Public Divided on Pay Cuts For State Employees

Only 40% of adults favor a 10% across the board pay cut for public employees. Government has grown so large over the last few decades, almost everyone has a friend or relative on the public payroll.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 40% of Adults favor a 10% pay cut for all state employees to help reduce state spending.  Forty-one percent (41%), however, oppose an across-the-board pay cut like this.  Nineteen percent (19%) are not sure.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

I think most Americans have trouble coming to grips with how overcompensated public employees are.

Overall, federal workers earned an average salary of $67,691 in 2008 for occupations that exist both in government and the private sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The average pay for the same mix of jobs in the private sector was $60,046 in 2008, the most recent data available. 

These salary figures do not include the value of health, pension and other benefits, which averaged $40,785 per federal employee in 2008 vs. $9,882 per private worker, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

When you combine wages and benefits, an average worker made $108,476 and that data is from 2008. A average worker in the private sector only made $69,928 combined.

From Hot Air: On The Table

Here is a great article posted over at Hot Air. Doctor Zero dissects the deficit commission, taxes and government spending and makes a good case abolishing public sector unions needs to be part of the solution. Is it fair to ask private sector employees to pay more taxes and work until they are 65 or older so public sector employees can retire with almost full pay at the age of 50?

Some grim humor could be found earlier this week, in the spectacle of the President’s “deficit reduction commission” going over budget and running out of money. The entire premise of the commission is absurd. The deficit is not the problem. It’s a symptom. The disease is government spending. No administration or Congress dominated by Democrats has any chance of diagnosing this disease, let alone treating it effectively. There is some chance the Republicans will do better, but only if we keep on top of them.

Watching this Presidential commission discuss strategies for deficit reduction is like watching a pack of gluttons talk about getting in shape while they prowl up and down a buffet table. They linger over the deep-fried mortgage interest deduction caps, dip their spoons into the rich chocolate of the VAT tax, and lick their lips as they wait for the expired Bush tax cuts to pop out of the oven. They end up perched on the edge of creaking chairs, tittering at the wonderfully naughty idea of devouring everyone’s 401k plans for dessert. It’s a nauseating spectacle that will only end when they’re escorted from the restaurant by angry voters.

The President made some headlines...

Read more here.

Pelosi Refuses Public Access at Health Care Announcement

Well, that will prevent those embarrassing "You Lie" moments. Nancy Pelosi refused public access to her health care bill announcement. They can read the 1990 pages later.

From YouTube:

In a stunning development, Speaker Pelosi Denies Public Access to Health Care Public Plan Announcement.