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| Rage On—and on and on… VDH |
| 2011-10-24 |
| The End of the Dream In sum, there is panic. Obamacare, near-zero interest rates, more environmental and fiscal regulations, government takeovers, bailouts, and stimulus, nearly $5 trillion in debt, $1.6 trillion in annual deficits, vast increases in food stamps and unemployment insurance, and hectoring the private sector — all that and more did not restore prosperity. More likely we ruined a natural recovery — if 9.1% unemployment, anemic GDP growth, ruinous debt, precipitous declines in the standard of living, and the return of the old record misery index are any indication. All Obama in 2012 is left with is the old trifecta of “Bush did it,” “they” will cut your Social Security, and a subtle racism fuels all opposition. There is a deer-in-the-headlights paralysis in all those who believed that you could get a government subsidized $100,000 loan, receive easy As in environmental studies or sociology, buy a prestigious BA certificate, and then enter the lucrative world of the government bureaucracy — teaching, administering, suing, and regulating. Not Enough Smelts or Pipelines to Go Around But it did not work that way (there is not room enough for all of us to champion the delta smelt, find insidious racism in the Detroit schools, shut down an oil pipeline, or sue Arizona). Instead, we are left with an energy-poor country sitting on energy riches, a moribund economy with millions in the private sector piling up cash rather than investing or hiring, and cohorts of young, flat-broke, indebted, and politically prepped but poorly schooled students wondering where is the good life and why a Wall Street fixer, or computer nerd, or company man civil engineer makes so much more than they, the anointed, do. So they rage on — and on and on… |
| Posted by:Beavis |
| #9 "So, yeah, go relearn history." Yup, you sit there during a QMP watching your best NCO's and Officers get thrown out - losing all of your salt. Then you think that with no experienced leadership helping you, you are endangering your Soldiers. The tookis keepers sit in the high office then, not the man what will drag you across a flight line. Like Rummy said, "You go to war with the Army you have..." I saw it coming. If you are aggressive in pursuing your career in the military, which you must be to earn that career, you tear your body up quickly. Also, if you are the one that deploys every time to make unit strength to keep a company solid, you sometimes lack the educational requirements to continue a career. That is if Family is still standing and you are sane enough to engage them. Some warriors are not out for rank. They are out to take care of their Brothers. Those are whom you should keep. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-10-24 23:46 |
| #8 Those who stay in the military for 20 years blow away even civil service pensions. Back in the late 80s, Senator Nunn (D-Ga) got a change package in for military retirement. Changed the comp from 2.5 to 2 percent per year. Amazingly, somewhere around 8 to 12 years of service lots of trained and qualified people started to opt out at far faster rates than before. Seems that somewhere around that time is about the best last time to transition to civilian jobs without having the compete against a younger crowd. Wait till you're hitting forty and job prospects and taking care of the family take a big hit. Found out that they had to go back to the original formula to keep the middle grades filled. So, yeah, go relearn history. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-10-24 22:13 |
| #7 Just the last week Harry Reid tried to rewrite this narrative so that it was just the opposite of what has been said here. He said the private sector is doing fine, it is the public sector that needs attention according to him. What a dipwad. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-10-24 20:23 |
| #6 >Federal compensation has grown 36.9% since 2000 after adjusting for inflation, compared with 8.8% for private workers. Inflation in that period is nearer 37% than 8%. Partly for the reason! |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2011-10-24 20:00 |
| #5 It's the pensions. Those who stay in the military for 20 years blow away even civil service pensions. Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data are the latest available. •Benefits. Federal workers received average benefits worth $41,791 in 2009. Most of this was the government's contribution to pensions. Employees contributed an additional $10,569. •Pay. The average federal salary has grown 33% faster than inflation since 2000. USA TODAY reported in March that the federal government pays an average of 20% more than private firms for comparable occupations. The analysis did not consider differences in experience and education. •Total compensation. Federal compensation has grown 36.9% since 2000 after adjusting for inflation, compared with 8.8% for private workers. |
| Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 2011-10-24 18:51 |
| #4 Kindly note the following: According to the latest numbers, the average federal employee in the D.C. area brings in total compensation worth more than $126,000 a year. There's a hell of a lot of us elsewhere in DOD making a hell of a lot less. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-10-24 18:37 |
| #3 Outrageous things about Congress and Federal employees: Congress and Federal Employees Living High. Why aren't the OWS people also camping out in front of the White House and Congress? There are more millionaires there than WS. Why don't they camp out in front of wherever Soros lives? Protest at the universities that shorted them on an education. Protest in front of the lame stream media headquarters--those who sold them a bill of goods. That's a start to get at the current stewards of the progressive nightmare. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-10-24 18:26 |
| #2 This human excrement Barry and his dumb as hell asshat sidekick is turning this country into a banana republic. These two "leaders" are the worst thing to happen ever in all of American history. I AM so disappointed in my countrymen. Elect them again and I will curse this Nation. We may fall before they get ejected out of office. That's how bad it is. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-10-24 10:03 |
| #1 Well, when you make 'worship of self' the main religion of an entire sector of an culture, what do you expect. Ego-centrism extruding a false sense of moral superiority even at the very top isn't pretty is it? /rhet question |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-10-24 09:53 |