CA Gov. Workers Best Paid in USA

John Seiler:

Of all the 50 states, California’s government workers make the highest pay, averaging $5,774 a month in March 2010, according to U.S. Census data. That works out to $69,288 a year.

Local government workers in Washington, D.C., made a little more, at $5,990. But D.C. gets vast funding from federal taxpayers, part of the $4,000,000,000,000.00 of our tax dollars that sluices through D.C.

For the 50 states and local governments, although a lot of federal money is involved, most money is grabbed from state citizens. No wonder California taxpayers are whacked at among the highest rates in the country.

And what do we show for it? Although unemployment has improved, it’s still the second worst in the country, behind Nevada.

Our schools commonly rank 48th of the states on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests.

Median income in California crashed 9 percent from 2006 to 2010, nearly double the 5 percent annual rate.

The roads are falling apart. The infrastructure is dilapidated. The state can’t solve its Delta water problems.

Yet the bureaucrats who run the whole shebang — mainly run it into the ground — are getting paid more than those in any other state.

If California were a private-sector company, it long ago would have gone bankrupt, its profitable parts, if any, sold off to the highest bidder.

But because so many people believe the fiction that government is somehow “different,” that it’s really all of “us” working “together,” this expensive, dysfunctional monstrosity continues to tax and regulate us to death — while being paid excessively.

A good example of the dysfunction is firefighters, who top the pay list in California at $9,774 per month on average, or $117,288 a year. Yet firefighting easily could privatized everywhere, or turned over to volunteer fire departments.

That’s unlikely to happen because the “people” don’t run California, the government-worker unions do. The unions force massive dues from their “members,” then use the money to get their bought politicians to pilfer the pockets of taxpayers at record levels. Not only that, but the unions have run up pension benefits $500 billion beyond the state’s current ability to pay.

Instead of trying to raise taxes $7 billion, as Gov. Jerry Brown wants, he should be cutting the massive pay, perks and pensions of government workers. The state just can’t afford it anymore. Common citizens — the private sector — are broke and suffering. The slaves can’t take any more lashes across their backs.

Feb. 7, 2012