Feeding the Monster

A great post from the blog, Get Liberty, which details the differences in pay and benefits between the public and private sector. Here in RI, this is one of the main issues which has caused our economy to circle the drain. Looks like the rest of the US is using our state as a model for growth. Good luck with that.

Feeding the Monster

By: adminOn: 04/28/2009 12:22:24In: Fiscal ResponsibilityComments: 0
By Isaac MacMillen

“An appeaser is one who feeds everyone else around him to the crocodile, in hopes he'll eat him last.” –Winston Churchill

American taxpayers are feeding a voracious monster that threatens their very existence. Much like the unwitting tourist that feeds a wild animal only to whet its insatiable appetite, American taxpayers are funding a government bureaucracy that, at its current and projected growth rate, will eventually consume the private sector.

Now, with the release of a study drawing attention to the disparity in pay and benefits between the public and private sectors, the seriousness of the situation is finally being brought into full view.

According to USA Today, public sector employees make nearly 44 percent more than their private sector colleagues, once benefits are factored into the equation. The average state or federal employee makes $39.25, of which $13.38 is benefits, while the average salary of a private employee is $11.90 less—$27.35, including $7.98 in benefits.

This huge disparity is dangerous. While the private sector produces goods and services that stimulate economic growth, the public sector siphons off tax dollars and drains the investment pool. As the public sector grows—and no doubt it will continue to expand, as the Democrats in the White House and in Congress push their Big Government plans—production declines and deficits explode.

Read the rest HERE.