It's been a common theme here for the past couple of years: The federal government and Wall Street--abetted by the universities--are taking care of themselves and screwing the rest of us. If you're in the group, you're doing well. If you're outside the group, they're taking from you to feed themselves. The more I look into it, the more I'm convinced that the federal government is engaged in a soft form of piracy committed by the power groups against everyone else. This morning, USA Today offers perhaps one of the most damning pieces of evidence. A must read. Random excerpts:
The number of federal workers earning $150,000 or more a year has soared tenfold in the past five years and doubled since President Obama took office, a USA TODAY analysis finds.
Already, some lawmakers are planning to use the lame-duck session that starts Monday to challenge the president's plan to give a 1.4% across-the-board pay raise to 2.1 million federal workers.
Government-wide raises. Top-paid staff have increased in every department and agency. The Defense Department had nine civilians earning $170,000 or more in 2005, 214 when Obama took office and 994 in June.
Long-time workers thrive. The biggest pay hikes have gone to employees who have been with the government for 15 to 24 years. Since 2005, average salaries for this group climbed 25% compared with a 9% inflation rate.
Since 2000, federal pay and benefits have increased 3% annually above inflation compared with 0.8% for private workers, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Members of Congress earn $174,000, up from $141,300 in 2000, an increase below the rate of inflation.
