Since we're already $40 Trillion in debt, we don't submit audited GAAP-approved financial statements, we continue to hemorrhage red ink, the baby boomers want to get paid, our political parties don't care to even look at the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid disaster unfolding, and fiscal anarchy is here, I'm thinking forward a few years and wondering how big the federal government layoff will need to be.
Since we currently have 14.6 Million federal employees and growing under Big Government Bush, I'm thinking 30%, or about 4.3 million heads to roll. At a minimum. Even though that 7.63 million number is looking pretty tasty too.
Here's an amazing announcement from Libya, who's axing 40% of their employees next year, for some inspiration.
Libya to lay off 400,000 public employees
TRIPOLI (AFP) - Forty percent of all public sector employees in Libya are to lose their jobs under a 24 billion dollar (18.5 billion euro) draft budget for 2007 presented to parliament.
Speaking before the People's Congress in the coastal city of Sirte east of Tripoli, Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmudi underlined the "necessity" to lay off some 400,000 civil servants out of a total state payroll of one million. 
January 21, 2007
A few years down the road, after the entitlements bomb blows up, what will the US federal government layoff number be?
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If you read Bernies remarks the other day, you will see a small paragraph about immigration and social security. I believe it points to the fact that some of these idiots think they can prop up social security by making our 11 million invaders citizens.
The other rarely mentioned time bomb is the fallout of well deserved disability claims from the Iraq war. PTSD pays $2,600 per month (with year raises) from the VA.
I was at the Washington Real Estate Investors Association (WREIA) meeting last week, and the president of the association said that the number of federal employees now is virtually the same as it was in 1970. All of the increase in federal government workers has come from the contractors.
You are right Keith....that 7.63 million is tempting, and if they ever need to cut substantially, that is where they will start. Regardless of ability, it is much easier to lay off a contractor than a civil servant.
Nice thing is we don't have to pay buyouts or severance to the contractors. Good riddance!
with housing in the shape its in now, what in the world gonna happen if unemployment were to increase?
Isn't it the Bush administration that recently wanted to totally revamp civil service performance standards and make it easy to get rid of people?
keith:
can you post china's debt vs. income?
i bet you the graph shows the opposite. in other words, more savings than debt.
We here in California tried to get a handle on future costs by having several common sense propositons on a recent ballot - as in dont spend more than you bring in, trying to get the public sector spiraling cost under control through limiting the retirement benifits of goverment employees to what regular people get, ect.
Unfortunately, the special interest groups slammed the Gov., making him out to be the anti-christ in the flesh. And the voteing public bought it. They are still crowing over how they beat him. Unfortunately, they are not bright enough to understand that they actually voted against their own interest.
So dont think that just by pointing out the problem , people will listen. They are mostly public school educated, and have 0 critical thinking skills. Only if Rosie or Opra tell them, will they belive. And good luck with that!
Amid much publicity Libya gave up their wmd program a few years back. Presumably they wanted closer relations with the west to build their economy. This isn't a good sign...
Why is it that all governmental retirees receive free healthcare, and retirement too, allthewhile, the private sectors do not offer any of these anymore, and the governmental sector is funded by the private sector.
It makes no sence, and all I hear about is that the private sectors 'social security beneies' will become null and void first, even though again the private sector funded these program themeselves along with their employers, while the public sector did not? LOL, someone please 'splain that one.
How 'bout bringing back a hefty tax on the estates of the super rich?
govt. is one of our biggest businesses next to illigal narcotics and other assorted fun.
Good work Keith.
The government employees will not go down without a fight. They will tax our last penny if they have to. They will say they have a family to feed, so that will justify everything they do to us.
"There is no art which one government sooner learns from
another than that of draining money from the pockets of the
people." - Adam Smith
"Government is an association of men who do violence to the rest of us."
-Leo Tolstoy
" by making 11 million invaders citizens."
----------------------------
more like 22 million invaders.
Right NOW there is an assault on grass roots groups who seek solutions to problems where gubmint fails.
""Law would make Minutemen
guilty of 'domestic terrorism'
'Patrolling to detect alleged illegal activity'
while carrying any weapon would be felony...""
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53857
NUTS!!! the sponsor of the bill is a devout communist and man-hater. read about her comments.
her liberalism is a Mental Disorder
she can't wait to cast her vote for Hillary.
We're doomed - DOOMED! - I tell ya.
Never happen. That contractor is also somebody’s (as in elected parasite) constituent. Sub contractor or civil servant, once you’re in, your IN!
Tax the rich too much and they will just move to the Carribean or Switzerland and take all their money and buying power with them. You will end up with nothing just like California and France found out. The socialists are just too stupid.
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How 'bout bringing back a hefty tax on the estates of the super rich?
You mean Clinton/Gore shrunk the government by reducing head count? That's what I thought.
We noble federal retirees do not receive free healthcare...we're on the same partially subsidized healthcare system we were on when we were working (or at least showing up at the office) -- the same one Congress members have. This whole socialist system will of course collapse long before many more government and private retirees receive the full value of all the promised benefits. There probably aren't enough workers on the planet to deliver the benefits our government has promised Americans. At least the contractors can be easily removed and forced into the private economy, unlike the civil "servants" who are much more difficult to dump. After the horse manure hits the fan, if the government survives at all, federal employment will either be 100% (total socialism or communism) or a small fraction of what it is today.
There probably aren't enough workers on the planet to deliver the benefits our government has promised Americans.
