On the 2004 campaign trail, that’s all we heard from John “his hair was perfect” Edwards. The Bush Tax Cuts have created “two Americas” (one rich and one poor) Kerry and Edwards told us. While we know that contention was pure demagoguery intended to divide America across race and class, Edwards may have been on to something.
New data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis confirm that the average federal civilian worker earns $106,579 a year in total compensation, or twice the $53,289 in wages and benefits for the typical private worker. This federal pay premium costs taxpayers big bucks because Uncle Sam’s annual payroll is now $200 billion a year. No wonder that, with a per capita income of $46,782 a year, Washington, D.C. is the fourth richest among the nation’s 360 metropolitan areas.
And this pay disparity keeps widening. The Cato Institute’s Chris Edwards tracks government compensation, and he finds that in 1950 the average federal bureaucrat received $1.19 for every dollar that a private employee earned. By 1990 that ratio had risen to $1.51 and is now $2. In 2005 federal wages rose 5.8% compared to 3.3% in the private sector.
And not only are there “two Americas” (one for private citizens and one for career bureacrats like the Clintons) but the government workers not only make more but they have better job security. No wonder the NEA opposes any market based reforms in education.
It’s true that many federal employees are in white collar occupations that often command high pay, but studies find that public sector workers enjoy a 20-30% pay bonus above comparably skilled private workers. And this differential does not account for one of the biggest benefits of a government job: civil service rules giving virtual lifetime job security. Airline mechanics, auto workers and software designers must all worry about business-cycle downturns or changes in technology or outsourcing, but Uncle Sam’s 1.8 million civilian employees live in a recession-proof bubble.
Remember, one thing about liberals is that they always accuse their opponents (conservative Republicans) of being what they themselves are. I think the term for this is “projection.” Karl Marx would be proud.