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A Modest Proposal: Cut 15% Of The Federal Government Workforce, Save $1.4 Trillion In Ten Years
While Washington is baffling everyone with male cow manure, presenting 7-slide powerpoints full of talking points and empty of actual actionable cost-cutting proposals, while draping the melodrama in ever more evanescent haute couture of "emperor's clothing" du jour, the one true solution to all our problems is so simple that it is perfectly logical that it would have been avoided like the plague by D.C. In a nutshell: do to the government, what the privates sector has done to itself in the past 3 years, and fire 15% of the federal government workforce. After all everyone, even the government, complains about the bloat in the system. Here is the chance to fix it. And the benefits, unlike the back-end loaded and extremely loose "bipartisan plan", which happens to invoke such pseudo-totalitarian constructs as the "Super Congress", can be quantified immediately, with the applicable savings made abundantly clear to all from day one. In this case - slimming the US government ever so modestly, by just 15%, would generate savings of $117.4 billion a year, of $1.4 trillion over the next 10 years. And no, these are not reductions in future spendings: these are real actionable cuts from the day they are enacted, with fungible cash able to be used for any other, much more needed purposes, up to and including economically stimulative projects, which actually generate jobs for the private sector.
John Poehling explains in more detail:
It appears from the Congressional Research Service (http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34685_20110419.pdf) that the Federal Govt has 2.9 million employees with an average all in wage & benefit package that averages $146,100.
This includes $140.4 billion in retirees costs allocated to the 2.9 mm active workers (adds about $49,500 to the all in cost per employee).
If we cut the size of the federal govt workforce by 15% (as most companies did) & reduced the all in cost per employee by 15% we could save $117.4 billion per year (a reduction from $423.2 bn to $305.7 bn).
Over the next 10 years, this would save $1.4 trillion (assuming an annual COLA of 3%).
Obviously, since this is a sensible, logical proposal, it will never succeed, as it entails actual, real sacrifices from the government sector. And that is impossible - after all they don't call it a Kabuki for nothing. DC doing something to cut costs, even if it does not impair the private sector, instead of promising to do so in the future, would make a mockery out of all those who made a mockery of the past several weeks on the Hill. Which is impossible.
Last but not least, we should never forget that Congress gets its primary modus operandi from the immortal advice of the Simpsons' Troy McClure: "And now that you know how it's done... don't do it" (except when Fluffy Bunny happens to be America's middle class of course).
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The DC government and all corporations are organized criminal syndicates and allowing them to continue this charade is unacceptable. Fire them all and return sovereignty to states. Divide the booty! Blood and treasure! Kool-Aid drinkers will be used as human shields. So say we all.
The beauty is in the simplicity. It never really matters what you cut. There are those that will make the argument that you need to take a scalpel to the budget. That you may cut something that's really needed. These are convenient idiots. This line of reasoning leads to functions within the government screaming that their job is absolutely necessary and that all of society will fall into a bottomless pit of despair unleashing the Kracken if they're not given a pay raise every year. So nothing ever gets cut because you have an endless stream of people around DC constantly lobbying for their jobs and pay and resources. And it's why a "future spending cut" is the Dulcinea in this whole tragic-comedy.
So, yes, cut by an arbitrary number across the board. It sends the best message: you're broke -- it doesn't matter what you cut. It all helps.
Easier to have all Federal employees take a 15% pay cut. In chicago, emanual offered the union a choice between a pay cut or layoffs. When they refused the pay cut, out went the pink slips.
Its not so easy to just cut pay. When government institutions do this, they lose institutional memory and people who know how things work.
And its crazy IMO to cut people making $100k a year while giving tax breaks and subsidies to people making $1 billion a year. See Koch brothers. (Seems to me the recent deal did not cut any Koch subsidy)
Also, the anit-tax crowd seems to love tax cuts so much, anytime the government gets a bit flush, they demand a tax break or ten. Happened in california and in Los Angeles--both of which are fiscally suffering yet agreed to revenue cuts in the last few years.
Tyler you are the "ECLETIC" host.
25% reduction!
And bring bloated salaries and benefits in line with private sector!
Cut about 70% of the fucking Military/Security abomination. We would be a lot safer.
How about cutting all Federal employee's total compensation by 15%, but keep everyone employed. The private sector should do that same.
We have a daily parabolic on AUD? Julia?
they took Ron Paul's official site down but other reps pages work fine... bastards.
http://paul.house.gov/
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Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
WTF? ass clown?
Works fine, must be your dixie cup and string net connection, skippy.
Darn I should have traded more margin...
