giving 2.1 million federal workers another 1.4% across the board pay raise! Additionally, it appears that the bulk of the gains have taken place since Obama took office. Can someone please stop the lunacy: this country is beyond bankrupt and it turns out that in addition to Wall Street (which everyone knows does nothing but transfer wealth from the middle class to a few choice CEOs and groupthinking Bloomberg terminal operators), the biggest thief is the very government itself, which has perfected the art of giving with one hand, and taking with 10, almost as well as those enclosed in glass corner offices on Park, Lexington and Broad (and now West).
The stunning comparison of what Federal workers were making in 2005 and 2010, spread by income bucket:
More from USA Today:
Federal salaries have grown robustly in recent years, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Office of Personnel Management data. Key findings:
- Government-wide raises. Top-paid staff have increased in every department and agency. The Defense Department had nine civilians earning $170,000 or more in 2005, 214 when Obama took office and 994 in June.
- Long-time workers thrive. The biggest pay hikes have gone to employees who have been with the government for 15 to 24 years. Since 2005, average salaries for this group climbed 25% compared with a 9% inflation rate.
- Physicians rewarded. Medical doctors at veterans hospitals, prisons and elsewhere earn an average of $179,500, up from $111,000 in 2005.
Federal workers earning $150,000 or more make up 3.9% of the workforce, up from 0.4% in 2005.
Since 2000, federal pay and benefits have increased 3% annually above inflation compared with 0.8% for private workers, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Members of Congress earn $174,000, up from $141,300 in 2000, an increase below the rate of inflation.
Jessica Klement, government affairs director at the Federal Managers Association, says the government's official pay analysis shows that federal workers earn less than private workers for comparable jobs. Still, she says, managers are willing to give up next year's raise: "If it will help the country bounce back, they're willing to make the sacrifice."
And just to make sure you get really angry, here is how one Federal Union views the fact that government workers as a whole are now the second best paid group after Wall Street:
National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley counters that the proposed raise "is a modest amount and should be implemented" to help make salaries more comparable with those in the private sector.
Once again, we get confirmation that Americans always get nothing more or less than the thieves in control they deserve, and elect.
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...'cutting back' is impossible by design.
MONEY CANNOT EVEN BE CREATED UNTIL IT BECOMES INTEREST BEARING DEBT TO THE CARTEL!!
http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/11/government_debt?fsrc=s...
This scam is best explained by historian John Kenneth Galbraith, who states, "In numerous years following the war, the Federal Government ran a heavy surplus. It could not however pay off its debt, retire its securities, because to do so meant there would be no bonds to back the national bank notes. To pay off the debt was to destroy the money supply."
http://truthinprophecy.com/fedreserve.php
Government is nothing more than a thief. That's why voting is pointless. How much dignity are you willing to sacrifice for the opportunity to beg and plead to the mafia to stop raping and pillaging you? Stop participating in the charade and let's see what happens when election results are no longer recognized internationally due to voters staying home and giving all the would-be thieves the middle finger.
Government has to end, otherwise this god damn nonsense will plague humanity in perpetuity.
+1
It is more than a thief though - it is a murderer and a thug too.
The 16k+ earning $180k are probably in admin roles and policy formulators. They are paid to exercise discretion. If the bad guys drive the same kind of car I do and there is at least a (perceived) commonality with them, then why make and recommend policies to curtail the current financial complex? I exercise the discretion not to change the system because, after all, my boss, the President, is doing nothing to make impactful change with those looting the system.
The concert, ladies and gentleman, will not start until someone picks up a gun in anger.
Which won't happen until the gubmint attempts gun confiscation. That, however, we can - you will pardon the expression - bank on. Also, I'd take issue with the word "earn" here: gov't employees - police, fire, military aside - don't "earn" anything. They are merely paid...mostly to vote left.
touche re: "earn"
And they certainly don't create anything.
Nothing makes sense anymore. This country is really screwed. And I don't think gold, silver will stay down for long. Just look around us. Insanity abounds.
