Won’t be long now, Eddie. We will miss you. NOT.

Don’t worry. The fraud n chief will be back in January and Illinois problems will all go away. Prosperity for all Illinoians is only 10 months away! Yippee.

Terry;
” We pay a lot of taxes too”, the difference here is that 100% of your income comes straight out of the Public Treasury and you pay back a much smaller amount, A net LOSS Those of us in the private sector also pay ” A lot of taxes”, however ’0′% of our income is derived from the Public Treasury, a net GAIN

Ted, not quite, many corporations. private companies and contractors work for the government and on government contracts, ALL of them are paid with tax money and pay taxes back. Those people are paid by our taxes every single one of them from the CEO to the shipping clerk and they only pay a small amount back…. there are millions upon millions of private industry workers out there that fall under the same category then government employees. Next, look at the military, same deal. Yes they have opted to put their life’s on the line for us, but that does not change the point that they just as the rest of the government employees live of our taxes. To point your fingers at one and not consider the other his either ignorant or hypocrisy. I lol at the people that want to privatize government services…. how delusional, do they really believe anyone would do them for less? Why would they, the private industry currently pays a lot more for the same services and that is what will determine the prices.

John: “private industry pays a lot more for the same services.”

You must be joking! Ever hear of the $600 hammer? It didn’t happen in the private sector.

Sir, I had to belong to the military for over 30 years. It you would take time and look up the monthly pay of an E-6 (Staff Sergeant/Technical Sergeant) at the hightest pay he could recieve for that rank, you would see that he is not paid enough for what he has to put up with: being away from his family for long periods of time, the stress of being in combat (being shot at), the responsiblity of the welfare of those that you have been put in charge of (Training, etc.).

Sir, those of us that have been, or are in the military did not do it for the pay we did it for our family (to keep them free). Oh, yeah, when we were in we did not fight to defend the idiots back here in the States: WE DID IT FOR THE PERSON STANDING IN THE FOXHOLE NEXT TO US!

The $600 hammer was by a government contract approved by our dearly beloved Political Appointees, not one lonely GS7 grunt.

Besides it was Private Contractors who negotiated the price of those expensive hammers. They held the government hostage if they didn’t pay that handsome ransom for overpriced equipment. The government got snockered and the Contractors got rich. I’d like to see a few articles on this site on how these contractors keep getting away with exploiting the taxpayer?

We already have effectively privatized the Postal Service. It’s called UPS, or FedEx, and they are kicking the Postal Service’s uncompetitive a$$. If not for the taxpayers’ subsidy, the Postal Service would have been out of business long ago. They are losing billions and will be closed eventually.

Laws set up by Congress doesn’t allow the Post Office to compete on a level playing field. They get chopped off at the knees whenever they come up with a revenue producer and as I have said before UPS workers make $4 an hour more than postal employees. That is also a prime example of a Private worker making more than a government worker.

Level Playing Field? What did the USPS do to you, Eddie, that you want to bust their monopoly?
http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service

It’s called speaking before thinking.

Pure conjecture, John. This proves differently:
http://heritage.org/index/ranking

Somehow the people in 1900 got along with Government only 1/8th the size it is now.

Obviously, we can’t immediately fire all government employees, but we can cut government down to size rapidly without the deleterious effects you describe. What you seem to ignore is that smaller government means lower taxes, which means MORE money for people to spend and save, not less. The economy doesn’t tank, it prospers. It takes all the income taxes from at least 6 equivalent private sector jobs to pay for the salary and benefits of one federal job. Eliminate the federal job, and the taxes from those 6 private sector jobs can be spent on private sector goods and services, thus growing the economy. In the great ledger of the US economy, government is on the expense side, business is on the income side. If you want a profitable, prosperous economy, you have to reduce expenses and increase income.

Dave – How can you compare 1900 with 2012?

Karolyn, you can compare government 112 years apart effectively on a percentage basis and its a valid point. The size of the economy has grown in dollars, the value of the dollar has shrunk, but government then was 5% of the economy, and now it’s more than 40%. It means government has taken over control of 8 times more of the people’s money than they had a century ago.

The government offers many more services now and the people have much more leisure time than they did 200 years ago.

