Here's Your Chance to Fix the Budget

You have some valid ideas but also some misguided ones. First off, I am a contractor in a position that should be a government position. I am not going to get into the reason why though.

My company gets paid a hell of a lot of money to provide my services to the customer. I see less than half of the percentage that gets forked out for me. Yes, my employer does provide whatever health insurance he deems suitable. The guy is cheap though so it's not all that great. In the end the guy who owns the company bank rolls much of the money that he is compensated for my services.

If the government were to take my position and turn it into a government one, they could offer me a substantial pay raise with standard Gov't benefits and still save anywhere from 30% to 50% of what they were paying for me.

I work with contractor and civilian alike everyday and effort is dependent upon the person. We all get complacent from time to time and all of us can still get fired. Yes, it is harder to fire the civilian, but not impossible.

I like small gov't too, however there are just some jobs that too sensitive for some bidding contractor to be performing on a rotating basis. With the government employee I believe that you have more loyalty and more control over information spillage.

BTW, my wife is Gov't and I don't think that she should lose her job or take a decrease in pay before they get rid of all the contractors mooching off of the government first.

Federal Employees Continue to Prosper | Cato @ Liberty (http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/federal-employees-continue-to-prosper/)

Federal workers earning double their private counterparts - USATODAY.com (http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2010-08-10-1Afedpay10_ST_N.htm)

I have seen some govt workers, and some contractors. I know the govt pays more to contractors, but IMO they get a lot better effort out of the contractors. That's not true in every single case, but a govt worker knows he/she has benefits and usually LOOOONG term employment, where as the contractors reasonably ofter have to re-bid and prove their competitiveness.

Also, and this is hard to explain, I fundamentally believe in small govt. I think that's known. IF we reduce by cutting contractors we do two things we make the equivalent govt workers jobs more stable, and thus promote more institutionalized govt, AND we reduce the competition around any given govt function. IF we reduce by cutting govt jobs, we increase the competition in the market place (assuming that the best of the cut workers would go to the contracting companies and compete for those jobs) and we create a more flexible and small central govt that can hire contractors as needed, or fire them if they get lazy or uncompetitive.

Also when you say it pays contractors more are you including the levels of benefits that many govt workers get in that? I don't know that stat so it is a honest question. I tend to think that the contractor may get paid more straight up, but then they have to turn around and cover their employees benefits.

I won't argue deeply into it.

Maybe my point is better said like this: a govt employee is intrinsically tied to a larger govt, a contractor while wanting govt money can turn to a commercial market to increase their profits.

And we're done.

Budget Puzzle: You Fix the Budget - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/13/weekinreview/deficits-graphic.html?choices=zf5pc001)

All that being done, I would implement the FairTax which would increase the tax base and provide an immediate jump start to the economy.

Federal Employees Continue to Prosper | Cato @ Liberty (http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/federal-employees-continue-to-prosper/)
1. Goverrnment employees should be compensated well. Trust me they still won't become rich.

2. Most of them live in high cost living areas. So while on average they make more than private counterparts they are actually compensated properly for the type of work that they do in the area that they live in.

3. Contractors still eat up more tax dollars than the federal employees do.

So I wonder if the NYT will publish a compilation of these self fixes.

1. Goverrnment employees should be compensated well. Trust me they still won't become rich.

2. Most of them live in high cost living areas. So while on average they make more than private counterparts they are actually compensated properly for the type of work that they do in the area that they live in.

3. Contractors still eat up more tax dollars than the federal employees do.

Ok so I guess that every one of those articles are wrong and your right. Thats why I have a 100's of customers who are now retired federal workers and in their 50's. Now they get their federal retirement and are working a second career. How many in the private sector can do that?

Your thinking of your area. We have thousands and thousands of federal workers in our area and our cost of living is not that high.

3. Contractors still eat up more tax dollars than the federal employees do.Short term, yes. Long term, no bacause their contracts can simply not be renewed or terminated for the "convenience of the Gov't".

As the federal workforce is cut back, contractors also can and should be eliminated where possible.

So you cut Federal Employee pay and reduce the federal workfoce but don't cut federal contractors? The Gov't pays the contractors more than it pays it's own employees. I would just cut the contractors out and leave the rest of it alone.

I would argue contractors largely do a better job. And sometimes cheaper.

edit: as many others have.

it's a simple math equation if we could find some solid data. I've worked in the contracting field. We did the job better and cheaper. We had to..we were a for profit industry. In gov't no one is for profit. They have intrinsically less motivation to do their job "well".

I want to know where all of these lazy ass government employees are. I don't see very many of them. They get annual evaluations and if they are not making the cut then it reflects on their eval.

Yes, in the long term a government employee can make more money. Considering that the majority of these people are privy to information that can be sensitive to national security I am all for keeping them happy. The number one motivator for espionage is money. By taking care of their own the government in a small way is detering the vast majority from even thinking about it.

BTW you cannot retire from the Gov't until you have put in 20 years of Federal Service and are age 55 or older. That is only 7 years earlier than the average in the US. Not everyone in the government retires right at age 55 though. Oh and do not confuse a military retirement after 20 years as the same thing because they are not.

Yes, some government retirees may opt to pick up an additional job for 5-10 years after retirement that is their choice. Don't hate the player, hate the game. You should have thought about it in your grand scheme.

What Is the Average Retirement Age in America? | eHow.com (http://www.ehow.com/about_4618296_average-retirement-age-america_.html)

I will not see eye to eye with you guys on this topic. Ever