And watch those bonds, and I don't mean James.
G A S C H A M B E R: get what you can get out of the system, crawl over everyone... its the last stage of a complete breakdown...
Thanks, Robo. Cute how you snuck that in right in middle of all the rants...kind of a "back down to earth" :-)
And you better believe the 180k government crowd is very happy with the way things are. And these bloodsuckers will use ALL their governmental powers to keep it that way.
ES falls to 1140-50 by THanksgiving. THen EOY rally to 1220-1230.
What is wrong with our govt? Well California courts just affirmed that illegals are eligible to reduced tuition rates just as if they were legal residents of the state. So, let's see our government will give reduced rates for tuition to aliens but your screwed if your from another state in the union. Then you must pay an outlandish amount to cover the cost of illegal alien tuitions. Not only that California wants the other states to foot the bill for their entire government operation because they will default otherwise. They must be eating retard sandwiches out there in Pelosifornia.
Test Page for futures:
Not successful ... sorry ... I'm sure you looked and couldn't find a single good looking gov worker.
So the best way to front run the ponzi would have been to scramble up the American dream ladder, and cherry pick the top fruit while the "3rd World" (whatever the fuck that means) holds the beanstalk steady from below? Who knew?
Future monetary entitlements are a funny thought. How could anyone trust a system that provides for people not to work? Who did not consider that there must always be an input of labor? Now it will be considered. Now the rest of the world will not allow Americans let alone anyone sucking off the tit of the ponzi to front run everyone's future.
The dollar is at a breaking point. Tonight's recent move has been a huge break to the downside, and gold is loving it. If the move continues watch out for an Asian water buffalo stampede for the rest of the night, but I will say one more thing. The POMO do not appear to be "working" for the economists prescribing the operations. The operation is cannibalizing itself. The Euro has managed to lose its mojo of late, but whatever monie ran from it did not move to the dollar. Dollar strength right now is only considering other currencies. It remains weak still. DXY 78 is not anything. And now Yen's weakness is proving that their is only one currency with real value.
The Precious metals have found support, even under the blurring fury of Bernanke's helicopter. POMO may continue as a farce, and the mentioned sectors could drag with it (equities/gold), but if POMO is failing, what does that say about government bonds? Then if the bond bubble pops what happens? Currencies are directly tied to this bubble, where will the FIAT turn? This is the turn. We will find out now.
well put, bud.
these government workers are going to go berzerk when they realize that their pensions are gone, the coffers are raided, and the carrot on the stick is now no carrots and all stick.
arm yourself with PMs and rifles.
I wonder how much of this salary explosion in Federal workers pay is due to the fact that we have spent the last 3 decades trying to privatize every government service. When the government has to compete with the high pay of comparable private workers (think Blackwater), what choice does it have but to pay more or lose all quality employees to the private market?
I also wonder how many of these employees are related to NSA and and the explosion in security services once Cheney and Bush pushed through their "fear all" paranoia.
I have no doubt that there has been a tremendous amount of wage inflation in the Federal Government. But the wage inflation in the corporate suites has been even more dramatic (just over a longer period of time).
I think it is a worthwhile exercise to try to get government pay scales in line with the private market. But like every problem in our society, whether in the private market or public market--there are tremendous special interests out to protect the status quo.
While we can try to focus on these 200,000 employees, or roughly 10% of Federal workers, it would be nice to also cut down on the bloated spending on the military. The US military budget can not continue to be more than the next 20+ countries put together.
The good news is that there are lots of places to cut spending. The bad news is that special interests won't let it happen.
i dont post a sea of nothing. i dont vote they are all corrupt. tis if some one can direct me i will give action to. tell me what to do i am a lemming in this arena!
TD youve done it .....started the rev. look at the # of replies, is it a record?
What a fascinating topic!
