[napscoordinator]

Pensions are still around, just not so much in the Dreaded Private Sector. At least until we taxpayers decide to default.

One of the problems with the private sector is that they pay way too much to their employees. If they would have given a reasonable pay check to each person then pensions would still be around. The reason that the government employees can still get pay checks is because they receive such a low amount of money. For example a GS-5 gets 2,100 dollars a month. Who can even live on that? I know there are some government employees that are over paid but they are very few in the big picture. Of course those stories that are distorted are loved here on Free Republic.

[Rusty0604]

Maybe that used to be true, but not anymore. Governmant wages are as high or higher than private wages, plus they have pensions that are mathematically unsustainable and health care on top of that?
Also when comparing wages, what you do and the requirements for the job has to be in the comparison.

[cynwoody]

One of the problems with the private sector is that they pay way too much to their employees.

Now there's a real knee slapper!

Fortunately, there are private businesses that pay well enough that their employees can build up savings. And some of those workers are smart enough not to live in the biggest house and drive the fastest car and take the fanciest vacations. And so, one morning nearing retirement age, they wake up and suddenly realize they make more $$ before they get out of bed than from their well-paying job. Of course, that really pisses the Donks off!

The reason that the government employees can still get pay checks is because they receive such a low amount of money. For example a GS-5 gets 2,100 dollars a month. Who can even live on that?

It's probably true that the worst abuses in government are at the state and local level. However, according to McPaper, The typical federal worker is paid 20% more than a private-sector worker in the same occupation. Here's a table from that article:

Job	Federal	Private	Difference
Airline pilot, copilot, flight engineer	$93,690	$120,012	-$26,322
Broadcast technician	$90,310	$49,265	$41,045
Budget analyst	$73,140	$65,532	$7,608
Chemist	$98,060	$72,120	$25,940
Civil engineer	$85,970	$76,184	$9,786
Clergy	$70,460	$39,247	$31,213
Computer, information systems manager	$122,020	$115,705	$6,315
Computer support specialist	$45,830	$54,875	-$9,045
Cook	$38,400	$23,279	$15,121
Crane, tower operator	$54,900	$44,044	$10,856
Dental assistant	$36,170	$32,069	$4,101
Economist	$101,020	$91,065	$9,955
Editors	$42,210	$54,803	-$12,593
Electrical engineer	$86,400	$84,653	$1,747
Financial analysts	$87,400	$81,232	$6,168
Graphic designer	$70,820	$46,565	$24,255
Highway maintenance worker	$42,720	$31,376	$11,344
Janitor	$30,110	$24,188	$5,922
Landscape architects	$80,830	$58,380	$22,450
Laundry, dry-cleaning worker	$33,100	$19,945	$13,155
Lawyer	$123,660	$126,763	-$3,103
Librarian	$76,110	$63,284	$12,826
Locomotive engineer	$48,440	$63,125	-$14,685
Machinist	$51,530	$44,315	$7,215
Mechanical engineer	$88,690	$77,554	$11,136
Office clerk	$34,260	$29,863	$4,397
Optometrist	$61,530	$106,665	-$45,135
Paralegals	$60,340	$48,890	$11,450
Pest control worker	$48,670	$33,675	$14,995
Physicians, surgeons	$176,050	$177,102	-$1,052
Physician assistant	$77,770	$87,783	-$10,013
Procurement clerk	$40,640	$34,082	$6,558
Public relations manager	$132,410	$88,241	$44,169
Recreation worker	$43,630	$21,671	$21,959
Registered nurse	$74,460	$63,780	$10,680
Respiratory therapist	$46,740	$50,443	-$3,703
Secretary	$44,500	$33,829	$10,671
Sheet metal worker	$49,700	$43,725	$5,975
Statistician	$88,520	$78,065	$10,455
Surveyor	$78,710	$67,336	$11,374

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, USA TODAY analysis

What's GS-5 comparable to in the private sector?

[SVTCobra03]

“One of the problems with the private sector is that they pay way too much to their employees.”

Well said, Comrade!

[Still Thinking]

One of the problems with the private sector is that they pay way too much to their employees.

So your position (taken from this post together with your previous one lamenting the demise of corporate pensions) seems to be that it's better when a company pays someone less in cash than what they're worth, so they can have some to give them later as a pension.

Is that how you'd want your employer to treat you? What if the management of the company 30 years from now happens to be ultra-PC and demands you pass their test for allegiance to green orthodoxy or lack of homophobia or they won't pay you? How do you protect yourself from that? How do you get compensated for assuming the risk that the company will go out of business and the pension fund will be liquidated, or non-existent? Wouldn't it be better for them to just give you what they owe you, in cash, shoot, at the end of every day? Forget every two weeks. Even scrub this stupid "health insurance" scam. It's causing more trouble than it solved.

[sauropod]

One of the problems with the private sector is that they pay way too much to their employees. If they would have given a reasonable pay check to each person then pensions would still be around. The reason that the government employees can still get pay checks is because they receive such a low amount of money. For example a GS-5 gets 2,100 dollars a month. Who can even live on that? I know there are some government employees that are over paid but they are very few in the big picture. Of course those stories that are distorted are loved here on Free Republic.

Precisely.

[RFEngineer]

“One of the problems with the private sector is that they pay way too much to their employees. If they would have given a reasonable pay check to each person then pensions would still be around.”

So, in this one single aspect, the federal government is frugal - federal employee pay?

No, the reason why there are federal pensions is that the federal government does not have to account for their spending in the way the private sector does. If it did, there would be no federal employees, because there would be no money to pay them and meet other obligations.

Remember: for every federal employee, a dozen or so actual real hard-working Americans creating wealth against all odds.

Actual hard working Americans could save for their own retirement if the federal workforce were “right sized” and paid for the value that they create (or fired if they create none).

As we discussed on another thread - you cannot take any more from the private sector to benefit the federal sector.

We aren’t going to be able to meet our obligations to federal retirees of all stripes and other benefit recipients.

Every federal check recipient should be thankful for every check they get and treat it like it is their last one - because it just may be.