More services whether we want them or not.

DaveH says:
“March 1, 2012 at 9:39 am
Somehow the people in 1900 got along with Government only 1/8th the size it is now.”

The 1900′s – The World Begins to Fly
1900
March 14, 1900 – The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing the United States currency on the gold standard.

April 15, 1900 – One of the largest world’s fairs in history opens to the public in Paris, France with the United States among 42 nations and 25 colonies to exhibit. This world’s fair also included the second modern Olympic Games held within its 553 acre site and would draw over thirty-nine million paid visitors through its close on November 12.

June 1, 1900 – Carrie Nation continues her Temperance Movement to abolish the consumption of liquor when she demolishes twenty-five saloons in Medicine Lodge.

September 8, 1900 – The Galveston, Texas hurricane, with winds of 135 miles an hour, kills 8,000 people. It remains the most deadly natural disaster in American history. It was not named, during that era, and would have been a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale today.

November 6, 1900 – President William McKinley wins his second term as president, this time with Theodore Roosevelt in the second spot on the ticket, again defeating William J. Bryan by an Electoral Margin of 292 to 155.

>>>>In the first census of the 20th century, the population of the United States rose to 76,212,168, a 21% increase since 1890. <<<<<<>>>>The United States will enter 2012 with a population of roughly 312.8 million people (or exactly 312,780,968 people, if you want to be pedantic), according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s end-of-2011 estimate.<<<<<

America today has 41 times more people then it did in 1900 DavidH. , I'm not attempting to defeat your argument but offer some perspective.

The whole world has changed since 1900, most of the world nations including the US was still employing draft animals in the early 1900's. The industrial AGE COMING,was coming full bloom.

For the first time, all fifty entities that would become the fifty states are included after Hawaii had officially become a territory of the United States on February 22. The center of the United States population, geographically, is now six miles southeast of Columbus, Indiana.
1901
January 10, 1901 – The first major oil discovery in Texas occurs near Spindletop in Beaumont.

March 2, 1901 – The Platt amendment is passed by the United States Congress, which limited the autonomy of Cuba as a condition for American troop withdrawal. Cuba would become a U.S. protectorate on June 12.

May 1, 1901 – The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York with nineteen international participants. on 342 acres. It would close November 2, 1901 with a disappointing attendance of just over 5 million paid visitors, harmed by the tragedy of September 6.

September 6, 1901 – President William H. McKinley is shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York while shaking hands with fair visitors, following his speech at the event on President's Day the day before. Anarchist Leon Czolgosz, an avowed anarchist, is arrested for the crime. September 14, 1901 – Vice President Theodore Roosevelt is inaugurated as President upon the death of William McKinley from gunshot wounds sustained the week earlier.

Czolgosz, a Polish immigrant, grew up in Detroit and had worked as a child laborer in a steel mill. As a young adult, he gravitated toward socialist and anarchist ideology. He claimed to have killed McKinley because he was the head of what Czolgosz thought was a corrupt government. Czolgosz was convicted and executed in an electric chair on October 29, 1901. The unrepentant killer's last words were "I killed the president because he was the enemy of the good people—the working people." His electrocution was allegedly filmed by Thomas Edison.

On September 16, after receiving a funeral befitting a president in Washington, D.C., McKinley's coffin was transported by train to his hometown of Canton, Ohio, for burial.

You want truth?
Look here:
http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/overpaid-federal-workers

The official federal government explanation of the retirement benefits for federal workers:

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30631.pdf

Note the employee and government contributions to the current post 1984 FERS plan on page 6: “Regular federal employees contribute 0.8% of pay to the Federal
Employees’ Retirement System and their employing agencies contribute an amount
equal to 11% of pay.7 Members of Congress and congressional staff pay 1.3% of
salary for FERS coverage, and the Congress pays approximately 16% of payroll as
the employer contribution for Members and congressional staff covered by FERS.”

This is only part of the retirement benefits, and is absurdly generous compared to typical private-sector retirement plans. My last employer, who was competitive in their benefit offerings, matched 50% of my contribution to my 401k to a maximum of 6% of my pay. That’s an employer maximum of 3% of my pay IF I contribute 6%. That’s it. No guaranteed benefit. No contribution at all unless I first contributed. This was a good private sector job with a successful, profitable business, and that’s what you can expect in the private sector.