.Gov employee here as well. I'm in my late 20's and earning about $120k/yr. For what I actually do I am really quite shamefully overpaid. I know it and freely admit it. It actually leaves me with quite a bit of very real guilt (i.e. effectively placing claims upon actual taxpayers, etc) but I suppose that's a story for another time. However, unlike user 'poopyjim' here I have a different attitude. I don't "make nice" - if I see something wrong, I stick my nose into it and fix it. I raise hell and call attention to it, so far it has made for pretty decent results. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. It helps working in a target rich (read: inefficient) environment.
Last year alone I saved approx $1.25M by my best guess (ok, in government it's tough to accomplish real savings...money has a way of getting spent...at the very worst though, this amounts to $1.25M in efficiency improvement). I campaign for useless, overpaid contractors getting fired, and I do my damnedest that if I'm going to get shamelessly overpaid, I at least need to earn my keep. I also helped negotiate a contract for a straight $400K savings just this past week, so this year is off to a good start!
So that's my attitude. Once I came to the realization that my aim of prosecuting financial crimes was not realistic - that the system will never go after the big, the strong, the connected - but instead the token periphery, weak players - I instead chose to make the best of a dysfunctional situation. I see things for what they are and pull no punches. I am ready for whatever else comes - a healthy dose of PM's, plenty of food in the home, a bug out bag stashed in the closet, and a daily re-assessment and attempt to do something positive. Even if what I am doing is little more than the tale of Sisyphus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus) incarnate, I can rest easy at night (next to my hot fiance, thank you very much) knowing that I have no debt, I speak honestly at all times, and I behave in a way I believe to be right. The sole exception being that I suck funds away from the unwilling taxpayer (and digital monetizing printing press).
While I am typically a lurker on ZH, I felt the need to comment - if only to show other readers that not all people working for the .gov are pathetic, deluded weiners like the Butters-avater-ed 'Mr pain'.
Wow late 20s and in the $120s. You really hit the jackpot there sonny. What I save makes your stories seem like shit. I guess my crime here has been to say I took a pay cut to come in because I wanted to do the right thing and it was good long term and I am proud of what I do. I guess I should have been like you and say I found a sucker who would pay me big and I am making the best of it and fuck everyone.
Late 20s and making $120,000 a year?
Good fucking lord...
$120K isn't a lot in DC or NYC.
Yeah it's not a lot in DC because that's where most of the blood suckers live and work.
The Monarchy of Singapore has been voted the most competitive and least corrupt economy on Earth. The country's King...er, Prime Minister, makes more than a million a year. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong, another supposedly uber-competitive land, makes $1.2 million per year. Go figure.
Neither has any natural resources. That's the key. When you have no assets to protect except the value you add to others, you tend to be less corrupt.
The nations with minimal natural resources "just happen" to have the highest per capita incomes. On the other hand, they always lose wars, but if you ask them, it hardly matters, they don't start them and both sides of the conflict seek their value-add.
I think the difference was their leader. Lee in Singapore was actually interested in making his country better rather than benefitting at the expense of the people.
According to the Wall Street Journal the big salaries and money are going to the media giants leaders.
Liberty Media and Viacom among others.
They're the most powerful people in the world. They move ALL stock, people, books, thoughts, opinions.
They're dangerous. That's should have been proven in 2008. A LOT of people saw the crash coming and detailed it actively, specifically and in real time. The media pretends (to this day) that outside of a quirky weirdo in a hedge fund, no one saw it. Not only is that false, the media corporations went out of their way to identify the troublemakers and blacklist them.
That WE, Americans, allowed media corporations to grow in scale, laterally, horizontally (defense, consumer products, book publishers) was a terrible oversight. We all read Geoge Orwell, yet we walked right into it.
It amazes me. I would vote for a GREEN PIG, if it stood up and promised to limit the size a single media conglomerate could get, severely restricting the assets it could own and control. Media is a different asset and we treat it like any other.
Not one green pig yet.
You have to pay people a lot of money to sell out their fellow citizens, friends & family. Even at 180K plus "promised" benefits many are gonna say its not enough.
