Too Many Government Workers?

[OKTexas]

In light of the current Government Shutdown, this is an interesting and important topic to discuss. We all know our Government has expanded to a previously unthinkable gargantuan status. With that, so many Millions of Americans are now employed by our Government. They are solely dependent on Taxpayers for their survival. Are there too many Government Workers now. Can this trend be reversed, or should it be?

i can only speak for the PO.....there are too many managers....and not enough carriers or sometimes clerks....there are middle managers who make around a 100 grand a year doing....well we don't know what the hell they do.....but they don't do nothing to help the mail move or solve problems.....but they sure can cause problems by trying to implement one of their stupid programs to try and justify their..."job".....

The advantage of government unions.

 

[OKTexas]

as this partial shutdown proves at least 18% of the government workers are not needed and their so-called "work" as well.

I can't agree there, the administrative offices of the VA were closed and the claims process which was already way behind stopped. We owe our vets better.

 

[KokomoJojo]

This is why we need an adult running the Executive Branch of government: To make the hard decisions like who goes.

Of course, when you can print your own money, who needs to make tough choices?

What a thought. Rather than brining up a few that sound like they are too important, actually have some people up there making those decisions and making real cuts is the answer.

Unfortunately, NO ONE in government today is capable of making a decision harder than what they are going to have for lunch.

On second thought, we had better have an aid accomplish that…

"the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption."


-Thomas Paine

are you kidding?

if you have not noticed look at many of the posters, they defend it and fight to keep it the same way it is or even increase it!

 

[auditor0007]

In light of the current Government Shutdown, this is an interesting and important topic to discuss. We all know our Government has expanded to a previously unthinkable gargantuan status. With that, so many Millions of Americans are now employed by our Government. They are solely dependent on Taxpayers for their survival. Are there too many Government Workers now. Can this trend be reversed, or should it be?

Federal Eye - How many federal workers are there?

 

[Steven_R]

Name them.


Should we ax 18% of the VA nurses?

How about 18% of the TSA airport screeners? Everyone knows that those lines are freakishly smooth.

Who goes?

This is why we need an adult running the Executive Branch of government: To make the hard decisions like who goes.

Of course, when you can print your own money, who needs to make tough choices?

It's a valid question. Apparently worthy of any president....

It begs debate.

So...

Do we end school lunches or RIF 18% of the Border Patrol?

Should we further moth-ball NASA or fire all of the Americans who're employed shipping weapons in the form of U.S. Aid?

Should we stop paying VA disability payments AND federal paychecks to those who qualify for both or trim the staff at the Center for Disease Control?

Food and Drug quality or Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms regulation?

Choices...​

The flaw in this line of reasoning is the assumption that everyone who works for government does some critical job and does it well. There are any number of do nothing jobs created for diversity's sake and there are any number of critical jobs filled by slackers who can't really be fired.

Even if neither of the above were true, the government is unbelievably top heavy. The first place we can look to trim the fat is in administration. Instead of letting the people doing actual work go, start by letting go of people who sit in cubicles and move paper from one pile to another. Start looking at how many offices in departments just duplicate themselves and how much overhead is involved.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Jobs are good.

I'd like to make more scientist high paid maybe increase our funding for fusion.

 

[Londoner]

In light of the current Government Shutdown, this is an interesting and important topic to discuss. We all know our Government has expanded to a previously unthinkable gargantuan status. With that, so many Millions of Americans are now employed by our Government. They are solely dependent on Taxpayers for their survival. Are there too many Government Workers now. Can this trend be reversed, or should it be?

The private sector craves big government, to whom they go for patent protection, subsidies, bailout and regulatory favors. We can't have this debate until people become more literate about how much of a role government plays in commerce. Study the technology that came out of the Cold War Space Program and Pentagon budgets/labs - and how that technology was fed into the 80s consumer electronics boom. Or study who developed satellite technology and its unbelievable range of commercial applications. Let's not even talk about the Hoover Dam or the investment required to turn the Colorado River Basin into something that supported 40 million people (and their commercial ventures). Problem is: our news sources have been captured by an anti-tax movement which doesn't provide people with information on what government actually does. These people simply have never researched government's role in commercial aviation or internet technology. Until you gain access to all the data, you're overly dependent on the cliches and narratives of pundits, politicians and fully captured internet/radio/tv sources. My recommendation is to go to a big university library and hunt down policy papers along with comprehensive histories of technology investment/development in the USA. Unfortunately, the people who are most illiterate on this stuff have been conditioned not to trust any source outside their trusted pundits.

During his recovery from the 81 recession, Reagan actually added government jobs and boosted funding to the states. In the front of the house, he talked a good game, but behind the scenes he understood that every lost job is a lost consumer, which lost consumer is no longer spending money on main street, which leads to more job loss. Reagan's father was saved by a government job. FDR's reasoning was that if you invest in human capital (like you invest into roads and bridges), and give people a leg up during hard times, than some of them would go on to do great things, maybe even become president. Who knows how many future scientist or leaders exists in the ranks the poor or downtrodden?

The worse thing is to have massive surplus capital on top coupled with an impoverished underpaid workforce on the bottom to whom the capitalist no longer supplies wage levels sufficient to meet the demand requirements of economic growth. This is what we are going through now. We have an unprecedented surplus of capital on top, coupled with a massive surplus of Labor on the bottom. But Capital has no incentive to add jobs because the wage system has depleted consumer demand to the point where there are now not enough consumers to justify adding jobs. Government used to fill the cap by expanding credit to the working and middle class, but that only works for so long until credit markets go pop.

 

[Samson]

Our military is not immune from downsizing?