DaveH: First, I always enjoy your posts because they are well conceived, well-written, and backed up with facts. Keep up the good work.
Second, your comment above is really the key to the whole “government workers pay” argument. There are simply way too many government workers doing jobs that government has no business doing. The very existence of many federal government jobs creates competition against the same people that are paying the taxes for those government salaries.
A good example is the Dept. of HUD. What gives federal government the authority to be involved in the building, financing and selling of housing? If people need homes, other people will supply them. The only place for government in that economic sphere is to adjudicate disputes between buyers, sellers and neighbors, which is a local matter, and should not have federal involvement.
We badly need to shrink government, and one way to do that is to make government jobs less attractive than their private sector counterparts. Currently the government “quit rate” (people leaving their job voluntarily for other, presumably better, jobs) is one-fourth of the rate in the private sector. (IMHO this is prima facie evidence that government jobs are overcompensated.) If we reduce the pay and benefits to less than the comparable private job, government will shrink through attrition.

Thank you for your support, kkflash. It’s nice to get a little affirmation once in a while to help soothe all the Liberal fish-bites.

I stopped paying my taxes. If more of you would do the same they would eventually get the message. They may eventually put me in jail, but if EVERYBODY stopped paying, they would be hard put to jail us all. But I don’t expect anyone else to have the courage to follow my lead. As usual I’m doing what others are afraid to do. Grow a pair and tell this a$$holes to give us our country back.

So because he worked his butt off – saved money in his 401k – he’s greedy?? Man are you Brain-washed. Because of the LACK of Taxation on imports – our Jobs are losing ground – example – in the 1960′s I pumped gas for the princely sum of $1.35 per hour – was that a LOT?? Yes it was – for my measely $1.35 I could walk into the Circle K and walk out with – 10 full sized cokes and 7 full sized candy bars – today you would have to earn $28.00 per hour to buy the same items at the same store – SEE how your buying power has been slowly and carefully destroyed?

You are pathetic in assuming that as a Federal Government Employee who worked for the govt for over 30 years I sat on my butt and did nothing. I was a Director and an information technology specialist doing two jobs, in an organization who oversaw a multimillion dollar contract with over 30 contractors, while also supervising numerous government employees. At the time I was lucky to be making $60,000 a year. You have no clue as to what government employees do. I worked from 6:00 in the morning to 9:00 at night while giving up many weekends to support our troops during Desert Storm and continued thereafter because I was dedicated. We were paid much, much less than private sector employees. Those who had a comparable job in private industry received more than double the amount that I was getting. We knew that we were not getting paid what private sector was and we were willing to accept that. Today I have friends who left for greener pastures who were getting 20 and 30 thousand bonuses in comparison to my piddly 2 thousand (that is when the money was there) they are crying. Why? Because they lived like kings and queens and squandered their money. You and all the other people who are angry are also unaware that federal employees are now required to put a percentage of their retirement money into an account that is an IRA. So it’s time that you and other people get your heads screwed on right and find out the facts. The number one thing you should be crying about is why doesn’t the government have a hire/fire policy. I tried to fired someone and it took me over 9 months with the person filing congressional and EEO complaints. I could have lost my job but in the end they agreed with me but could not fire him. No the just relocated the person. So if you want to do anything to get rid of the slugs then write your congressman. If not more on. Do the best job you can be grateful you are alive and stop being jealous. It won’t get you any where other than being a miserable complainer..

J.D.,

We don’t know that Kenneth is contributing to a 401K plan. It’s my impression that most government workers don’t get that option.

Regarding the value of your money declining over time, that’s caused by a number of factors. Taxing imports over the long term has generally led to lower levels of business activity higher prices, not more domestic jobs nor improvement in the value of the USD. Trade deficits do contribute to lowering the value of the USD. The one thing we could, and should, do to reduce our trade deficit is to utilize more of our domestic energy resources, especially crude oil, natural gas, and coal. Capping the amount of money the Fed can “print” would really help the value of the USD as well, but that’s difficult when the federal government continues to run up budget deficits year after year.