If you're gonna trash the country you have to pay, buying treason is expensive, you have to pay enough for the key employees to go somewhere better-which may be nowhere to offset the annihilation of their own country.
Firemen in this city earn between $120K and $250K - not counting overtime. After 22 years they can retire like kings, collecting as much as $350K a year.
And they do absolutely nothing 90% of the time
Firemen are the worst when it comes to outrageous salaries
No shit - if its risky, they let it burn. "Never lost a basement" is their battle cry.
I remember my fathers words when I was younger. He used to say, "just get a government job and you will be set for life". This from a man that had lived through the great depression. In a sense he was right. I have worked with the government on all levels here in Canada all my working life. All you have to do is look at the great disparity in the poor community in which I live between private and government employers to see this insanity. I know it is unfair on every level compared to private enterprise. Someday I hope there is a solution. The removal of minimum wage might be one and perhaps a scaling down of the size of the government would help. I am in helath care so it is a little different for me, but the upper end salaries and CEO salaries in the government are ludicrous to say the least.
I've been bitchin and ranting about this for years. These fucking losers are worse than unions that have to hunt in packs - these assholes are like coddled zoo animals who turn around and judge the rest according to their easy standards. State workers too. To the core, this is the hot button issue for me. Its so unbelievably unfair, so liberal, so Europe. Pay alone is outfuckin'rageous. Throw in retirement, COLA's, drug/health/dental/visions, etc. - ITS NOT FAIR.
don't forget that they hate folks in the private sector for paying their salaries. welfare breeds contempt.
You have it wrong. They don't hate the folks in the private sector for paying their salaries...they hate being reminded that it is the private sector that is paying their salaries.
The way to know price increases or goods shortages were coming in the Soviet bloc in the 70's/80's was by when the police/prof. military/paramilitary staff and apparatchiks were given raises and/or extra vacation. To build an unwavering trust in and support for the People's Democracy, you understand. I am sure there are many other factors at play here, but this one gnaws uncomfortably at the back of my mind.
On the other hand, while we sit here and argue about the validity of the hundreds of thousands paid out to undeserving/lazy/unaccountable federal staff members, the real criminals are positively having a rupture laughing their asses off at the lack of attention being paid to the tens/hundreds of billions in well-greased outsourced contracting that is happening at the same time through the back door.
Get a friggin' clue, people. IS there gov't waste, inefficiency, perversion of incentives, culture of complacency, etc.? Of course, no question about it. But I'd much rather have competent, experienced and well-paid professionals GET TO FUCKING WORK cleaning it up, than to have a large, gray mass of faceless, useless functionaries existing for the sole purpose of maintaining that gov position in future budget appropriations.
The issue is not their salaries, the problem is whether they are being paid to ensure unquestioning servitude, to look the other way, to reward campaign/union/supporter groups? 'Cuz it sure don't look much like this is a performance-based bonus from here... Kudos to those working productively, with expertise and honor in the government. There are those. And I certainly would not mind paying top coin for a relentless, wily and ruthless AG to prosecute nationwide financial fraud, or FBI specialist team who is able to assemble an airtight RICO indictment -- especially when they are up against hordes of lawyers making 7 figures and entire armies of lobbyists (and all that lobbyists can buy). I just have little faith left that such wage increases were done for the right reasons, with the right balances, and for the right people (which is to say for the benefit of the taxpayer).
these guys will turn national socialist and commandeer farmlands and factories before they will join the soup lines to save free trade/capitalism. its going to get ugly.
If the gov't doesn't pay them, they'll loose all that talent...
"The most important divisive issue of our times. The haves (government employees) versus the have nots (the private sector)."
Charles Krauthammer
New Orleans Investment Conference
"Jessica Klement, government affairs director at the Federal Managers Association, says the government's official pay analysis shows that federal workers earn less than private workers for comparable jobs. Still, she says, managers are willing to give up next year's raise: "If it will help the country bounce back, they're willing to make the sacrifice."
