(Note: Mark Steyn is Laura Ingraham’s guest this morning at 9:30AM)
Then the subject of the leviathan comes up, the media and other statism groupies tend to say, “Oh, well, it’s easy to talk about cutting government spending, until you start looking at individual programs, most of which tend to be very popular.”
“Programs” is a sly word. Regardless of the merits of the “program”, it requires human beings to run it. And government humans cost more than private humans. In 2009, the average civilian employee of the United States government earned $81,258 in salary plus $41,791 in benefits. Total: $123,049.
By contrast, the average American employed in the private sector earned $50,462 in salary plus $10,589 in benefits. Total: $61,051.
(…)
Imagine if federal workers made the same as the private workers who pay their salaries. Imagine if they had to get buy on 61K instead of 123 grand.
UPDATE —
Re: yesterday’s “America is doomed” post by Steyn, a reader writes:
I’m writing because I think that you’re one of a few pundits willing to print the note I’m writing.
If the tea party (not republicans!) does not win this election, America is over. Not merely in trouble, not just economically sclerotic, but over. My own state (AK) has a trillion dollar gold mine, and millions barrels of oil that cannot be developed because of environmentalists within the federal government.
If we don’t but the brakes on the government at all levels, right now, we will be bankrupt by 2016 at the very latest.
More likely, a congress that does not have a strong conservative republican majority to stop Obama will bankrupt America by 2012.
If this happens, we won’t be able to afford the following: Subsidies to the elderly, the poor, AA government jobs subsidies to Blacks, Indians & Mexicans, environmentalism, unions and feminism. Also likely is a massive cut in the size and ability of the military.
Something else that is likely is that the democrats will cheat
like hell to “win” close races. What liberals don’t seem to understand is that if the ballot box and soap box fail, the only alternative is the bullet box.
If productive taxpayers cannot trust the results of their elections and government, what are they to do?
The liberals in government are actively hostile to them, their families, their businesses, culture and churches. With stolen elections and a hopelessly corrupt incompetent gov’t, what alternative do they have to violence?
***
There’s a lot of this brewing on the web. “Don’t buy gold — buy lead” is one of the newer memes getting semi-mainstreamed. Expect to see it on t-shirts and bumberstickers shortly.
It’s no accident that Glenn Beck owns both. And wears a bulletproof vest.
