Top Political Issues of 2011 in America

Do government workers, deserve what a tax payer cannot afford?  Salaries of Government employees have grown 40% in the last 10 years to $136k a year on average compared to the %81k in the Private sector. Whats interesting is when I review the data that supports either side, the information from comments defending the statistics reference education  and have absolutely no factual data that supports the converse.   While I’m usually a person who provides solutions, there is no easy way out of this .. reversing the trend back to a democracy and small government as it was intended was a long time ago.  But my whole point about this top political issue.  If our government provides a more lucrative fulfilling lifestyle providing an early retirement with health care benefits, where would the common person want to work?  My Grandpa and Grandma both worked at the post office and have a wonderful lifestyle at 55.  My Uncle just retired from working on the state highways making $140k a year, and now with a pension of around $65 a year for life, and he’s only 52.  These people above are recipients of tax payer dollars.  Is it really fair that government workers get pensions and higher salaries than the tax payers average?

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References

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-10-11/1A-state-lawmakers-pump-pensions/50522036/1

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-12-08/state-pensions-workers/51750670/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29

workers who qualify for state pensions

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/governmentjobs/a/Annual-Salaries-Of-Top-Us-Government-Officials.htm

Government Salaries up 20% since 2000.

Salaries .. Public vs. Private

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=public%20vs%20private%20salaries&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dispatch.com%2Fcontent%2Fdownloads%2F2011%2F09%2FBRT-Public-Sector-Comp-Study.pdf&ei=-gPmTrWgJ4rG0AGpnt2FBw&usg=AFQjCNGrtOcnB43oRvOI91bOTzePhF0Fcw&cad=rja

Center for stae and local government

http://www.slge.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={22748FDE-C3B8-4E10-83D0-959386E5C1A4}&DE={BD1EB9E6-79DA-42C7-A47E-5D4FA1280C0B}

Are Public Sector Workers Undercompensated?

But according to a new study published by the Center for State & Local Government Excellence and the National Institute on Retirement Security, these aggregate compensation comparisons are misleading.  The authors, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee economics professors Keith A. Bender and John S. Heywood, assert that state and local government workers are better educated and have more work experience, on average, than do private sector workers, so it is natural that their overall average compensation would be higher.  “Thus,” they conclude, “the fact that public sector workers receive greater aver­age compensation than private sector workers should be no more surprising than the fact that those with more skills and education earn more.”