12 Facts That Will Blow Your Mind - Federal Employees

Blain? Amortise their matched pension paid by taxpayers. Then pay them their pension for 20years.. NOT $150K?? I beg to differ.. AND I mean no disrespect to policeman and teachers. I Have total disrespect for Unions that corrupt our economy. They do not protect,they exploit.(unions) Ask ONE retired teacher if they REALLY deserve eveything they get in a pension..(We're talking $80,000 a year for LIFE!)
Answer? THAT'S why I paid the Union..To get MINE...
So unreasonable.
Us commoners are being asked to wait to get SS that we paid into until we're 68..Ex Government employees are getting paid to retire early as an insentive.
What system works that you get more then you paid in?
None
It's called a pyramid...Ask Bernie.. HE'S a criminal... Congress and Fed Employees are OWED that money? They get to retire with riches? Why? Who says so? OHHH THEY do. Cause they're part of the Club.. NOW i get it.

Great reason to run for office.. Your set for life. Not like us commoners.

While I’m not a fan of defending government, a lot of these points are misleading.

2. All federal jobs have a pay cap. In 2008 or 09 the max pay of the schedule previously at $149K was raised to $153K. Voila. And many of these positions still pay less than private sector.

3. Being as congress is heavily composed of business people, lawyers, investors, etc and that many of those who are millionaires now were such before being elected, it would seem to make sense that they are still millionaires. That they might also serve their own financial interests after being elected? Well... stop electing wealthy people then.

5. Unlike the 'average' American, many in congress have earned advanced degrees and/or came from a successful business background (around 9% of populace has advanced degrees). Again, not in favor of needlessly spending tax dollars, but unless we implement term limits, pay for these sort of positions isn’t going to decline anytime soon.

7. So? To be brash; if you were in danger and needed assistance, would you prefer a mall security guard come to your aid? Or a police officer who was previously a navy seal? Well, in a perfect world any way, I’d prefer my elected officials understand how to generate wealth rather than have no real-world economic experience. (granted, a utopian view, I know)

8. Again, not enough information. Were all these people hired out of the blue? Is the gov’t actually saving money by hiring people directly rather contracting firms for millions a project? What are they being paid to do?

9. Yup, that ones a legitimate gripe. In a perfect world they shouldn’t be allowed to trade until any information they’ve learned from yet to be public legislation is released. Then again, I can almost guarantee that anyone here who has personally overseen their investments long enough and with enough money has come across insider information at some point and used it to their advantage. People like deals.

10. Anyone actually skim through that report to see how they calculated/came up with those numbers? You could just as easily use the same numbers they did to blast the private sector. Fanaticism can work for both parties, as can their partisan think tanks.

11. Though some federal jobs are indeed overpaid, this really speaks equally to just how god-awful many companies in the US are towards lower and middle class workers as regards benefits. People just accept working 60 salaried hours based on 45 hour wages or that great benefits are only for 6 figure jobs. Rant aside, if you read that report with scrutiny, you should see the flaws/incongruent assumptions made.

12. Most people who had money increased their wealth by a good chunk in the last year, why would congress members be any different? Many people who were gravely hit by the depression (those who lost good jobs and couldn’t find another, aside) were hit, it seems, because they didn’t understand math. IE, almost no-one who does not have the resources to fully pay-off an ARM before terms end or who budgeted to refinance it to a fixed mortgage, should take one out. But people didn’t take the time to understand the contract. So now they’re deeply in debt and/or without a house. Same with credit cards. People who relied heavily on them got screwed (not all of their own fault, some companies were malicious as well.)

I’m not trying to bring about any political arguments. If anything, fiscally at least, I lean libertarian...so I’m all for cutting gov’t fat. I’m just saying, most of those numbers are useless on their own and do not represent a full picture of the data they’re derived from, and some of the sources on which the claims are being made are suspect at best.

ROFL I had to stop at this one

Originally posted by Aeolist
5. Unlike the 'average' American, many in congress have earned advanced degrees and/or came from a successful business background (around 9% of populace has advanced degrees). Again, not in favor of needlessly spending tax dollars, but unless we implement term limits, pay for these sort of positions isn’t going to decline anytime soon.

