Procrastination feeds deficits. Deficits feed debt. Debt feeds catastrophe.
Politicians avoid balancing budgets by saying they will do so not this year, but “sometime in the future.” Hence our looming debt crisis. This debt either must be paid, defaulted, or … “monetized.”
That last term is code for inflation.
Why not bring the need for cuts and inflation together? After all, the Federal Reserve still exists, so some inflation is inevitable. Inflation is what central banks like the Fed do.
So, barring a complete monetary reform, simply freeze all federal salaries, at least until the average level of compensation for federal jobs matches the average level of compensation for comparable private-sector jobs.
Currently, as James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation has uncovered, federal workers earn 22 percent more than private sector workers … and that’s just in terms of nominal pay. If our politicians turned heroic and cut these down to where they should be, immediately, we’d save $47 billion in taxpayer funds per year.
But it gets worse, as Chris Prandoni writes: “The average federal civilian employee earns on average $32,115 a year in non-cash compensation compared to a private sector employee who earns three times less, $9,882 annually.”
So freeze benefits, too. Defrost only when they match private sector levels.
Politicians could start the freeze right now, just to show a smidgen of discipline. More likely? They’ll go with what they know: Procrastination.
Responsibility? Wait for another freeze. Of hell’s shiny surface.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
11 replies on “Freeze Federal Salaries”
.… This debt must be paid, defaulted, or monetized .…
This debt can never and will never be paid and to monetize it will be to see to our beloved fraternal republic’s Rhodesia-to-Zimbabwe-ization.
And them apples leaves only that We, The People, first DISOBEY our feral gummint enslaver and indebter, then that we DEFUND it and force that it DEFAULT.
Tough titty, Peking!
The problem, dear friend, is not in the salaries but in the number of employees in worthless agencies, e.g.,
The Do Not Call bureaucracy which is impotent to stop annoying calls, usually at dinner time.
Not a question of “if” but “when” the first state makes a break by shutting off the money supply. Wonder what will happen when they send in federal troops to seize the state treasury.
Wow!
We have some pretty crazy ideas out there. I personally think that government salaries should have an indepentdent review board look at them and monitor them. Their salaries should miror the public salary schedules. I know it takes lots of money to get elected but bennies for the rest of your life are unfair to we the people.
Greed is a nastey “virtue”.
[…] Common Sense wіtһ Paul Jacob – Brought tο Yου bу Citizens і… […]
THE POLITICIANS THINK WE ARE STUPID. ARE YOU? I KNOW I AM NOT.
WE NEED TO RID OURSELVES OF ALL THIS CORRUPTION, ESPECIALLY OUR POLITICIANS…STARTING AT THE TOP.
WITH THIS ADMINISTRATION EVIL IS AT IT’S HIGHEST AND ONLY THE CITIZENS CAN TAKE CONTROL…AND NOW IS THE TIME BECAUSE MAJORITY OF OUR MILITARY ARE PROTECTING OTHER COUNTRIES. WE NEED A REVOLUTION TO RID OUR COUNTRY OF THE EVIL.
Good ideas Paul, but just dreams with as much chance of happening as seeing term limits for all elected officials. If we get a group of new people, especially GOPs in November, it will be interesting to see how many changes they make to reduce the payrolls and the number of people sucking as the public trough. And maybe they can even find a way to get rid of all the expensive and worthless czars in goverhment.
But I won’t hold my breath waiting for any of these.
If starting with a freeze- DO TI AT THE CONGRESSIONAL LEVEL, not the working stiff.
And, to save even more- cut (as suggested) some agencies and farm subsidies. But ( for example) Archer Daniels Midland which gets millions in ethanol subsidies bribes I mean contributes-to Congressional candidiates of both parties. the cotton growers lobby was (might still be) run by the son of a former GOP senator.
And, it was DeLay, as GOP Whip who pushed earmarks to unheard of (up until then, now higher) levels. Newt Gingrich ahd his “Contract With America”- and that wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. Reagan had the Grace Commission- and look where there recommendatiosn went. The answer NOWHERE
sorry for any spelling or typos in the above rant
My only concern with the 22% higher pay for government employees is the same I have for the studies which say that women only earn .84 (or whatever it is) for ever dollar a man earns. Are we looking at similar positions with similar educational requirements, or are we looking at all employees for all positions, regardless of their requirements?
there are so many people in federal jobs who are 30+ years in the job, they don’t do anything. There should be someone overseeing these redundant people who are just drawing wages and hanging on so that their pension fund gets plump.