Your first sentence, JD, says it all — “So because he worked his butt off – saved money in his 401k – he’s greedy??”
Did James use the word greedy?
You know that Kenneth worked his butt off?
You know that Kenneth is talking about money he saved in a 401K?
And you expect us to lend credibility to anything else you have to say?

People have no clue on anything anymore because they are all watching Fox News and listening to Rush Limbutt and ASSuming that they know everything now. Too bad no one told you it’s an extreme right wing propaganda machine owned by and Aussie and a Saudi and they are the GOP Conservative 1% wealthy mouthpiece. I can smell you guys a mile away, you have no original thoughts in your brains.

There goes Eric again doing his usual Liberal thing — personal attacks in lieu of facts.
Come on, Eric, show us that legendary Liberal intelligence and provide us with some real supported facts.

Eric the Red…LMAO at you…OMG, the Rush/FOX thing is so old and stale. You progs just don’t have anything but recycled material left in your arsenal do you?

You’re fairly good at repeating ad nauseum too Jeff so why repeat what Eric said?

James, if you are so sure that all a government employee does is sit on his or her backside, why don’t you apply for one of those high pay low output jobs you so despise?
It seems that this should be the perfect solution for you, as then your tax dollars would be supporting you, along with the other government employees you have so much hatred for.

You think Government employees support themselves, Chester?
I guess that explains things.

I am a retired Federal employee.I worked 25 years at sub-standard pay in order to have a guaranteed reasonable retirement. I am not complaining, this is the deal I made.I have no idea who retires with 5-10 million. Please name some of these people and explain how they did it. Most of us couldn’t figure out how to steal anywhere near that much when we were actively employed,let alone in retirement.Do you mind if I take that statement with a grain of salt?

Yeah, lol, I’m thinking maybe Kenneth must be a Conservative plant to admit to that.

Dear Karolyn,
I am sorry to hear that you have hepatitis ‘C’. My cousin got rid of it using hydrogen peroxide in 6 week after having it for ten years and being treated with interferon few times that made him very sick with not real improvement. Few months ago he did the whole treatment with H2O2 using book “One minute cure” and it was gone totally with no side effects.

Thanks for the info, Ralph. I never underwent treatment because I did not want to take the risk that it would ruin my life as it has so many others. I’ve probably had it 30 years and have no ill effects from it. I get routine bloodwork that shows my liver to be working perfectly fine. Most people with HCV will die of something else (possibly interferon if they go the treatment route!) unless they end up with cirrhosis; and I know one man who has that and is doing very well.

Of course it starts at the top, Paul. It’s all about insuring the Leaders’ positions of Power and Perks. The more voters there are who perceive the Government is their meal-ticket, the longer the Leaders can stay in Power. It’s called vote-buying.
But the citizens need to know how much all that Government, which they vote for, is costing them and why. That’s what Wayne is trying to do — inform the citizens.
Economies slow as Big Government grows. That’s an experiential fact:
http://www.freetheworld.com/2011/reports/world/EFW2011_complete.pdf

Tim is probably the first to sue the county after he hit the pothole in the street and damages his car…90% of the people who cry cut down on government be the first to scream if they don’t get the services. Most entry level government jobs even for people with higher education are at about 1/3rd to 1/2 the of pay for the same or similar jobs in the private industry. (go and check the government jobs websites and look).. yes there are some odd out higher paid jobs but they are the exemption not the norm. I lol at the utopians that want to privatize government services…if you want to double your cost go for it try it out in your town,
Do this exercise, go to the town and get the basic information needed, then go out and get bids from the private companies, then go back to the town with your “cost saving” proposal… wanna bet, you will find out that your option is a lot more expensive then what your towns are doing. The perfect government looks great on paper and on political websites, but once you insert a dose of everyday reality, they become nothing but useless rhetoric for people preoccupied with utopia.

John,
According to USA Today and The Bureau of Labor Statistics your rhetoric is skewed. On average government employees earn more.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N.htm

It may APPEAR that federal employees make more, but couldn’t that be due to the top-heaviness of the workforce? The disparity between those at the top and those at the bottom is, no doubt, quite large just like in the private sector.