These people are supposedly so smart that they have degrees or have super successful past lives but they keep spending us into a hole. These guys spend trillions more than the budget, screw up nearly everything they touch from wars to the economy to health care but they must be so smart because they have advanced degrees.

Originally posted by wutone
ROFL I had to stop at this one

Originally posted by Aeolist
5. Unlike the 'average' American, many in congress have earned advanced degrees and/or came from a successful business background (around 9% of populace has advanced degrees). Again, not in favor of needlessly spending tax dollars, but unless we implement term limits, pay for these sort of positions isn’t going to decline anytime soon.

These people are supposedly so smart that they have degrees or have super successful past lives but they keep spending us into a hole. These guys spend trillions more than the budget, screw up nearly everything they touch from wars to the economy to health care but they must be so smart because they have advanced degrees.

Academic achievement and base intelligence are not one and the same, though if one has endeavored to achieve a Juris or build a series of successful business ventures and has further become accustomed to the lifestyle that said success enables, then why on earth would they accept a pittance in pay at risk to themselves and their families of losing their property and holdings?

Not all politicians are nefarious, just the ones you disagree with. So vote them out, start a movement, and put your people in place. This nations history is ripe with such occurrences.

reply to post by Aeolist


You pretty much covered everything I was going to address originally.

I have a fact for all of you, I'm a federal employee. Go ahead, ask me anything you'd like.

As an Air Force Vet. I am appalled at the level of care at the Salem Va. V.A. I constantly see the workers behind the desk playing and joking around without impunity. When one asks them to do their job, they get all defensive and nasty. Last year I had to wait in the Pharm. on two medications that I had previously three days called in before as I am requested to do, and I was the first to take a number and when I picked the RX's up 6 hours later, I let the Pharm. director know what I felt. I have the luxury of working for myself, but I would hate to be working for someone else and had to explain the matter to them. I would probably be fired. These workers have a big union to stand behind them and basically all the worker has to do is show up to work. Very little respect for we Vets. is the normal day at this V.A. located in Southwest Va. Pisses me off big time.

They didn't mention that Federal employees get 6 weeks of vacation after just 15 years of service, add the two weeks of holidays Federal workers only work 10 months out of the year not counting sick leave. You most certainly don't see anything like that in the American private sector, in fact these days the private sector is slashing benefits across the board, all the way up to the CEOs, even if your years of service has accumulated over the new set limits, you simply forfeit what you earned.

Well, seeing this, if i was to work and live in the united states, id work for the federal government lol, financially a very attractive employer it seems.

Whoa, why the hostility towards your fellow citizens?

So what if they make big bucks each pay check? They've played their cards right to get where they are, and can reap the benefits if they so desire.

i cannot access the "blog" you use as a reference. and insider trading by congress would surely be outed by now if there was any proof. either FOX or MSNBC would be all over this. i do think you have the right numbers on assets, for i have seen these previously.

""""#8 In 2005, the U.S. Department of Defense had just nine civilians earning $170,000 or more. When Barack Obama took office, the U.S. Department of Defense had 214 civilians earning $170,000 or more. In June 2010, the U.S. Department of Defense had 994 civilians earning $170,000 or more."""

This is incorrect. There are more than 994 Federal Civil Servants in DOD making more than $170k.

Congress set the limit on how many officers, top enlisted, and high civilians could be in DOD. DOD created the NSPS system and started pushing extensive numbers of Retired Officers and E-9's into Federal Civil Service....to circumvent the Congressional limits on how many Chiefs they can have. Fewer indians doing the work now but they have lots of Chiefs.

These guys are raking in thousands every month in their military retirement checks, most are getting $$$ from Veterans Affairs for a Disability, plus they get their Civil Service pay which is now "pay for performance" the new NSPS system where they are making aLOT more than ordinary civil servants.

Plus most of those have side business's, real estate, and investments rolling in putting them into millions annually.

For example 1 that I know owns a prawn farm in the Philippines, he created a Broadband internet company in the Philippines with a bunch of other military retiree's, plus his car wash in California...plus his real estate/ home rentals and apartments.....plus he had a side business putting bids in on Government procurement contracts.....

There are tens of thousands of Federal Civil Servants in DOD who are millionaires. 20% of all Federal Civil Service jobs are never announced. People are placed into those jobs under the 'Good ole boy" system.

