And we are supposed to feel sorry for them?
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Bureaucrats Irked: Heritage Finds They Are Paid Too Much
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:06:08 -0700
From: The Heritage Foundation <members...@heritage.org>
Reply-To: members...@heritage.org
To: Dick Thompson <rhomp2...@earthlink.net>
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774981:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>
October 22, 2010 | By Bethany Murphy
*Bureaucrats Irked: Heritage Finds They Are Paid Too Much*
In an interview with the Washington Post
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774982:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>,
the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, John Berry, directly
credits The Heritage Foundation as having moved public opinion on the
issue of overpayment of federal officials:
*He said he was frustrated that “the Heritage and Cato misinformation
campaign has obviously gained traction.” *The two Washington, D.C.,
think tanks have produced widely discussed reports indicating that
federal workers are paid too much. *A “pretty prolonged misinformation
campaign over the last six month leading up to this,” [Berry] said, “has
worked.”*
Berry was steaming over that last point.
The Heritage Foundation has been at the forefront of the overpayment
issue
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774983:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>.
Heritage research has found that
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774984:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>
the average federal employee earns an annual salary almost 60% higher
than the average private-sector employee — $79,000 vs. $50,000. Even
after controlling for education and experience, federal employees get
paid significantly better — 22% more per hour, on average — than
private-sector workers. Once you add up the benefits, the gap in total
compensation rises even higher — 30% to 40% above comparable
private-sector workers.
But defenders of the federal pay system, including the OPM, have
mischaracterized our analyses by suggesting they ignore skill
differences between the public and private sectors, resulting in an
“apples to oranges” comparison. On the contrary, Heritage has carefully
accounted for skill differences
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774985:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>,
always comparing apples to apples.
In a letter the Washington Post this week, Heritage economist Bill Beach
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774986:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>
directly addresses those critical of our analysis:
Ignoring this evidence [of standard practice in calibrating data],
government and union representatives quoted in your column attack our
findings by relying on a survey that examines job descriptions. But
federal workers tend to be less skilled within an occupation level - a
senior accountant may qualify only as a junior accountant in the private
sector. So economists look at skills and experience, not just official
duties.
> Other Heritage Work of Note
* The Heritage Foundation has long called on Congress to defund
liberal mouthpiece NPR. Writing on FoxNews.com, Heritage vice
president Mike Gonzalez argues that
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774987:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>
“National Public Radio’s dismissal of Juan Williams is a powerful
indictment of NPR’s practices and corporate culture. Small wonder
voices are once again calling for the federal government to defund
NPR—which gets 16% of its budget from taxpayers.”
* President Obama sold his new health care plan to the American
public on the premise that it would help many Americans. But
according to Heritage analysis, the reality is quite different.
“Unfortunately, Obamacare’s new federally mandated, essential
benefits package will diminish new job opportunities, especially
for low-income workers,” writes Kathryn Nix
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774988:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>.
“This is expected to occur because the new law requires employers
to offer health care coverage or pay a penalty.”
* North Korea has declared that its military might had increased
“1000-fold.” This claim coincides with the upcoming transition of
authority from dictator Kim Jong-Il to his son, Kim Jong-un.
Writing in the Boston Herald, Heritage analyst Peter Brookes
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774989:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>
argues that the change in power will not result in a change in
policy. “Even with a new king . . . er, Kim in charge in North
Korea, nukes will stay front and center of Pyongyang’s policies
and priorities, which is unfortunate for not only the hungry North
Korean people but also for the rest of the world.”
* Even though Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has signed a nuclear
deal with Russia, President Obama issued a statement expressing
unconcern about the country’s nuclear ambitions. “The fundamental
problem with Obama’s statement and his enormous lack of judgment
is the underlying assumption that Venezuela, under President
Chávez, will act responsibly,” writes Heritage’s Ray Walser
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774990:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>.
“In fact, Chávez has a long and notorious record of acting in
exactly the opposite fashion, at home and abroad.”
* In another attempt to advance a radical green agenda, liberals are
pushing for renewable electricity standards. Heritage's Conn
Carroll reports
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774991:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>
that these new regulations are just as harmful as the previous
cap-and-trade bill. “A Heritage Foundation analysis of 22.5 % RES
by 2025
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774992:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>
found: 1) household electricity prices would jump 36%; 2) industry
prices would rise by 60%; 3) national income (GDP) would be cut by
$5.2 trillion between 2012 and 2035; and most importantly 4) RES
would kill more than 1,000,000 jobs.”
* Conservatives are projected to make substantial gains after the
elections in two weeks. If this occurs, they will have several
critical items to address, among them earmark reform. “Nothing
fuels the passion of fiscal conservatives more than their dislike
of pork-barrel projects,” writes Heritage's Robert Bluey
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774993:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>.
“For years earmarks have served as a gateway drug to higher spending.”
> In Other News
* The federal government accrued an 8.2 percent return
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774994:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>
on its Wall Street bailouts, a rate higher than the return on U.S.
Treasury Bonds. We should remember, though, that the purpose of
government is not to “invest” on behalf of taxpayers.
* Funds from the Obama-Pelosi-Reid stimulus
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774995:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>
are being fraudulently spent or used to support shoddy “greening”
projects.
* Over the objections of rioting union workers and leftists, the
French senate has approved an increase to the nation’s retirement
age
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774996:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>.
* Almost half of Palestinians
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774997:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>
wish to resume violent attacks against Israel.
* Great Britain has decided to continue with its “Big Brother”
<http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/ct/4774998:7226333430:m:1:210415489:743794D308024E69DF039450D5028D02>
plans to track phone and Internet communications of its citizens.
/Bethany Murphy is a writer for //MyHeritage.org/
<../../ct/4747211:7157336518:m:1:210545313:7B48996AA75AD9E3154B6C3323B6DAC3>/—a
website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Nathaniel
Ward; Amanda Reinecker and Andrew Vitaliti, a Heritage intern,
contributed to this report./
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