Here’s a good example – the AVERAGE salary for a person that works on the Washington State Ferry parking cars and collecting tickets is about $50568. per year. Then add in that they get extra pay for cleaning up vomit, flushing bilges, pumping sewage, and mopping up blood and feces out bilges. The union considers that hazardous pay. Excessive? Most certainly and they get pensions….. Meanwhile the ferry system in Washington is broke and people that live on the other side of the water and have to commute are paying more and more every year, but it’s subsidized by taxpayers for those that are rich and can afford housing on the peninsula. It’s all part of the highway system and they also get federal funding.

Here’s an interesting article since we are all hurting, but the government is thriving:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-12-10-federal-pay-salaries_N.htm

No, Karolyn, the comparisons are between Federal Employees and their Private Sector Counterparts.

Why don’t you check the Obama administration ,
left over from Mr Bush”SACHS GOLDMAN”The puzzle is not hard to figure out if you look in the right places RON PAUL 2012 !!

Dave, I know what the comparison is. I’m just saying that those at the top end in gov’t make so much that they skew the numbers.

Karolyn, the numbers are actually skewed in the government’s favor because the private sector has a higher top-end than government, which raises the private-sector mean more than the government mean. If you took out the top 1% of each, the government pay advantage would be greater.

I 2nd the “BS!” LOOK what Obummer did to the Space Coast in FL! THOUSANDS of highly experianced employees…gone. He turned our American Astronauts into hitchhikers and Russia is laughing alllll the way to the bank (they upped the anty…surprise surprise!).

Jobs gone, MORE foreclosures, small businesses CLOSED down, another Obummer economic disaster! Obummers take on SPACE? The “NEW” NASA needs to “TEACH Muslims math/science and make them feel good about themselves!” Spoken like a TRUE “Campaigner and Chief!”

Ha! The fool doesn’t even know the space program budget was LESS than 1% of the ENTIRE federal budget!

Karen – what the current pres has done with his hope and change is disheartening at the very least – I can’t imagine why or how people would vote for him once, let alone plan on doing it again. He’s nothing but a scoundrel and fool to me.

We could solve yours and similar contentious problems by getting our Governments out of so many places they don’t belong and putting those functions back into the private sector where people can choose voluntarily which services they want to subscribe to, which products they want to buy, who they can employ, and who they want to be employed by.
We would have a so much more peaceful society if people weren’t all being forced into the one-size-fits-all choices of Big Government.
Vote Libertarian:
http://libertarianparty.com/platform

For those who are curious about what Real Freedom looks like:
http://mises.org/books/newliberty.pdf

No sympathy here for you. My husband and I pay 859.00 a month for health ins. This does not include Eye glasses, Prescription or Dental. That is with 75/25 coverage. We are a small family business. Wyuld you like to know how much $ our contribution is to the Feds and State the 15th of EVERY month to give you your big pay and benefits?
Suck it up and do what we do, CUT BACK!

Christina, you call 54k a year for a man who puts his life on the line every day to protect whiners like you large? Wow, its a darn pittance and shame…. Our technicians that sit the whole day on their butts and push buttons make more…a lot more, and they don’t have to worry that crazies with guns want to shoot them up.

John,
Whose the whiner? It’s you Liberals who whine constantly, and who want to make our choices for us. All we ask is the Freedom to choose which services we want and at what cost. You can bet that the private sector would supply those services more politely and at a much lesser cost.
And If you’re a scared little baby, John, you can buy all the overpriced protective services you want — just butt out of our choices.

Dave, what makes you believe I am a liberal? Because I don’t subscribe to your mises utopia? Well, I am proud to have a good grasp on the real world and care less about what people with no grasp on reality write on a website. Mises .org is in good company with all the other utopian writings like Marx, Lenin, Rand, and about every college professor I have ever known that knew all the theory but had no grasp on reality and the real world.
Moreover, look at Christina post, she is whining about the Op making… gasp… 54k putting his life on the line for people like her.

Mr. Smith you say you have been a Police Officer for 17 years, I hope you are a member of Oath Keepers as you and I had to swear to upholding the Constutation and protecting it againest all enemy’s foreign & domestic. I also hope you follow and support Sheriff Mack, If you don’t and don’t try to get your other officers to do so than you are part of the problem in this country. It is not enough any more to just try to protect your small piece of ground. As I explained to my son who is a member of the sheriff ‘s dept. Please sir if you aren’t than get involved.

