I have often heard the argument that government employees are overpaid. Typically this is not the case and specially it is not the case for many of the highest wage earners. Larry Summers made 2,919% more money in the private sector than working for President Obama as a public employee. This means if Mr. Summers, as a public employee, brings home the same wage as your standard congressman, $165,200 per year, his equivalent private sector take home was slightly less than $5,000,000 per year.
When I have presented facts like this to my Republican friends they point to free market and suggest that this huge difference doesn't really bother them. The problem seem to be that they view the money that the pay taxes with a different than the money they use to buy stuff. Larry Summers didn't become less valuable when he moved to the private sector. We are just getting a much better deal now. When American Tax payer money went into funds managed by Mr. Summers former employer, American tax payer dollars were being spent on his salary. The only part of that equation that has changed is the wage he earns. Every dollar he earned was still payed for by the American tax payer.
Both the public and private sectors use tax payer money and we should be critical of wasted money regardless. Its all your money and whether it pays for a bridge to no where or a huge bonus, shouldn't matter. We should expect fiscal responsibility either way.
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