Private Sector Supports Bloated Public Benefits
July/08/2009 15:02
Thanks to a dedicated shoresrecall.com reader for recommending a recent posting on the web site of the Mackinaw Center for Public Policy entitled: “Diminishing Private Sector Keeps Supporting Bloated Public Benefits”.
The article mentions that despite the hard economic times in our state, that not everyone in Michigan is feeling the pain. There is a large disparity between the impact felt by those of us the private sector, and those in the public employ. Increasing government pay and a huge disparity in benefits insulate our public servants from the economic pressures felt by the rest of us. The article points out that the greatest inequity is not from the disproportionately rising public wages, but from the additional benefits paid to public workers on top of their elevated salaries.
I think most of us in Grosse Pointe Shores can appreciate this disparity by answering the following questions: How many of us can roll over nearly a year of unused sick days into our salaries before we retire? How many of us can retire with a guaranteed pension of 75% to 80% of our salary after thirty years of work, without having to worry about the vagaries of the stock market? How many of us get health insurance and prescription drug coverage at no cost after we retire? Does your employer give you a $500+ a month car allowance when most of your working hours are spent at the company office? How about an allowance for you to join a private club?
The disparity is illustrated in the graphic below from the Mackinaw Center web site. When we add the costs of added benefits to Shores employees on top of the salaries listed elsewhere on this website, you can appreciate what the true burden to taxpayers may be.
The conclusion of the article from the Mackinaw Center is worth quoting directly: “The people of Michigan have a government that is supposed to serve them, not the other way around. With the state’s accelerated economic decline, its shrinking number of private-sector workers can no longer afford paying an extra $5.7 billion so public-sector workers can have a more comfortable lifestyle than they do…”
I think it is high time to hold our Shores civic officials accountable for this unacceptable disparity. What do you think?