Christina – Your sympathy was not asked for. So you resent cops making a decent wage. You CHOSE to be in business for yourself and CHOOSE to buy health insurance. I was in business for myself and could not afford health insurance – hadn’t had it for many years. Guess what? I don’t need it. I don’t get sick; I take care of my body and am in excellent health, even with hepatitis C, at the age of 65.

Thank you for your services, Sir. I too was was one of the Government employees that Root was talking about, I served in the military protecting my family and others freedoms for over 30 years and upon my retirement I started receiving approximately $600 a month after taxes and the 20% they deduct that is equal to my service-connected (Concurrent-pay). I’d do it again if asked, I wasn’t in it for the pay.

Its this a tea party cry baby session that wont vote Ron Paul ? RP will cut a trillion for its year…Don’t vote in the phoney conservators

Is this a tea party cry baby session that wont vote Ron Paul ? RP will cut a trillion the first year…Don’t vote in the phoney conservatives

God bless you and your family, you are a true American.

He’s just a tea party cry baby that wont vote in the real candidate to end the misery seen here RON PAUL 2012 !!

John,
Liberals advocate Big Government as the solution to our problems.
Conservatives (True Conservatives, not NeoConservatives) want to shrink Government back to the size that our Founders intended.
Yes, John, you are a Liberal.

Yes… Common sense Ron PAUL !!

And as usual John, the Liberal, slanders Mises Institute instead of providing any facts, a common tactic employed by Ignorant people, especially Liberals.

DaveH is mistaken
So far many promises have been made as systems paid for by taxpayers were sold off at reduced rates and privatized and the rates to customers ended up moving higher, the maintenance was cutback to help pay for purchase thus the assets deteriorated and the service got worse for more money. In some cases the private companies then filed bankruptcy after they had sucked enough profits from the assets.

It’s a great idea. Yes privatization is the answer to every libertarians dream. Too bad it’s just a dream and the stats don’t pan out in the long run. Many countries and states have nightmare scenarios already.

And yes I could furnish examples if you are too lazy to do your own research and contest what you don’t know about.

First: I was under the impression that Police and Firefighters were ‘municipal employees’? Second: It is in my opinion that this issue is not about whether or not we want Police or Firefighters at ‘whatever cost’, but how they are being used as pawns for the profits of insurance companies. As stated within the text salaries (to include Teachers) have not really changed much over the years. However, the cost to the taxpayer has increased dramatically due to the insurance companies ability to manipulate politicians, laws and bury their profits from the fleecing of our municipalities. Example: 18% of our (local) municipal tax dollars were used to support Teachers in 1980, that number is now 56% + deficit and the Teachers salaries are generally the same. The insurance carriers are using our system to fleece and they know they can count on Government/Municipal employees to hold the ‘proverbial gun’ to our head -”Think of the children.” You would think that govt. employees LIKE their tax increases, but then again they can afford it more than in the private sector.
I would like to see one (1) union that thinks for the taxpayers that are loosing their homes, jobs and families instead of just themselves, their union and the insurance carriers that indirectly own them and use them like a little mafia.

I agree that some Federal employees are not needed, and are in useless government departments that should be eliminated, down sized, or pushed back to the state level where they belong. Departments such as, Education, EPA, Labor, United States Agency for International Development etc… Too many to mention that need to be eliminated or down sized saving billions of tax dollars. However, I am a U.S. Army Government employee serving our nation for over 43 years as an Active Duty Army officer and now a DA civilian, and I take offense to this 99% comment. Due to Active Duty personnel ceiling limits set by Congress, the US Army DA Civilians and government employees serving in the other services help to fill in the vital positions that cannot be filled by soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. We are/were in Afganistan, Iraq, South West Asia, Korea and all over the world supporting our great American War Fighters. We are part of the 53% tax paying hard working Americans putting our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor on the line in the defense of this great country. The average Army civilian only makes $43,000 per year. We have had no pay increases for the last two years, and we are willing to do our part to bring down the budget in this regard. But, never demean us for being and doing what other American will not do. We are Patriots that leave their families and friends for years and months at a time standing with our service men and women on the battle fields. We are not the 1%!

