Please don't read this if you have high blood pressure!

[mikenold]

The Government Pay Boom
America's most privileged class are public union workers.
It turns out there really is growing inequality in America. It's the 45% premium in pay and benefits that government workers receive over the poor saps who create wealth in the private economy.
And the gap is growing. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), from 1998 to 2008 public employee compensation grew by 28.6%, compared with 19.3% for private workers. In the recession year of 2009, with almost no inflation and record budget deficits, more than half the states awarded pay raises to their employees. Even as deficits in state capitals widen and are forcing cuts in services, few politicians are willing to eliminate these pay inequities that enrich the few who wield political power.


Let's walk through the math. In 2008 almost half of all state and local government expenditures, or an estimated $1.1 trillion, went toward the pay and benefits of public workers. According to the BLS, in 2009 the average state or local public employee received $39.66 in total compensation per hour versus $27.42 for private workers. This means that for every $1 in pay and benefits a private employee earned, a state or local government worker received $1.45.
The BLS study breaks down where that 45% premium comes from. It turns out that public employees earn salaries that are about one-third higher on average than what is provided to private workers per hour worked. But the real windfall for government workers is in benefits. Those are 70% higher than what standard private employers offer, as shown in the nearby table. Government health benefits are twice as generous as what workers employed by private employees earn. By the way, nearly this entire benefits gap is accounted for by unionized public employees. Nonunion public employees are paid roughly what private workers receive.
What if government workers earned the average of what private workers earn? States and localities would save $339 billion a year from their more than $2.1 trillion budgets. These savings are larger than the combined estimated deficits for 2010 and 2011 of every state in America.

[Save Us]

The Government Pay Boom
America's most privileged class are public union workers.
It turns out there really is growing inequality in America. It's the 45% premium in pay and benefits that government workers receive over the poor saps who create wealth in the private economy.
And the gap is growing. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), from 1998 to 2008 public employee compensation grew by 28.6%, compared with 19.3% for private workers. In the recession year of 2009, with almost no inflation and record budget deficits, more than half the states awarded pay raises to their employees. Even as deficits in state capitals widen and are forcing cuts in services, few politicians are willing to eliminate these pay inequities that enrich the few who wield political power.


Let's walk through the math. In 2008 almost half of all state and local government expenditures, or an estimated $1.1 trillion, went toward the pay and benefits of public workers. According to the BLS, in 2009 the average state or local public employee received $39.66 in total compensation per hour versus $27.42 for private workers. This means that for every $1 in pay and benefits a private employee earned, a state or local government worker received $1.45.
The BLS study breaks down where that 45% premium comes from. It turns out that public employees earn salaries that are about one-third higher on average than what is provided to private workers per hour worked. But the real windfall for government workers is in benefits. Those are 70% higher than what standard private employers offer, as shown in the nearby table. Government health benefits are twice as generous as what workers employed by private employees earn. By the way, nearly this entire benefits gap is accounted for by unionized public employees. Nonunion public employees are paid roughly what private workers receive.
What if government workers earned the average of what private workers earn? States and localities would save $339 billion a year from their more than $2.1 trillion budgets. These savings are larger than the combined estimated deficits for 2010 and 2011 of every state in America.

I couldn't resist,, now I have lost feeling in my right side and vision is blurry, speech.......

Seriously,, I have said in the past especially on this site,, it is a matter of public vs. private and always will be.

guess who is winning?

[BorderBob]

By the way, nearly this entire benefits gap is accounted for by unionized public employees. Nonunion public employees are paid roughly what private workers receive

Just one more reason why you should support and join your local union.


b.b.

[Save Us]

Just one more reason why you should support and join your local union.


b.b.

That's actually a good point,, what if every person in the world were part of a union? How could anybody get a screwing?

The number one union should be the Taxpayer Union..... afterall it's their money everyone else is just trying to get a piece of it.

[mikenold]

That's actually a good point,, what if every person in the world were part of a union? How could anybody get a screwing?

The number one union should be the Taxpayer Union..... afterall it's their money everyone else is just trying to get a piece of it.

The problem is that if everyone belonged to the public employee unions there would be no pay because there would be no one to steal money from for the paychecks!

[DomesticatedFeminist]

Hahahahahahaha

As i sit home everyday because we only have one car. As much as I am grateful for everything I have in my life, I am by no means privledged. I live on a budget, clip coupons and shop sales rack for my clothes the few times a year I go shopping.

This is hysterical!

[BorderBob]

Oh, and did I mention that my pension won't betaxed by the state!



(as long as we are going for blood pressure, we might as well do it right!)




b.b.

[run4it]

Of course, when you figure that many companies have gotten rid of full time employees and instead gone to part timers for whom they don't have to pay benefits like retirement and insurance, of course the disparity for full time workers is going to grow.

Your jealousy is showing through.

[Save Us]

Oh, and did I mention that my pension won't betaxed by the state!



(as long as we are going for blood pressure, we might as well do it right!)




b.b.

You really know how to rub that salt in

[Save Us]

Of course, when you figure that many companies have gotten rid of full time employees and instead gone to part timers for whom they don't have to pay benefits like retirement and insurance, of course the disparity for full time workers is going to grow.

Your jealousy is showing through.

And when taxes go up,, it means the private sector has to fight even higher for descretionary dollars..

I wish I had a pension. I could use a little lipo too.....damn aging.

[mikenold]

Oh, and did I mention that my pension won't betaxed by the state!



(as long as we are going for blood pressure, we might as well do it right!)




b.b.

I need my Maylox and Blood pressure meds now!

[mikenold]

Of course, when you figure that many companies have gotten rid of full time employees and instead gone to part timers for whom they don't have to pay benefits like retirement and insurance, of course the disparity for full time workers is going to grow.

Your jealousy is showing through.

This would be a good idea in the public sector too. Drop half the employees to part time and stop paying the health care, vacation and retirement benefits. This would save the taxpayer billions!!!

[Save Us]

I need my Maylox and Blood pressure meds now!

Bob will be happy, my wife is rushing me to gates as soon as she gets here.
She's 10 minutes late,, I may have to break down and call rural metro.

[DomesticatedFeminist]

Ooo it's my health care that makes me privledged. Ok.. I get it..

Let me explain to you how that isn't true at all. We pay a small amount for our hc, i think amounts to be about 100 the whole year or something. But we have 10- 25 co pay for specialist, we only get so many therapist visits a year, our dental plan SUCKS and barely covers anything. We pay co pays for meds. The specialist are what add up for us. ER visits they don't cover the whole thing.

I think we get 5 ot or pt (they go together) visits a year covered and then nothing. Luckily my son gets OT in school but in a few years I may not be able to get that anymore for him.

Mental health they cover about 12 visits a year. I'm screwed if I have a nervous breakdown because of you cons on here.

Let me see what else sucks about it. The insurance doctors when you stay in a hospital are stupid.

They only cover 2 days after you have a baby, and a few more if you have a c section. That's pretty standard though and I think it's bs. I think you should be able to get up to 4 days unless there is complications.

I'd say in the last through co pays, specialist visits, and ER visits we have paid at least 3,000 if not more in med cost with a public workers. Which as my kids get older I am sure the cost will go up because like I said there is a chance we may have to go to an OT someday. Now if my son is uses all his OT visits and gets injured and needs PT or OT, he wouldn't get covered.

[run4it]

This would be a good idea in the public sector too. Drop half the employees to part time and stop paying the health care, vacation and retirement benefits. This would save the taxpayer billions!!!

Nice to know that you support a race to the bottom.

I'm going to go ahead and assume youre not one of those in danger of being thrown to the bottom.

As long as you get yours, right?