Point is that the size of government is not out of control. The size of the workforce has remained about the same size even though the population has doubled

Another rightwing myth

I just stated that the military was NOT immune to downsizing... (thus the downsized military)



Interesting how the number of employees has remained the same, yet the cost per government employee so far exceeds costs per civilian employee:

Total compensation costs for state and local government
workers averaged $42.09 per hour worked in June 2013.

Private industry employers spent an average of $29.11 per hour worked for employee compensation in June 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.. [/B]

That's what happens when you contract out all lower paying jobs

You end up with a highly educated workforce

That's what happens when you over-compensate pay and benefits for menial labor.

You end up paying more for less.

 

[Moonglow]

In light of the current Government Shutdown, this is an interesting and important topic to discuss. We all know our Government has expanded to a previously unthinkable gargantuan status. With that, so many Millions of Americans are now employed by our Government. They are solely dependent on Taxpayers for their survival. Are there too many Government Workers now. Can this trend be reversed, or should it be?

400,000 work for the Pentagon alone

 

[DiamondDave]

When we have govt agencies making TV ads, pay contractors to clean military barracks and latrines, have agencies that should not exist constitutionally.. YES we have too many government workers

 

[jasonnfree]

Take 10% off across the board. Evenly across every government office. Once people realize they aren't missing anything cut another 10%.

So we can be a third world country like arizona?

 

[Samson]

In light of the current Government Shutdown, this is an interesting and important topic to discuss. We all know our Government has expanded to a previously unthinkable gargantuan status. With that, so many Millions of Americans are now employed by our Government. They are solely dependent on Taxpayers for their survival. Are there too many Government Workers now. Can this trend be reversed, or should it be?

400,000 work for the Pentagon alone

See Rightwinger's helpful link within post #24.



I know it asks alot of you to read and analyze data, so I'll explain it to you:

Military Government workers are far fewer today than in the past 50 years. If any portion of government has decreased employees, it is the military.

 

[Sallow]

Way to many people working for the Govt. That doesn't include those in the military. Those guys and gals earn everything we can give them.

The rest of the Fed worker, most ain't worth a pisshole in the snow.

But of course.

Actually, our Military is far to big.

Which is why we go on fruitless, illegal and dangerous adventures like Vietnam and Iraq.

The founders NEVER intended a professional offensive military that were building an Empire.

 

[Sallow]

In light of the current Government Shutdown, this is an interesting and important topic to discuss. We all know our Government has expanded to a previously unthinkable gargantuan status. With that, so many Millions of Americans are now employed by our Government. They are solely dependent on Taxpayers for their survival. Are there too many Government Workers now. Can this trend be reversed, or should it be?

400,000 work for the Pentagon alone

See Rightwinger's helpful link within post #24.



I know it asks alot of you to read and analyze data, so I'll explain it to you:

Military Government workers are far fewer today than in the past 50 years. If any portion of government has decreased employees, it is the military.

That's because of outsourcing to private contractors.

The actually size of the military has not decreased.

 

[Samson]

Take 10% off across the board. Evenly across every government office. Once people realize they aren't missing anything cut another 10%.

So we can be a third world country like arizona?

So we can avoid being an economic superpower like China!!!

 

[Samson]

400,000 work for the Pentagon alone

See Rightwinger's helpful link within post #24.



I know it asks alot of you to read and analyze data, so I'll explain it to you:

Military Government workers are far fewer today than in the past 50 years. If any portion of government has decreased employees, it is the military.

That's because of outsourcing to private contractors.

The actually size of the military has not decreased.

Um, so what about non-military outsourcing.....I guess that just doesn't happen, huh?

 

[Samson]

Way to many people working for the Govt. That doesn't include those in the military. Those guys and gals earn everything we can give them.

The rest of the Fed worker, most ain't worth a pisshole in the snow.

But of course.

Actually, our Military is far to big.

Which is why we go on fruitless, illegal and dangerous adventures like Vietnam and Iraq.

The founders NEVER intended a professional offensive military that were building an Empire.

I agree with you, except for the ad-hominium anti-war bullshit.

The size of the military has nothing to do with where congress agress to deploy military forces. Of course size ENABLES them to deploy, but the Decision to deploy into a theatre of war like Vietnam or Iraq is not done without congressional approval.

 

[Harry Dresden]

In light of the current Government Shutdown, this is an interesting and important topic to discuss. We all know our Government has expanded to a previously unthinkable gargantuan status. With that, so many Millions of Americans are now employed by our Government. They are solely dependent on Taxpayers for their survival. Are there too many Government Workers now. Can this trend be reversed, or should it be?

i can only speak for the PO.....there are too many managers....and not enough carriers or sometimes clerks....there are middle managers who make around a 100 grand a year doing....well we don't know what the hell they do.....but they don't do nothing to help the mail move or solve problems.....but they sure can cause problems by trying to implement one of their stupid programs to try and justify their..."job".....

The advantage of government unions.

how?....the Union sure as hell is not for too many Chiefs and not enough Indians.....

 

[Harry Dresden]

Take 10% off across the board. Evenly across every government office. Once people realize they aren't missing anything cut another 10%.

So we can be a third world country like arizona?

looks pretty modern for the third world.....they even have indoor toilets....

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Way to many people working for the Govt. That doesn't include those in the military. Those guys and gals earn everything we can give them.

The rest of the Fed worker, most ain't worth a pisshole in the snow.

But of course.

Actually, our Military is far to big.

Which is why we go on fruitless, illegal and dangerous adventures like Vietnam and Iraq.

The founders NEVER intended a professional offensive military that were building an Empire.

I agree with you, except for the ad-hominium anti-war bullshit.

The size of the military has nothing to do with where congress agress to deploy military forces. Of course size ENABLES them to deploy, but the Decision to deploy into a theatre of war like Vietnam or Iraq is not done without congressional approval.

Which is why it should be reduced, so that they're unable to do so.