Posted on 12/12/2007 11:51:49 AM PST by Graybeard58
As he did in 2001, President Bush is giving most federal workers Christmas Eve off with pay so they may have a four-day holiday weekend. It was wrong then, and it's wrong now. Yes, Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon and Carter did the same thing when Christmas Eve fell on Monday, but they did it because federal workers at the time were less handsomely paid. That age, however, is a distant memory.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the average federal salary is 48 percent higher than the private-sector average. When the value of fringe benefits (pension, health and life insurance, etc.) are added, the disparity grows to 100 percent, says the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Federal workers already get more paid time off than most in the private sector, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Each year, they get 10 paid holidays, plus 13 sick days they may accumulate to infinity. Their vacation-day allotment rises from 13 in their first three years to 20 through Year 15 and to 26 thereafter.
Government workers have much greater job security that folks in the private sector. Their jobs are recession-proof, and their employer has no competition and will never go bankrupt. When the government runs low on cash, it just prints or borrows more money or finds ways to "enhance revenues."
So despite a budget deficit of more than $100 billion, a national debt of $10 trillion and unfunded entitlement liabilities of $90 trillion, the president spends gobs of other people's money to give his people a day off with pay and makes private employers who can't afford to follow suit look like Scrooges.
If federal employees want Christmas Eve to be a paid holiday, let them negotiate it into their contracts. Otherwise, make them use a vacation day, just like America's working stiffs.
Ping to a Republican-American Editorial.
If you want on or off this list, let me know.
Ambivalence here. At least when they’re at home they can’t hurt us.
What a bunch of whining liberals.
Bah humbug. The president does something nice to his employees for Christmas and someone has to take offense.
Yada yada yada...
As a federal employee, I find that although I do indeed accumulate an impressive amount of annual leave time each year, the problem is finding opportunities to use it. Each year, I lose (”forfeit” is the correct word) a lot of leave time because I wasn’t able to use it before Dec. 31. That will happen again this year; I’ll forfeit about two weeks’ of leave. I’m not complaining — I’m just noting that this newspaper’s editorial writers don’t really know the subject they’re complaining about.
Nothing new there for editorial writers, eh?
Hmmmm.
No, I disagree completely.
Giving them Christmas Eve off, and not having a single liberal secularist say a WORD about it makes it worth the money.
Think about it, folks.
As for me, my staff gets a half day on Christmas Eve, as has been the case since we opened the doors in 1997.
My parents always told me to get a government job. I should have listened.
I have to use a vacation day to get Christmas Eve off. So should government workers.
Let's be honest, no real work gets done on this day or the day after Thanksgiving for the most part.
The president does something nice to his employees for Christmas and someone has to take offense.
I don’t get paid on Christmas eve unless I work. Why should they?
What an editorial in the Christmas Spirit!
This so-called reporter needs to get his facts straight. Yes we get 13 sick days a year, however, if you are under the FERS retirement system, you lose any accumulated sick leave when you retire. You don't get to "cash it in" like employees under CSRS retirment system get to do.
could be worse, government FORCES us to take part of the day off on Christmas eve and the whole day off for Christmas. halfway thru the evening on Christmas eve the bars go dry until the day after Christmas.
nothing like a little lost revenue to say merry Christmas.
Sounds like you have Civil Service Envy. As a beneficiary of having Dec 24th off by President Bush’s Executive Order, I’ll take any perk I can get. Other than this freebie I’ve always used my vacation time to take Christmas Eve off. If you feel like railing against public employees why not the Public School teachers? They have the whole week with pay (summers too!) EVERY YEAR
Is this true or not?
As a federal employee, I find that although I do indeed accumulate an impressive amount of annual leave time each year
The author did not say that you accrue "annual leave time" indefinately.
Nothing new there for editorial writers, eh?
And for a government worker to cloud the issue. I would not care how many perks you have if I weren't paying for them.
Good for you but you're not having me pay for it either.
I’m not “railing” against anyone.
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