[mikemike]

Has anyone else found it ironic that those who bemoan the issue of inequality in america look to Washington D. C. for a solution?

Washington has long been the most notorious place for where the well connected are filthy rich and the rest are dirt poor. The census data that has been rolling out over the past month or so confirms this phenomenon once again.

Washington D.C. has the highest median income in the country, thanks to government jobs that pay higher than private sector jobs with taxes that ultimately drain capital away from the private sector.

Washingon D. C. also has the 3rd highest poverty rate, thanks to the fact that those who can't get those government and lobbying jobs are stuck working dead end service sector jobs.

Private industry has been opening offices in D.C. recently because the increased regulatory environment makes it necessary to be close to the nexus of power.

More and more money and energy is going into steering the ship of state. I just find it amazing that those who take issue with it think someone in Washington knows the solution, is going to solve their problems, or even gives a damn about their suffering when the greatest problems in the country is right on their doorstep and they have been indifferent to the struggles of the District's underclass for decades.

[mel]

Hm. Firstly I don't think the high median income is due to government jobs. Most federal employees live outside of DC and have to commute. Lots live a couple hours or more outside of DC where the housing is somewhat affordable relative to closer in. The high median income is probably due more to the density of lawyers, consultants and lobbyists that live in the area, which are private sector. But yeah, what you said on most of the rest.

[johnmflores]

Trenton, NJ, Albany, NY, Hatford CT and others are examples where the seat of power is also the seat of poverty. Sad, and something that crosses party lines

[Phil1]

Recent news releases indicated a large income disparity between federal employees and the pee-ons. The number touted was a 60% greater income. You may care to sniff around your neighborhood as well. We just had the City of Bell Calif with a part time mayor making and excess of $800K per year with a $400K annual retirement benny in the state employee pension fund. The City of Los Angeles is now dragging it's feet on releasing names and salaries of personel over $250K a year. As far as CALPERS goes (the state employee retirement fund) where else can you retire at 50 years of age with 30 years of service and enjoy a retirement of 90% of highest pay till you die? That would be after you and your boss packed you last year's income with unpaid vacation, large salary bumps etc. There are investigations going in a number of other cities as to pay, retirement scams and even the number of employees. LA County has an astounding 100,000 on the payroll. Of course there is no government cutbacks in head counts and in many places actual increases. Oh yes, I almost forgot, Calif and Los Angeles are about bankrupt. Calif is only $19 billion short in making budget which the state brain trust is only 90 days past the budget dead line on finalizing anything.
Enjoy the ride.

[mel]

My husband is a GS15, having been with the Federal Government for over 20 years, and believe me, he is NOT making $250K per year. Just sayin. If he had a similar job in the private sector, with the level of responsibility that he has, he would probably be making twice to three times what he makes with the Feds.

[Phil1]

This might be of interest. There is a lot more on Google.

Federal Employees Continue to Prosper | Cato @ Liberty

Daily-Jeff.com - Pay Disparity

Public?Private Pay Disparity | Caffeinated Thoughts

General Schedule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not all fed employees are beating the system obviously but as a general observation most are beating the taxpayer and have suffered no cutbacks..

[mel]

There's been a lot of cutbacks actually. In his agency alone there's a few hundred displaced workers. Many of them end up not out of work but they get priority in federal openings, which means the gov't absorbs their own and not as many new employees join the ranks. But I think that's probably one of the benefits of working for feds. Not all local governments operate that way. I work for my county government and haven't' gotten a cost of living increas in three years. Forget merit pay. I get told I'm lucky I haven't been riffed. Which is probably true.

Of course I'm not reading articles and studies. I'm just going off of practical experience of being in the system for over 2 decades and such.

[mikemike]

My husband is a GS15, having been with the Federal Government for over 20 years, and believe me, he is NOT making $250K per year. Just sayin. If he had a similar job in the private sector, with the level of responsibility that he has, he would probably be making twice to three times what he makes with the Feds.

Apples-for-apples, federal workers earn more than 10% higher salaries in their cash compensation than private workers in the same position. If you look at total compensation, the federal government is spending 55% more to compensate their employees than those workers could earn in the private sector.

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.

Federal pay ahead of private industry - USATODAY.com

I don't mind laying the blame for this run away compensation on W after all:

Federal workers have been awarded bigger average pay and benefit increases than private employees for nine years in a row. The compensation gap between federal and private workers has doubled in the past decade.

Federal workers earning double their private counterparts - USATODAY.com

The government employment high speed gravy train needs to be derailed, it is quite obvious that the rest of the country cannot afford to pamper the chosen few while they suffer in the private sector.

---------- Post added 09-29-10 at 02:12 PM ----------

General Schedule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What's laughable is that the cost of living adjustment for Houston and NYC are virtually identical.

And based on the GS table and the USA Today data, it seems like the center of gravity is somewhere along the GS-11.

BTW, why is USA Today the ones reporting this? What happened to the NYT, WP, or LAT doing their job? In a generation we will be relying on People Magazine to deliver hard hitting reporting, in fact the Rolling Stone article from this summer might be the first step in this direction. Journalism is another industry where they have diverged from reality.

[troglodyte]

Boo hoo! I'm so sad and crying. (roll eyes)The government is 'we the people,' so all those complaining only have themselves to blame.Apparently your people in the people government isn't all that great?Democracy of the idiots and being represented by scum!

[Nesster]

To what degree this info is true (after all, we know what statistics are), the other question I have is where did this mini puff of articles come from? To me it is obvious the idea is to nibble at Federal budgets, rather than to point out how corporate workers - below the upper salary levels - have stagnated in both pay and benefits over the last decade.

By framing it as 'fed employees are getting a bonanza' the two linked political aims are achieved: put govt on the defensive and distract attention from what's happening in the private sector.

[Phil1]

Sure it is true. Gov't (fed, state and local) have not really suffered any lay offs or much in cut backs as have the pee-ons. Some have, most have not. My point is take a look at your own local gov't and demand an accounting of the salaries and retirement plans. We live on the ups and downs of the oceans and pay the salaries of gov't. We are pretty stupid to allow sizeable excesses to exist. It's clear most of the retirement plans are well over Leroy and his portable 401K and the remains of Medicare and with ObamaCare in the closet. Pretty strange the designers of ObamaCare are not on it much less the usual 401K. Yuh think feather bedding would be a good phrase from the past?

I like the phrase putting gov't on the defensive. I like 'accountability' better but of course many don't like accountability. That's why we have the City of Bell examples and the can of worms Calif is in and Los Angeles is fighting the release of salaries over $250K.

Smart folks might like to see what they are paying for, others maybe not. Your choice.

[mel]

Just curious, what would a private sector VP of Operations of a $300 million corporation make. Factor in stuff like stock options. Because this is the job to job (or apples to apples) comparison that needs to be made with my personal federal worker.

And yes there have been cutbacks. We should know if he's been cut back in the next 6 months or so.

[Nesster]

Mel - how many people work for him? That tends to be a determinant of corporate pay...

[mel]

Mel - how many people work for him? That tends to be a determinant of corporate pay...

Somewhere between 200 ad 400 less than did about 5 months ago. Cutbacks and all.

[Nesster]

I hope he makes more than a senator/congressman.

Here's something but it is difficult to compare
http://www.cfstaffing.com/Metro_Salaries_2010/WashingtonDC.pdf

and here
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Director_of_Operations/Salary


I went on a salary search site where you have to plug in 'your' salary, and in Silver Spring MD a Director of Operations average is $111k with a range of $74 to $236K