And the majority don't get the benefits so we'll be saying: "stop this taxation" or else we'll be on the welfare rolls and your taxes will go up!
"The government employees will not go down without a fight. They will tax our last penny if they have to. They will say they have a family to feed, so that will justify everything they do to us."
It's going to get ugly because here in Canada, workers in the public sector have been suffering pay freezes and very low wages for a LONG while. In the mean time, private sector employees have been raking in MUCH better income and saving nothing!
Public servants got lower wages because it they were funding their pension!
The private sector was bamboozled into living beyond their means. They forgot to save while public servants were implicitly forced to.
Now we're going to have the private sector refusing to pay for civil servants who accepted low wages for more security.
If we can't settle this one, it will mean anarchy my friends.
If you think the Fed retiree numbers and benefits are bad, just check out your states. Cradle to grave, suckers. Pay us, or else!
Yes, Clinton did shrink the federal payrolls w/ a RIF (Reduction-in-Force) and an expansion of gov't contractors.
Gov't contracting has become an industry unto itself w/ a lobby. Yes, by contract they can be easily terminated, but in reality due to politics it will be more difficult.
However, it will be much more difficult to remove federal civil servants. They have statutory protections = to old school labor unions. Another RIF can be done, but it will take time & is complex.
The feds can easily institute a hiring freeze & terminate all new federal employees. The RIF will slowly cull out the least senior employees.
But even if all this is done, relative to many private sector positions, the cost savings will not be significant enough. Plus is will be quickly offset by all the increased VA costs (Which should not be touched in any cost cutting).
In the end it will be just a slight dent in the freight train of debt that is accumulating & coming due.
The solution will likely be to cancel Social Security for everyone who planned for their retirement w/o a refund of taxes paid. A 50% reduction of benefits in both SS & Medicare. A revamping of both plans for the future so that the next generations will relize they cannot rely on the gov't to keep funds for what they are taxed.
Basically, if the politicians just would have put SS taxes in a "lock box" from the beginning, they would have such a huge reserve that they would never have to tax anyone another dime to meet all SS obligations. Instead they did the opposite and we have what we have.
>> How 'bout bringing back a hefty tax on the estates of the super rich?
NO!!! I'm going to be super-rich starting next year!!!
For those of you who care, is this the beginning of the end of the U.S. dollar?
http://tinyurl.com/37ushr
The states have a problem. They can't print money like the Fed can. By print, I mean, borrow from the Federal Reserve. Borrowing at times to fuel investment is good, but, currently, the borrowing is done to feed the mob non-essential, worthless toys from China and I see no possible way to ever pay it back. 9 trillion dollars and that doesn't count benefits owed to the people who paid into the system (SS and Medicare).
Since the people will not accept greater taxation. They will not accept dwindling benefits. They will not support immigrant workers taxed at a higher rate to provide more lavish living for citizens, the only "solution" the government has is to inflate the money. Create the dollars out of thin air by borrowing the monopoly money from the Fed.
Since everyone believes fiscal responsibility is just a con by the rich to exploit the middle class, no one is going to support it. The end result of this is hyperinflation, parabolic, where the price of a cup of coffee goes up each day and you have to spend your money as fast as you get it or you won't be able to afford anything. Think Weimar Republic. http://tinyurl.com/hnt6h
Clinton reduced the total number of federal workers BECAUSE HE CUT THE MILITARY IN HALF. Non military federal workers continued to grow under his admin...
Marky Mark
But deficits don't matter!
Suzanne researched it and Reagan proved it!
Numbers do not lie, by your own statistics it looks like direct federal employment (Military, Civil servant & postal) have overall declined.
Grant & gov't contractor positions have skyrocketed. These positions can be eliminated with the swoop of a pen by low level executive branch officials and if the need arises or congress can deny funding of grants/contracts. This is the same thing many companies now do to respond to changes in the business cycles, maintain a long term temp workforce with little or now benefits & cash only w/ employment at will.
Actually the Federal employees have not been getting lots of $$. Current Federal retirement system is stingy, not generous.
That's another right wing myth, they imagine the Feds are all the problem. In my experience Federal employees can be generally pretty competent and hard working (ok i'm in the scientific field).
The big problem is states and localities, the massive "homeland security" apparatus is much larger than just the feds. Tons of prison guards making $60k-100k with very sweet benefits that private certianly doesn't get.
And all that "tough on crime" and "lock up the molesters" for even longer and longer and longer is more and more drain on the taxpayers.
Tons of paper pushers.
KEIF,
Why do you continue supporting Democratz who only want to give MORE MORE MORE MORE entitlements to everyone.
These are the same Democratz who are supportted by virtually every government union, federal, state and local that sucks MORE MORE MORE money out of us every year.
Oh but Barrack Hussein Obama will fix all that, I forgot.
Actually the Federal employees have not been getting lots of $$. Current Federal retirement system is stingy, not generous.
Uhm yea whatever you say. My father-in-law retired this month from the forest service. He is 57 and will be getting a pension of $55,000 indexed for inflation plus health care coverage more generous than you could dream of.
Aside from the headline making HD CEOs of the world, show me another 57 year old in the private sector with that sweet of a deal.
And here's the the best part. Next month he is going back to work, as an "advisor". So he will be doing the same job, getting paid more since he's an "advisor" and getting a pension on top of it.
Oh and before he retired he had 6 weeks of vacation. Anyone here in the private sector get 6 weekf of paid vacation? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Stingy, my ass.
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