Economist takes heat for calling for 10% pay cut for federal employees....

[Pathfinder]

The article is BS granstanding and deserves the attacks. Federal workers work like everyone else. Cutting their pay to "send a message" is pure garbage. If we really couldn't afford them, why not cut the military's pay too? Oh, gee, I guess my conservative buddies wouldn't like that so I'll exempt them in my article. Now, if we were talking about a 10% cut in federal programs, along with the elimination of those jobs, I would get on board with it. But cutting peoples wages just to make a fashion statement doesn't make you a conservative, it makes you an asshole.
FQ13

The only problem is that the Fed workers are paid something like 28% more than their private industry counter-parts, at least according to a story earlier this week (?). So a 10% cut would still have them making so much more that the rest of us.

Better idea, though, to just cut 10% of the entitlement programs. Each month.

[MikeBjerum]

Eric,

My proposal for the cut has to be tied to the entire idea of acting like the private sector - You will propose your cut, you will do it now, and if you don't carry through you will be gone.  What happens when a business department head gets an order and doesn't do it ... He is gone!  It keeps happening until someone meets the goals.

However, in gov. you have to deal with politicians, unions and feel good spin doctors, so anyone that tries to improve efficiency and productivity will be the bad guy and dragged through the courts.

[fullautovalmet76]

The article is BS granstanding and deserves the attacks. Federal workers work like everyone else. Cutting their pay to "send a message" is pure garbage. If we really couldn't afford them, why not cut the military's pay too? Oh, gee, I guess my conservative buddies wouldn't like that so I'll exempt them in my article. Now, if we were talking about a 10% cut in federal programs, along with the elimination of those jobs, I would get on board with it. But cutting peoples wages just to make a fashion statement doesn't make you a conservative, it makes you an asshole.
FQ13

Quaker,
I realize you didn't graduate from a great university like I did, but that's no excuse for your ignorance of economics. He is talking about sending a signal to the bond markets, i.e. Chinese and others who keep loaning our government money. It's just a matter of time before the we start paying the price for our spending and it will come in the form of higher cost for credit, much higher. But anyway....

Since you took a fancy to that article, I think I'll give you some other news from Brian Wesbury you might find interesting:

http://www.ftportfolios.com/Commentary/EconomicResearch/2010/3/11/get_ready_for_300,000new_jobs

     
-FullAuto

[Rastus]

I worked as a contractor on the SPR for 7 years.  Cut the government...10% won't get 1/2 of the deadwood.  There were guys from DOE who had worked in the Social Security Administration and Medicare/Medicaid...they said it was twice as bad over there.

Cut, cut, cut.  Too many social programs...if not initially devised to create dependency and buy votes then they have been morphed to do just that.

Stick with the things government is for...defense, a common currency, etc.  Anyone who is paid to show kids how to put a condom on a banana and other such nonsense jobs should start looking for gainful employment.