Are government workers overpaid?

You know that government employee compensation is a crushing problem when even President Barack Obama dropped a pay freeze bomb on federal employees.

Under it, some 2.1 million federal civilian workers would be frozen out of an expected average 1.4 percent pay increase in 2011 and whatever largesse scheduled for 2012. Because their health insurance premiums are going up 7.2 percent, many federal workers’ take-home pay could fall.

Gee, just like so many Americans.

“I am really ticked,” raged John Gage, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, representing about a third of the workers. He said he never expected such a “political, public-relations stunt” to come from the Obama administration, which he nailed for being “panicked” by the midterm elections.

And we, Mr. Gage, never expected anything less from you, squealing like a stuck pig about how tough government employees have it — giving up a pay raise! — when millions of Americans are, if not out of a job, if not experiencing a pay freeze, are actually suffering pay and benefit reductions.

via Change of Subject: The Rhubarb Patch: Are government workers overpaid?.