But when I said it was a trade, not a sacrifice, I was going by what you said — that you did it for job security. If you thought that having greater job security was not worth it, you wouldn’t have done it, right? I mean if the job security angle were not there when you made the decision, and you said to yourself, “I will take this cut in pay for the sake of serving my fellow man” then, yes, I would call that a sacrifice. But I stand by what I said. You made a calculated trade-off, not a sacrifice.

I’m really sorry it did not turn out well for you and your family; you seem like a very dear soul — just like almost everyone here at CE. I hope for all our sakes that things get better.

Even if you leave out the question of how much they’re getting paid, their JOBS are in no danger. I’ve heard that union membership is declining in the private sector, while it is growing in the government sector. Just keeping their jobs safe.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5053518/

Judy

There is a this — that many know that the functions of government have expanded well beyond the constitutional mandate, but instead of fighting for a restoration of truly constitutional government they take the attitude of, “Hey, why not get mine while the getting is good.” Except that the “mine” they are getting is really ours — our taxes, all too often squandered.

We will feel differently about civil servants when we start seeing some recommend the closing of their own agencies, departments, and programs for the true greater good.

Here’s one about our public servants-

The more that learn to read the less learn how to make a living. That’s one thing about a little education. It spoils you for actual work. The more you know the more you think somebody owes you a living. ~Will Rogers

Civil servants know at the time of their signing-on that their ultimate destination will not be Miami or El Paso, although these may be future assignments. They sign-on because Karachi or Machu Pichu interests them.

Military members are excluded from this argument. We can’t pay them enough to put their lives on the line. It’s the overpaid public officials who take credit for their blood. How disingenuous to lump the heroes with the cowards.

Police and Fire protection is also excluded. Judges are not excluded; they’re in the middle of this bloated bloody mess. Of course they consider themselves as the untouchables. India has theirs and we have ours.
We also have wonderful, selfless and dedicated teachers who are underpaid while their administrators squander the bloated education budget.

The point of the article is that this was not the intent of the Founding Fathers.

In our Church we have the best example of this with JP2 and B16, the two Servants of the servants of God. Neither one of them wanted the positions, they wanted to retire to their native and beloved Fatherlands yet the Father picked a different land for them. Theirs was/is a life of acrimony, scandals, headaches and suffering, with no money in it.

Let’s make a distinction between service and opportunism, and Servants and overpaid Beaurocrats.

Federal employees and their families make sacrifices for the American public that apparently have not been studied by the Cato Institute. Consider families who move frequently, and even to extremely remote parts of the world, far from the usual support networks of family and lifelong friends, adding stress to today’s already stressful family life, for the convenience of the government; civilians (not just military members) who put their lives on the line in Afghanistan and Iraq (and receive some monetary compensation for this, probably included without explanation in the Cato study. This sort of compensation does not even remotely equate to the risk taken); who give their time and talent to make our country a better place only to hear derogatory comments such as the snide “I’m from the government; I’m here to help.”

In addition, some of those salaries are paid to employees who live in countries outside the U.S. with much higher costs of living, the adjustments in salary are made to allow the employee and his or her family to have a decent standard of living in these places (England and Japan come to mind). Others are compensated for living in places where no American would choose to live without additional compensation of some kind–the more dangerous places, with a high risk of ist attack or third world countries with high risk of disease and lack of basic services that we are accustomed to at home, where our ambassadors and other foreign service workers are helping to keep diplomatic relations stable.

It is important to recognize areas of excess in government spending and to curb those expenditures, to ensure that the taxpayers’ contributions are spent wisely, but please do not write off all government workers, no matter how well-educated (and don’t we WANT well-educated people working for us in Washington and around the world??), so cynically as hopping on a federal gravy train. That is a disservice to the many, many employees and family members who make great sacrifices in the service of the people of the United States.

Judy

The idea of public servants has already faded, Dr. Hendrickson. He who serves, rules. Our “servants” hold the power and are paid a premium for it.
“Something’s got to give.” is exactly right.