Andrew Biggs and Jason Richwine in today’s Wall Street Journal:

Even using all the standard controls—including race and gender, full- or part-time work, firm size, marital status, region, residence in a city or suburb, and more—the federal wage premium does not disappear. It stubbornly hovers around 12%, meaning private employees must work 13½ months to earn what comparable federal workers make in 12.

Most academic studies dating back to the 1970s have found similar pay differences. In addition to the wage premium, federal workers enjoy more generous fringe benefits than do private workers. For instance, federal workers receive a defined benefit pension with benefit levels comparable to those from private 401(k) plans, except that federal workers contribute only 0.8% of pay and are not subject to any market risk. They also receive employer matches to the defined contribution Thrift Savings Plan that significantly exceed the typical private employer match.

If the overall generosity of federal benefits matches that of federal salaries (which seems quite likely), total compensation for federal workers may easily exceed $14,000 per year more than an otherwise similar private employee.

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I’m sure Ms. Monica Potts, is a delightful person and in polite company never wets on the carpet as some of us are want to do.   And history teaches when a lady speaks ill of me, I surely have earned it.

So I find myself  a bit out of sorts after pouring over her latest screed, at the American Prospect, because no matter how I turn this around in my little mind I reach the conclusion: Monica owes me (gasp) an apology.

Here are a few minor gaffes Monica makes:

• I called for 20% cuts in federal, state, and local employees salaries.  She misread and uses only federal numbers to impugn either my math skills or Google’s Calculator.

• I said we should cut public employee compensation by 20% and future increases should be tied to private wage growth.  Again, Monica appears to have misread.  I didn’t say each worker should receive 20% less, precisely because there is so much obvious inequity in the salary, pension, and overtime public employees receive.  She makes my point by explaining a government cashier earns sixteen thousand dollars more per year than a cashier in the private sector.  NJ’s governor just pointed to a 49 year old pensioner who is to receive $3.3 Milion on a $124,000 contribution.  Please know this Monica:  I don’t want to use a hatchet, I want to use a scalpel to remove 20% from public employee compensation. This doesn’t mean job reductions (that’s for another post), but if for instance a cashier quits in a huff, his eager replacement will still earn less.   And this doesn’t mean furloughs, workers will be expected to earn less and (horrors!) show up for work.

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Americans think most of their tax dollars sent to Washington are “wasted,” according to a Washington Post poll

Most voters think the country would be better off if most members of Congress were not re-elected, according to a new poll

Company accused of defrauding the government by filing bogus receipts, double billing for the same services and charging government agencies for strippers and prostitutes; A prostitute in Afghanistan was put on the payroll under the “Morale Welfare Recreation” category and the company billed the prostitute’s plane tickets and salary to the government, according to the accusation

The government paid more than $284 million on recruitment, retention and relocation bonuses to federal employees in 2008

California county to spend federal stimulus funds to pay students to make mini- documentaries about professionals whose work the youths find inspiring

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Slate’s Jacob Weisberg came unhinged on Friday and gave the country the finger.

“Down with the People!” he screams from Bill Gates lap.  As Jacob sees it, we the people are demanding two mutually exclusive things: premium government services and tax cuts, and when we can’t have what we want, we become unruly children.

There is of course a third option, and I think it is the voting issue for the 2010 elections.  It frankly amazes me that TPM-style Democrats going after Paul Ryan’s Roadmap, don’t see it coming…

You can thank me later, but I just saved the United State of America at least  $278,309,600,000.00 PER YEAR. You read that right.  $278 BILLION per year.  That’s almost entirely what Medicaid will spend this year for children and the disabled.  That’s what our normal deficit looks like without TARP and stimulus.

The crazy thing is how easy it was to do.   It took me like three minutes.  And since I’m a big open source, creative commons guy I’m even posting my magical formula shown here using 2008’s budget:

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