Numbers and Numbers Don't Go Glassy Eyed On Me

During Sen Coburn (R) Oklahoma's debate last week on the Senate floor, he passed along some astounding numbers.

Postal workers-755,000 making an average of $54,000 salary + $26,000 in benefits.

Dept of Defense- 660,000 civilian workers making an average of $80,000 + $18,000 in benefits.

All other Federal workers-1,900,000.

Coburn stated 3,300,000 total federal employees earn an average of $113,000 per year in salary and benefits. This does not include the military.

Forget what benefits an average American earns, it is the $41,000 average salary that gets taxed to pay the total federal employee tab.

IF we say the income tax collected off of the typical taxpayer is say 20% of gross, that rounds off to $8000 per year.

$113,000 X 3,300,000 Federal employees = $372,900,000,000 that's $372.9 Billion in Federal Payroll every year you and I have to meet.


How many taxpayers does it take, just to fund the Federal Government's payroll?

$372,900,000,000 / $8,000 (an avg, taxpayers tax amt.) = 46,612,500

46.6 million workers dedicating their tax dollars for nothing other than paying the costs of the Federal Staff.

We only have 155.5 million workers in the country, 10% of whom are unemployed and another 10% underemployed. But let's just stick to assumed full employment 46.6/155.5 = 30%

It takes 30% of our total labor force just to feed the Federal Hogs paychecks.


I won't go into the State, County, City etc costs we pay, that would depress our minds beyond repair.

Government besides being intrusive, is too big. If the powers that be want to stimulate the economy impose a 50% across the board pay cut for Federal workers.

Run the Post Office on a delivery schedule of three days a week. Even and Odd delivery days, using half the people. They'd turn a profit then by gosh!

Slash the Government Benefit package, no 20 and out pensions paid before age 65, standard holidays as the American worker gets, no more comp time or six months of comp time carryover.

No More Skating Allowed -Demand worker production or terminate just like it is for the rest of us in the real world.

pay raises based on merit, not longevity in grade.


I could go on, but I need to go vomit.

Steve