Dave H attacked John without provocation,made accusations that weren’t true,got off the subject John was mentioning and invoked unrelated diatribe. Dave is up to his usual!

Do that, Eric. Give us some examples of private sector businesses that weren’t as efficient as Government.
Meanwhile I’ll give you the Post Office, Medicare, Social Security, Amtrak, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac — All Government Failures.
And perhaps you could explain to us, Eric, why those countries at the bottom of this list (the ones with the Biggest Governments) have such poor economies:
http://heritage.org/index/ranking
People are getting wise to the Progressive Siren Song, Eric, so you’re going to need to step up the Propaganda.

Back to the lying game, Eddie?
Show us where I attacked John without provocation.

I see that you’re getting back to your old habits, Eddie. Maybe it’s about time Bob Livingston banned you permanently.

DaveH, my thoughts(eddie)exactly. Seems that since eddie has served his probation and is now free to act stupid again he’ll not disappoint. Not to worry though, it’ll happen(getting banned) and we’ll all be better off for it. It was somewhat more civil and pleasant until his recent release…his 3rd grade mentality is back in full force.

Always in denial aren’t your Dave H and apparently Jeff also. My probation has nothing to do with your bad dispositions towards other commenter’s Dave and I better not leave Jeff out of that equation. .

There is no getting out of dorkdom, is there Eddie?

Not as long as you hold the key.

Hey Charles, quit whining, you are ahead of the curve. Those of us not on the public dole are making a lot less than we were 5 years ago and still have had large premium increases in health insurance. For me personally, i was out of work for a 1 1/2 years and now make 30% less money than when I lost my job in 2009 and a large portion of my savings has been wiped out.

Charles, I don’t think the point of this are people like yourself who actually do a needed job that is a direct service to the public. This is about the whining, abusive mobs that dominate the public sector unions (as aptly illustrated in the Wisconsin fiasco). Most of them are in marginal jobs to begin with, and some of those are patently useless bureaucrats (many of whom probably make your own job more difficult). Let’s not use too wide a brush to paint this picture.

I appreciate the work you do Mr. Smith.

The writer of this article is out of touch with mainstream America. I found it fascinating that a “toll booth collector” retired with $150,000! My husband just retired from the Federal gov’t after 46 yrs as an Aero Space Engineer and his pension; which he paid into as well as HC ins doesn’t even come close! As a matter of fact…gov’t is so far behind in processing retirement papers that fed gov’t only gives him a small portion of what his mthly pension is suppose to be. That’s WHY so many fed gov’t employees are losing their homes. I bet Pelosi and friends won’t have to wait for their pensions!

Sir, I do thank you for being someone willing to give your life to protect us and to maintain the order that keeps us safe (as long as it’s for the benefit of “we the people” and not just the State). I know none of us is perfect–I’m sure you aren’t either. But when reading B.L.’s recent post about what to do in case of riots, I wondered if we’d have been there LONG ago if it weren’t for people like you. I happen to like peace and order. Thank you, sir! I think you’re probably worth every penny you’re being paid… Just for the record.

Yes I think the dead will come out in droves this November, especially for Oblunder. Tell me if you can who is watching? I am not positive but it is rumored that the Romney, or the GOP tried a little of that dead man voting in Nevada just to see if it worked. This next one should be very interesting. We can afford policemen in our schools but we can’t afford an office to watch the polling places to make sure dead people don’t vote. Hell, what is this country comming too, Holder flat out lies to congress and nothing can be done, give me a break.

I forget the town out in Ca. that the police were holding ransom. I believe the police chief was making over 300k$, the town was something like 40,000 inhabitants, so they got smart, fired all of the police so they didn’t have to pay medical plus retirement benefits and hired private personnel. This saved them over half of what the government employees were receiving.

Oh, yeah, get one of these private security companies to police our country. Then we’d really see fascism at it’s best . Those guys are nothing but a bunch of mercenaries.

Yeah that’s well thought out. Fire dept won’t put out a fire because the house is not on their client list. Then it burns up whole neighborhood. Ooops!