Europe is breaking risk cross handles on the downside. It's all Italy news. August/September is going to be a brutal mth for markets violatlity wise
Risk off?
An endless stream of discardable monosyllabic spam.
Tyler, are you ever going to do anything about these trolls (using multiple IDs)?
just me or did anyone else see DAX down -100% on bloomberg for a few minutes? No idea why
I'm so sick of hearing about the debt I could puke blood. Blow it up already.
China ( SHANG douche) mainland off 2/3rd's of a percent? Hang SENG> Tiawon style...,,,,
Squid Ville? China kicks my nut sac.... Corrupt Squids....
{ BOND >James BOND....
Well, well, well. We have a fellow believer? KUDOS
How about cutting defense contractors and soldiers 15 percent also, .....and do you think govt will net over a trillion? Those employees at weapons manufacturer pay taxes, mortgages...so their unemployment has costs too. Cuts must come but to act like paying down debt will create jobs in next 5 to 10 years, is to be in denial...ask any country that had to implement austerity to pay IMF loans...and if you cut middle class incomes, it immediately contracts economy? For all the cry about taxing job creators (rich), we all know a dollar out of a rich corporation or rich persons cash reserves/wealth causes less harm/contraction to economy than a dollar cut from working person's salary.
No unemployment, full employment building factories.
Time to add on that Aud trade... A little GBP is in the works,,
Bah, ha, ha! Then who is going to imprison and shoot at us?
Who was that ( CNBS) ass mieister. Yes I spelled That RIGHT
Are you drunk, or on a bender?
Hey pin dick )=( grow up.... Any thoughts on BoJ? I was tempted to junk your Juvinal ass...
Syllables!!! and sEMANTICS!!
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I'm 15 dollars aud positive.... RBA is aJOKE. I can cash out or add.... I'll add...
Things could be worse.
Switzerland is still going strong.
http://geraldcelente.proboards.com
great ideas are bad ideas. either commit to a collpse and let fiat dollars accomplish feats of legerdemain on all my debt or be quiet with the good ideas for real debt managemnent.
Some people will not aggree... I like a long GBP.... I rea`d trendlines... I wonder if that Ass Clown is onBoard? It could steal a thought... Children make me laugh...
you could cut all the workers and all the state hand outs it still wouldnt solve the underlying problem. its the interest on the money already borrowed that is unaffordable. reform the entire system of debt then you might be getting somewhere.
Am I Catching a falling Knife?
Hear hear!
I have been proposing a starting 40% cut in all gov workers, all levels. And put them to work building factories, which as they near completion they can get training in factory work or other private sector work of their choosing.
Imagine how incredibly beneficial this would be. Those gov workers could then tell the remaining gov workers, what it is like in the real world. Where you have to produce EVERY DAY.
But Ill take 15% for starters, 15 every 6 months. Read the constitution, it outline the Government, we are so so bloated it is crazy. And they get paid, even without the benefits, significantly more than private sector, it is insane.
They don't even have to fire workers. The Federal workforce is old and headed for retirement, I believe the workforce can be cut by 10% just by not filling positions. Add in the cuts outlined and you're talking serious savings. God knows the place can be streamlined.
The poster conveniently forgot about lost tax revenues, unemployment benefits etc etc that those people would then be forced to claim. Cutting the government workforce, before private sector jobs are created en masse, would solve nothing. If it did, why not just have one person working in the USA?
Instead of slagging off the Government, why not turn your attention to the small businesses and large corporations that have so obviously raped and pillaged the bonhomie of their employees over the past XXX years; so much so that median private sector jobs pay such piss poor wages with lousy pension/sickness benfits to boot?????
Private sector is just as much the 'bad boy' here. It's the private sector that's made stagflation a reality for countless hard working millions by hammering down wages and conditions.
Better Yet! Lose all the troops and keep only the Generals. Lose all the actual field staff in the offices and keep only upper management. The upper crust is all that matters anyhow. They make the big bucks so keep them happy.
How badly overpaid is a schmuck like Geithner?
And have to compete in the private work force???? Fuck that shit.
Wait, 99 weeks of unemployment and food stamps, right?
Hmmmm
More better yet, since the government is of no value whatsoever, start a phase out of ALL government employess, including the military, at 10%/year. Then, when there is no government, no one will have the power (authority, not power) to collect taxes. Great! Assign the rolled over national debt to individuals and corporations.
Then, when everyone welches(sp?) on the carried over debt.......... hmmmm I don't know what would actually happen if there was a full default on the US debt. I don't think we would all die.