If you knew the depth of the fleecing the American tax payer has taken you'd be unable to keep yourself from puking

Originally posted by gatorboi117
Whoa, why the hostility towards your fellow citizens?

So what if they make big bucks each pay check? They've played their cards right to get where they are, and can reap the benefits if they so desire.

You think that anyone may deserve to earn in a year what is needed to feed, house and make a decent living out of thousands of other people ?

We wont be able to do anything with humanity until everyone understand that what you have in excess is what your neighbour lacks.

Hope i said it right.

Originally posted by Illustronic
They didn't mention that Federal employees get 6 weeks of vacation after just 15 years of service, add the two weeks of holidays Federal workers only work 10 months out of the year not counting sick leave. You most certainly don't see anything like that in the American private sector, in fact these days the private sector is slashing benefits across the board, all the way up to the CEOs, even if your years of service has accumulated over the new set limits, you simply forfeit what you earned.

wrong...my wife worked for the post office, and she recieved 5 weeks only after 20 years...she retired as a supervisor, but started out in the 70's carrying a 40 pound leather bag over her shoulder for a good 10 years. she now has had foot surgery, and shoulder surgery. there were many years when she only took off 2 to 3 weeks because of personnal shortages. when she moved up into the ranks of management, it was 10 to 12 hour days.
the computers in use were antiquated, as was the programming. in the early days, there was constant discrimination against her for being a woman in a "mans" job. the cost of the post office skyrocketed not from the high cost of labor, but the wild fluctuations in fuel costs.
and as far as the "private sector" doing it cheaper and better....you better think again, because if you think stamps are expensive now, just wait until private business wants to make a consistantly rising profit off of the mail you want to send.
what i am trying to say, is that the top people in any organization are the ones that are sticking it to the public, not the rank and file grunt workers

Any thing put out by the Heritage Foundation is nothing but pure garbage propaganda. You want to know who really makes too much money? It is the people at the Heritage Foundation, who make far more money than people who work in government.

The sheople are the people who believe the lies put out by the heritage foundation.

It isn't that government employees make too much, the rest of is make too little.

My dear friend,

Originally posted by Fedge

Originally posted by gatorboi117
Whoa, why the hostility towards your fellow citizens?

So what if they make big bucks each pay check? They've played their cards right to get where they are, and can reap the benefits if they so desire.

You think that anyone may deserve to earn in a year what is needed to feed, house and make a decent living out of thousands of other people ?

We wont be able to do anything with humanity until everyone understand that what you have in excess is what your neighbour lacks.

Hope i said it right.

Such wonderful and beautyful words your mind choose to use here

Mods, please applaud this member

Be safe be well,

Spiro

reply to post by jimmyx


Nobody has delusions about U.S Postal workers. I was speaking of the Federal employees near Washington DC, and I got my references from the horse's mouth, on many occasions, since the early 70's. Besides, ground mail is simply not fast enough for business today.

reply to post by links234


do you pay in to your healthcare....example is they take a certain amount out of your paycheck?

LOL Poet... SOOO The private sector does'nt deserve more then the public sector? I don't read or follow the Heritage Foundation... Is it privatly funded? The point of this thread was about Government compensations and benefits. NOT who YOU decide is making too much money privatly.
JUST the new fact(to me) that Congress is allowed to do insider trading , as a right of passage is beyond my comprehension. It really is.
Why would'nt a lobbyist exploit that for Corporate gain? I would in a heartbeat.
For the record.. Martha Stewerts jail time was a joke. I READ the Science. It was and still is Valid.
All that happened was she was told FDA was'nt going to allow Clinical Trials in the U.S. for another 3 years.
Both drugs seperatly did'nt prove that collectivly they made a better product. So she heard the FDA was'nt going to allow the Clinicals and dumped the stock. Congressman can do that legally...she can't..
Insulting. it really is.

reply to post by niceguybob


Martha Stewart was the scapegoat like Regan made the air traffic controllers his scapegoat.

Point is that you only go to war in one you know you can win.

Originally posted by links234
reply to post by Aeolist

 

You pretty much covered everything I was going to address originally.

I have a fact for all of you, I'm a federal employee. Go ahead, ask me anything you'd like.

How do you sleep at night?