New Research: Federal Workers Make 61 Percent More than Private Counterparts
The American Enterprise Institute has released a working paper stating the federal compensation premium compared to private compensation is approximately 61 percent.
Public Sector Unions Should Not Receive Preferential Treatment
Unionized government workers now outnumber unionized workers in the private sector. What does this mean for taxpayers? Dr. Daniel D’Amico of Loyola University points out, “with collective contracts it is difficult to maintain good incentives for individual job performance.” In other words, better workers get the same wage as lower performing workers. Further, “if a…
Privatizing Federal Assets And Operations
Most people agree that federal organizations such as the US Postal Service and Amtrak are far from being efficient. However, little has been done to improve their operations. On this matter, Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute makes a number of interesting points in Downsizing The Federal Government. Edwards argues for the privatization of several…
Deficits Provide Opportunity to Weed Out Failing Programs
Despite Gov. Jindal’s spending cut in late December, Jan Moller reports in the Times Picayune on a possible “mid-year budget deficit that could be as high as $400 million.” According to the state Department of Revenue, lower income and sales tax revenues are to blame. In February, the state collected $209 million but paid $230…
Federal Largesse Does Not Benefit States
Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute highlights the level of government intervention by examining the various forms of federal aid to the states. As he writes in Downsizing the Federal Government: “There are more than 800 state and local aid programs, based on my count of programs in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. They…
A New Record: $1.6 Trillion Deficit for the United States
President Obama has announced his 2011 budget proposal. When FY 2010 ends on September 30 the deficit will total to $1.6 trillion, much higher than the Congressional Budget Office’s forecast. The Bush tax cuts will expire at the end of this year and if Obama extends their term, the federal deficit estimates will be even…