,
If car makers can produce entire vehicles at 12 to 14 total units (1 unit = 1 hour) of human labor, when that rate was 55 units back in the 70s, and if major multinationals can produce 30% to 100% more goods and services with literally 50% fewer workers, isn't it time that we expected at least some progress along these lines from the federal government?
What a completely bogus argument. The very fact that LESS PEOPLE (man hours) are needed to produce the goods is the stem of the whole problem. Just see how far the USA (or any other country) would go in financial terms with less and less people actually working and producing (tax) revenues for even the necessities in life to be maintained. The slack (in terms of human manpower) produced by manufacturing efficiencies has to be taken up somehow, somewhere. Hence, in a country that's not only done that, but shipped swathes of production abroad, in order to maintain corporate profits, you have larger government and larger service industries.
The Super Congress! A spitting image of the Polit Bureau in the former USSR.
A more appropriate name'd be: the Hyper Congress.
Better idea. Bring the troops home, shut down the MIC, build oodles of TNW and point. The Cold War was the golden age.
Except for taking the national debt from 35% of GDP to 70% in the span of a decade and creating a pile of radioactive shit for which we're still trying to find a home.
Cut govt. spending. Cut govt. jobs. Reduce the military. Bring the military home. End the war(s), incursions. Etc. etc. All great ideas. All doomed to go into the dustbin of history. I read the myriad of suggestions and find that many of them are sound and would produce REAL results. The only glitch in ALL of them is the entities required to do the cutting/reductions are in control of doing the cutting/reductions or are receiving the pork pie from those that spend. Bottom line is.... it ain't gonna happen!
The reality of the world we live in today is solidified by the recent (and ongoing) actions of our "representative" govt. currently in power. It will not stop until it can't continue. PERIOD. Call it negative. Call it shortsighted. Call it what you will, anything but reality. Change will only come when there is no other alternative. As long as a power/money grubbing politician/banker can continue their own agenda at someone elses expense.... as long as a humans noshing on govt. pork can continue to dine unchecked...they will. Simple fact. Might not be a nice one, but it is still fact.
You can offer up any specious (or even realistic) argument you want but will be proved wrong EVERY time by simply following the decisions and policies followed and made each and every hour by our current "representation" at most every level (from the small town council, to the county board of commissioners, to the state policies right up to the federal level. It permeates our society at ALL levels and will not end until it can't contiue regardless of how loudly the sheep bleet.
The second leg of the problem is that half of the sheep aren't even bleeting at all. They are content to dine on pork and always will be so. Between those two immutable facts the problem has a pair of legs that will always walk the problem away as we try to correct it... always a step or two away form correction. That won't change until the legs are cut out from under the problem. Like it or not, that's the reality of the world we live in these days. Just my 2 cents worth.
I agree that the federal workforce needs major reductions, particularly in the multitude of social planning agencies and education, although across the board as a whole suits me just fine.
However, I don't know where these supposed average salary figures are arrived at. $146,000? Where? What agency? If you're talking about Congress that's one thing, but a supposed AVERAGE across the board? I think not. If there is some accounting/addition/compilation method being used which includes some sort of 'benefits', then this needs to be matched when comparing private salaries (apples to apples, etc).
Also, somewhere along this thread I read a post detailing the salaries of lifeguards and teachers running over a half-million dollars. It's worth noting that these are STATE/LOCAL gubment positions, not federal. I don't think there is even a federal pay scale that goes that high (President makes $400k). While there is certainly plenty of dead weight in the federal system (PLENTY), we must not forget that our state and local gubments put much of the federal system to shame when it comes to outright insanity in the pay department. County school administrators routinely make more than the governor of the entire state, etc. All of the preceding by no means is intended to imply that Sally Schoolteacher makes too much (usually they are the ones who get shafted while Principal Dorkmeyer earns healthy six-digits).
I guess my whole point is that while there is most assuredly room for major reductions across the board in the fedguv system (there is something horrendously wrong when the largest workforce in a country is its own government), we should be careful about painting the entire workforce as earning more than congressmen in annual compensation, because the reality is quite different.
"However, I don't know where these supposed average salary figures are arrived at. $146,000? Where? What agency?"
Here are a few examples, directly from the current federal register listing of federal wages. And these are not specifically directed to congress but even if they were why does that make any difference? The level of output is most definitely NOT commensurate with the level of pay, regarldess of where you look on the scale. And that is the problem because these slugs are bullet and bomb proof once they are vested.