No wonder with kind of talent and keen insight we are so f***** up.
Strip out the DoD and run the numbers again. Illuminating.
You ZH folks should lighten-up. These fellows are running the entire economy. They own half the houses and set interest rate and security prices. That's an important job! They should be well compensated.
Sorry the gov are doing absolutely noting to run the economy (or anything else) ... It's the FED and I'm sure they make much more.
I have a friend who has worked for CalTrans since graduation. He knows my views on .gov, so he likes to rub it in. Here's what he tells me:
In 19 years he has never once worked a 40 hour week.
He gets in at 8 am and usually leaves right after lunch.
He and his supervisor are surfers. If the waves are up, no workie.
He runs a business on the side, since he has so much free time. Works on it at the office.
He says it's impossible to be fired.
He has an ocean view home, a new car, jet skis, a boat and travels to Europe 3-4x per year.
He retires next year, at age 43, with a full inflation-adjusted pension.
He may joing some other .gov agency to earn a paycheck in addition to the pension, and 2x pension at age 63.
I work 60-70 hour weeks, and net of benefits, probably make the same as him. he laughs at me weekly.
We need a web site dedicated to these stories.
next to the one about the bankers and the 12-15 trillion on the line, I assume!
If you're not careful, the banks will fund your website. It's great propaganda. No, it's no proportional, not even close. Yes, it sucks....but. If it were proportional to our artery bleeding out, or we had already manhandled the banks, I'd be right there with you on the salaries.
I'm not. We're starting too many fronts in this war, all at the same time too.
Well atleast your have your dignity. See who's laughing when the peasants revolt and his cushy little existence comes tumbling down on him.
Sure he's laughing- does this guy make anything of value or just ride the system out until it fails.
CalTrans workers won't even be working in 2 years, so he better be in GOLD at the time of his firing
Part of the oligarch takeover is the destruction of the private class. Democrats and Republicans alike have done well with unions, government working class voting for at least one of the major parties because the GOP and Democrats have guaranteed ridiculous pensions and payouts.
Oligarchs control the government class, which destroys the private class.
This is the same shit that the PRI in Mexico ran for decades and probably something similar to Soviet Russia.
It's OK for a little while, for government class, but soon the blow up in corruption, anger and financial pyramid inversion. Totalitarianism BITCH
I'm a federal worker. And I make a whopping $46,780.00 s year. Of course, all I do is get my hands dirty working on aircraft. Nothing important like riding a desk, or anything like that.
My wifes the same as me, so even together we don't make six figures. Oh well, lifes still good, for now. I know its all going down the tubes eventually, nothing to be done about that. Enjoy it while its there, don't waste any of it on such trivial stuff as gold or silver (can't eat it or shoot it), buy lots of food and ammunition.
$180,000 a year :-0
WTF do they do for that?
More banks and ABA proxies blasting the buying of Treasuries (QE2), instead of buying bank assets! (what they wanted) I'm still LMAO that some of you are falling for this "oh oh" bullshit from the ABA.
This one is priceless, a BoA worried about CREDIT BUBBLES!
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39402858/Bank_of_America_Analysts_Attack_Fed_s_QE2
Wanna bet some more private planes fly into more government offices, if not bullets?!?!
A banker hasn't even choked on a chicken bone since 2008. I'll take that bet.
Do you get a pay raise as well?
Excellent. You can sit around in your underwear drinking warm beer and holding your AK, waiting for anyone to come along and mess with you.
Oh wait, you won't be able to afford underwear at these prices. Now that's embarrassing ...
Wow, sounds a bit like Ireland's future now that I think about it ....
The difference between the have's and the havenots is " a public sector job ". Government at all levels is crouding out the private sector. Interest rates will rise dramatically when the private sector finally gets an increase in disposible income and is blamed for inflation.
Anyone have any idea how many of these are M.D.'s?
Anyone know how many of these are M.D.'s?
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