Jeez, guys. The Federal retirement system was reformed back in the 80s. They pay into their own system and into social security now and have been doing so for 25 years. Now, I’m not easy on them because they are underworked and most govt jobs are useless. But the retirement benefits are not out of line with the private sector.
The major scandal besides the over-hiring is the false classification of jobs at levels higher than the comparable public sector jobs. Govt paper-pushers will get classified as senior execs when they are nothing but file clerks.
Only an outside audit can clean up the mess because the higher you go in the govt the more corrupt and incompetent the personnel. It’s too corrupt to fix itself.
Seruzawa: “Only an outside audit can clean up the mess because the higher you go in the govt the more corrupt and incompetent the personnel. It’s too corrupt to fix itself.”
A voice of sanity. I agree. There are good and bad federal employees just like there are good and bad private sector employees. The trick is finding out which is which, because it’s hard to penetrate the layers of bureaucracy that protect worthless or low worth employees. The best approach, in my opinion, is to start eliminating or cutting back federal agencies that aren’t authorized per the US Constitution. The Departments of Energy and Education come to mind.
Some FReepers go too far. They impugn the work of ALL government employees regardless of the pay earned or work performed. That’s why I gave the example of DoD employees who serve alongside the active force. You’d think some of these haters would at least appreciate THAT.
Take a closer look at some of those studies that claim federal employees are overpaid. You’ll find SOME career fields are actually underpaid. Unless people want anarchy, we have to have some sort of government and what would people prefer, slugs or talent? Talent costs money.