SALARY TABLE NO. 2011-EX
RATES OF BASIC PAY FOR THE EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE (EX)
RATES FROZEN AT 2010 LEVELS
EFFECTIVE JANUARY 2011
Level I
$ 199,700
Level II
179,700
Level III
165,300
Level IV
155,500
Level V
145,700
SALARY TABLE 2011
INCORPORATING A LOCALITY PAYMENT OF 14.16%
(See http://www.opm.gov/oca/11tables/locdef.asp for definitions of locality pay areas.)
RATES FROZEN AT 2010 LEVELS
EFFECTIVE JANUARY 2011 Annual Rates by Grade and Step x
Grade
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Step 8
Step 9
Step 10
1
$ 20,324 (Lowest average starting salary for lowest paid federal employee in the country, not counting benefits. This would be the equivalent to the non english speaking guy at a gas station that mops up the spunk off of the restroom floors.)
$ 21,003
$ 21,679
$ 22,351
$ 23,027
$ 23,424
$ 24,092
$ 24,766
$ 24,792
$ 25,422
2
22,851
23,395
24,151
24,792
25,071
25,808
26,546
27,283
28,021
28,758
3
24,933
25,764
26,595
27,426
28,257
29,088
29,919
30,750
31,581
32,412
4
27,990
28,922
29,855
30,788
31,720
32,653
33,586
34,519
35,451
36,384
5
31,315
32,359
33,402
34,445
35,489
36,532
37,576
38,619
39,663
40,706
6
34,907
36,070
37,233
38,397
39,560
40,723
41,886
43,050
44,213
45,376
7
38,790
40,084
41,377
42,671
43,964
45,258
46,551
47,844
49,138
50,431
8
42,960
44,391
45,823
47,254
48,686
50,117
51,549
52,981
54,412
55,844
9
47,448
49,029
50,611
52,192
53,773
55,354
56,935
58,516
60,097
61,678
10
52,252
53,994
55,736
57,478
59,221
60,963
62,705
64,447
66,189
67,931
11
57,408
59,321
61,234
63,148
65,061
66,974
68,888
70,801
72,714
74,628
12
68,809
71,102
73,396
75,689
77,983
80,276
82,570
84,863
87,157
89,450
13
81,823
84,550
87,278
90,005
92,732
95,459
98,187
100,914
103,641
106,369
14
96,690
99,913
103,136
106,358
109,581
112,804
116,027
119,249
122,472
125,695
15
113,735
117,527
121,318
125,109
128,900
132,692
136,483
140,274
144,065
147,857 (Highest average starting salary for federal employees in the country, not counting benefits. This would be the equivalent to a low level corporate exec.)
Bear in mind that these numbers are much like government in themselves. I can pull (from the same source, federal register) starting salary numbers as hight as $200k to as low as $20k. These are starting salaries without benefit calculations. And those benefits are very generous. Much more so than offered any private entity to all but the higher level executives.
The bottom line is that the sheer number of employees that essentially produce no goods are funded by our efforts and the return is negligible at best. And yes, I am referring directly to federal stats. It can be much worse at some state and local levels dependent upon goegraphy.
Heres a proposal.
You round up all the civil servants in a department or program and you make them an offer. You are going to cut their budget by 15% in three years time. Bang, just like that.
Unless, over that period, they can themselves save that 15% per annum, then they can keep 30% of the monies saved in the form of accrued bonuses for those who want to stay and 70% as payoff those who want to go at the end of year 3. The catch being that standards of service delivery to the public must be maintained or there is a clawback from the bonus pool.
In year 3, you repeat the offer. Government eats itself.
Likewise, tax inspectors should get to keep 10% of the evasion money they find. Like tax bounty hunters. And private accountancy firms are allowed to play too.
Heres a proposal.
You round up all the civil servants in a department or program and you make them an offer. You are going to cut their budget by 15% in three years time. Bang, just like that.
Unless, over that period, they can themselves save that 15% per annum, then they can keep 30% of the monies saved in the form of accrued bonuses for those who want to stay and 70% as payoff those who want to go at the end of year 3. The catch being that standards of service delivery to the public must be maintained or there is a clawback from the bonus pool.
In year 3, you repeat the offer. Government eats itself.
Likewise, tax inspectors should get to keep 10% of the evasion money they find. Like tax bounty hunters. And private accountancy firms are allowed to play too.
"Likewise, tax inspectors should get to keep 10% of the evasion money they find. Like tax bounty hunters. And private accountancy firms are allowed to play too."
Gee, nothing could possibly go wrong with that.
yeah no kidding. just like farming out for-profit prisons. for profit prisons need prisoners. how do you create prisoners? just pay off judges, as recently happened in pennsylvania for juvenile offenders. in front of those judges what would be an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal w/good behavior becomes a few months at the local for profit detention center.
some things inherently should not have a profit impulse attached.
