l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 华盛顿邮报调查：52%美国人认为，大部分联邦政府雇员薪水太高，只有9%认为大部分
联邦雇员薪水太低
By Lisa Rein and Ed O'Keefe
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, October 18, 2010; 12:57 AM
More than half of Americans say they think that federal workers are overpaid
for the work they do, and more than a third think they are less qualified
than those working in the private sector, according to a Washington Post
poll.
Half also say the men and women who keep the government running do not work
as hard as employees at private companies.
The critical views of federal workers - just one in seven of whom works in
the D.C. area - echo the anti-Washington sentiment roiling the midterm
elections, as some Americans lose confidence in their government to solve
the country's problems.
Still, of those who have interacted with a federal agency employee, three in
four report that the experience was positive. In addition, the survey
revealed a generation gap, with younger Americans more likely to give
federal civil servants positive reviews.
The strong sentiments give ammunition to both defenders and critics of the
country's 1.9 million-member federal workforce in what has become a bitter
debate on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail over the size and value of
the federal bureaucracy.
The survey shows public views of federal workers deeply split along party
lines, with Republicans the most apt to see a disconnect between government
pay and that in the private sector. Republicans' more negative views in the
poll reflect the party's souring view of government in general. Fully 80
percent of Republicans say federal priorities are misplaced, in a recent
study by The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation and Harvard
University on Americans' views of the role of government.
In the new Post survey, 52 percent of Americans think that federal civil
servants are paid too much, a view held by nearly two in three Republicans
and about seven in 10 conservatives. Far fewer Democrats, independents,
liberals and moderates hold this opinion. Overall, among Americans, one in
10 of those polled say federal workers should be better compensated.
Three-quarters of those surveyed say they think federal workers are paid
more and get better benefits than their counterparts outside government, an
increase of seven percentage points from a Post-ABC poll conducted in 1982,
when the country also struggled in a recession.
Republicans hoping to take over Congress in the midterm elections next month
have been tapping into these sentiments on the campaign trail. They have
portrayed civil servants as proxies for a government that the party views as
unwieldy, debt-ridden and an unnecessary intrusion into Americans' everyday
lives as the country continues to lose tens of thousands of jobs a month.
Government personnel officials say they are refining the way they determine
the salaries of a workforce that performs thousands of jobs, from park
rangers earning $21 an hour in Monticello, Utah, to NASA scientists who make
$123,758 at the agency's Washington headquarters.
It's a highly educated, largely unionized group whose pay is based on
experience and what similar jobs in the private sector fetch. The government
says it is hard to compare average public and private salaries, since so
many jobs outside government are in low-paying service industries, whereas
government workers tend to be more skilled.
President Obama, speaking to a group of black columnists on Friday, said the
workforce will be "part of the overall conversation" when his
administration takes up the federal budget next year. He said that he will
not rule out furloughs and that agencies might need to shrink by keeping
vacancies open. He has asked agencies to develop plans for cutting budgets
by 5 percent. | w*****2
发帖数: 1458 | 2 It is fact.
Personal incomes declined last year throughout most of the nation, with the
exception of a few regions propped up by federal funding, according to a
report released by the Commerce Department on Monday.
Of the 52 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., personal incomes rose in
only three -- Washington, D.C., San Antonio and Virginia Beach, Va -- where
the biggest gains were among federal government and military workers. |
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