Same thing police won’t help you because you haven’t paid your bill this month cuz you’re unemployed. So now we have Balckwater/Xe/Harmoni protecting the 1% and shooting at the 99%. It’s already happened during Katrina.

America will go back to being like the wild west. Is that what you all have in mind by taking the country back?

I think Rich wants us to go back to the days of castles where the kingdom makers controlled the police/protection and protected themselves and the serfs were left out. Private police would be more corrupted than government (taxpayer) protection for all.

Nah, I was trying to point out the uselessness of the argument. Every campaign season someone links big gov’ment to big salaries and wants to get rid of both. The only way would be privatization or volunteer. The Washington D.C. Volunteer Police department. Has a nice ring.

I totally agree!!! They should NOT leave with lifetime pay from us either. No more free medical via the military health care system (TRICARE), no more Secret Service protection. What a stopped up drain we have allowed to remain in place.

“…….too bad they had to pass that insider trading bill this year… or was that just for show!”

Oh, I am sure it is serious (for now) after the dust settles and people forget about it in a couple of years there will be enough loopholes they can start again.

Independant thinker,

You know what… I can’t believe that THE CONGRESS could LEGALLY do insider trading (ALL these years) but the populous could NOT… what’s up with that?

And Martha Stewart went to JAIL for that did she not.
We are slaves to them and have been so for some time.

NO ONE should be above the Law
.
God will not allow anyone to be above His laws and they are in for a rude awakening when their time ends.

Insider Traders pay themselves handsomely by doing wrong yet the subject of government workers making millions (when almost none do) is brought up as a fact. There is something wrong with this picture!

Nadzieja – If you have actually read what the government workers have posted here, you would see that at least a couple of them have indicated that they are conservatives. Why would you just assume that because somebody works for the gov. they are liberals? That’s an awfully narrow view, wouldn’t you think? You are just too quick to label! Don’t you have any other way to voice your opinion other than labeling people and denigrating them?

Why don’t you read the posts before you flap your lips.

I do. What did I miss?

Is this the “famous” Nadzieja Batki from San Antonio Texas?

My husband worked for the federal gov’t for 46 yrs. He NEVER took a sick day, up at 4:30 a.m. and lucky to return home by 7:30/8:00 pm. He was an aero space engineer and a research physicist prior. He NEVER took anything from private contractors and trust me…they offered; his fed/gov’t position was one that contractors would’ve LOVED to buy.

He NEVER forgot WHO paid his salary…the TAX PAYERS. When he was asked by our gov’t higher ups to “sign off” on a project that he felt was not in the best interest (safety) of the astronauts…he refused; KNOWING he could have lost his job (they would have conjured up a reason). Everytime he did a contractor audit he saved tax payers money.

He NEVER thought he was above anyone and everyone (contractors & gov’t employees alike) respected him. He was a role model for what a federal gov’t employee should be. Too bad many of our well paid politicians don’t have the same integrity. THEY are the ones who “forgets” WHO pays their salary…

Did I mention he (we) are CONSERVATIVES?

ED says!! to Karen; Your husband is exactly like many workers, getting cut out of wages and for their KNOWLEDGE,Knowledge is one of our greatest assets and our GOVERNMENT totally destroyes any person or their intellagence and expertise and only partical pay, sure don’t take congress long to raise their WAGES,the thing that ticks me off is Our president makes $400thousand per year plus expenses, our congress about $ 175thousand each per year, they keep wondering how [[[WE]]] can take cuts in [OUR] wages so they can steal more money from us tax us to death and price everything so far out range who can afford to survive in this economey they control, then you say there back log on payments are way late, but it dosen’t have anything to do with their incompetance in office, blame all this on your staff. One QUESTION WE need an answer, IF RON PAUL, CAN take a CUT of $361,000.00 dollars why do all other presidents, receive 1/2 to 3/4 of a million dollars for the same job and congress, 1/4 to 1/2 million to do NOTHING? THEY LIE about what they can do or will do IF re-elected I SAY SHOW THEM THE DOOR and NO MORE FREE PAY OR BENIFITS OUT OF SEAT OUT OF PAY SEE HOW IT WORKS FOR YOU then let us KNOW ed