OK a couple little tiny things:
1. The chart shows the COST per employee and then actually says that about half of that is salary. So if the $ cost is twice the average private sector salary, then the public and private are...EXACTLY THE SAME. Oh, the outrage...the totally misplaced outrage.
2. The post assumes a 15% cut to the workforce, then blithely adds a 15% cut in per employee cost. As discussed yesterday with Ron Paul's whiff of a post, that is skittle shitting unicorn talk, which is a key part of why the USA is getting so fucked up. So knock it off already.
As also stated yesterday, and many times before, the government could use a 20% haircut. But it will not be a modest proposal, or easy, or blindingly obvious. It will be difficult, and painful, and make you and your kids less safe, secure, and healthy. Because we can't afford that shit with all the corruption and treasonous selling out going on around here.
And that's the way it is (PTHTPTHPTHPT).
I don't buy the premise that it will "...make you and your kids less safe, secure, and healthy", necessarily. Example? Our heavily subsidized fossil fuel system. Our heavily subsidized high fructose corn syrup/corn/soy economy. Both cause deep violence and injury to our safety, security, and our health...literally.
I agree, however, that before any politician comes to me to talk cuts or tax increases, they have to come with clean hands...i.e., don't talk to me about any of this until you eliminate the rot and stench of corruption that pervades government today.
They're forcing you to drive to the store to buy corn syrup? The bastards!
Hah.
Though to clarify, I never claimed any compulsion. Just described the nature of the system and implied the inherent damage it does to all life, including yours...in response to the poster's assumption that cutting federal employment necessarily diminishes safety and health.
Good eye, Jim. I saw the double-counted 15% trick too.
I'd be more than happy to entertain this idea at a 7.5% level if it was concommitant with an increase in tax revenues of equal size (a 0.25% rate increase for the top 5%).
Eliminating the few environmental protections we have, as our corporate feudal system grows (thanks to all the recent stimulus), would be like stripping you naked, strapping a good steak your balls, and dropping you off in a national park next to a pack of hungry wolves.
Or fill in your best analogy, metaphor, etc...
The belief of Anarchy fundamentally misperceives the nature of Man.
That said, I'm sure we could easily cut at least 20% from federal payrolls, as well as drop the average Federal salary to well under $100,000. If the Federal average is higher than $75,000, we've got a huge problem.
As with other things, before sacrifice there must be truth and honesty. All these politicians, whether they want to cut spending or raise taxes,....must come with clean hands, eliminating the corruption and blatant theft...
Throughout the discussion here, there is hardly mention of the statistical misrepresentation caused by “averaging” salaries. Most federal employees do not get paid those $100,000 plus salaries under question. Many are simply low level workers paid reasonable salaries performing what may be, and certainly should be, useful work protecting parks, environment, food quality, worker safety, customs etc.
Nor do many ask whether perhaps it is private sector workers who are underpaid thanks to such factors as the export of jobs, “drug war” incarcerations, lax immigrant worker policies, and a neglected crumbling infrastructure. And yes, the absence of effective labor unions. It would appear that DESPITE these supposed inflated government salaries, average worker pay has fallen behind while extreme wealth has concentrated in the upper elite.
And also, how many realize at least 60% of federal civil servants now work for the military, Homeland Security, or the CIA? Maintaining a police state can be so burdensome.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_civil_service
A proper 'cost modeling' approach entails going after the 'big ticket' items first, especially those that contibute little or negatively to a vibrant beneficial economy. That means first cutting the 16 trillion$ to financial racketeers, the tens of trillions to excess militarism, the multi-trillions overpaid to a coddled big pharma/health industries, and the many trillions to a counter- productive drug prohibition "war".
We'll have none of that rational analysis around here. Now give the Tyler a harumph!
If I promised anyone who clicks on my name a billion dollars, should any of them be surprised if they don't get it? 90% of these people are not going to see a penny of those lush retirement benefits they were promised. The first thing they raided were the pension funds. Look how we treat our veterans? These lemmings will all go off the cliff together and blame each other on the way down. Good riddance I say.
Its a good time to remind everyone about Tom Coburn's AWOL Federal Employee report:
http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=8d706bec-eae6-49ba-9b42-c258f655e21e
If I hadn't experienced AWOL Federal employees firsthand, I wouldn't even believe this possible...
So much money, so many games and so many idiot voters...the Beltway is the Con Artists' Ball !!!!!
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