The Wall Street Journal today includes this short piece by Chris Edwards of Cato. His point is that pay and benefits for federal workers is very high compared with the private sector. That’s not surprising. As the size and power of the federal government has grown — somewhat under Clinton, a lot under Bush II and exponentially under Obama — the politicians have seen to it that federal jobs are attractive. Their minions must be paid well for the vital work they do! A “green jobs czar” for example, can’t be expected to do his important job for a meager little salary.
Rothbard said that the real class warfare in society is between the people who work to pay taxes and those who consume the taxes paid — the politicians, government employees, and others who feed at the public trough. It’s clear that the tax consumers are winning the war.
