How Many Government Employees Is too Many?
19 million government employees cost taxpayers $1 trillion.
About 19 million public employees cost taxpayers nearly $1 trillion annually.
That’s according to OpenTheBooks.com, which publishes the salaries of public employees from every level of U.S. government. The online database is free and accessible to the public.
“Public service is supposed to be about serving the people,” Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and founder of OpenTheBooks.com, said. “However, the good intentions of America’s 19 million public employees come at a very high price for the people – nearly $1 trillion. In many cases, taxpayers generously fund these employee salaries.”
OpenTheBooks.com, one of the largest private databases of government spending, posts “every dime, online” of local, state, and federal government spending in the U.S. that it accesses. For this report, it filed requests and captured data from nearly 60,000 government employers, mapped the information and posted it online over the course of one year.
The data represents about 85 percent of all public employment at every level of government, the site states. The data includes employee name, salary, position title and employer for 2017.
The search function allows users to view the top 2 million public employees earning more than $95,000. Last year, about 1.7 million government employees earned $100,000 or more per year. State and local governments employed the vast majority of the six-figure earners.
Data also show that 105,000 local and state government employees earned more than every governor of all 50 U.S. states, with a salary of $190,000 or more.
Andrzejewski highlights examples of what he describes as government waste and abuse of taxpayer money. Some Chicago tree trimmers, he points out, earned $106,000 and some New York City school janitors earned $165,000 – more than the principals at the same schools, who earn $135,000.
Some lifeguards in Los Angeles County, California, earned $365,000, while the school superintendent of a small school district in Southlake, Texas, earned $420,000, Andrzejewski notes.
OpenTheBooks.com urges the public to expose “waste, overspending, and bloated government” in their neighborhoods by using the site’s interactive map. Users can search by zip code and scroll down to see results in chart and map form. They can then demand accountability from their local and state governments, the site explains.
Several states exhibit some real humdingers in the field of education.
In California, for example, nearly 10,000 employees of the University of California system earned more than $200,000 – including 65 public employees who earned between $1 million and $3.6 million.
In Illinois public school districts, OpenTheBooks.com partnered with Fox 32 Chicago to investigate school superintendents. The investigation found that the superintendent of Calumet City earned $407,000 for a district with only 1,100 students and no high school. Another superintendent earned $206,000 in the New Lenox district, responsible for only 11 teachers and fewer than 100 students. Another superintendent retired on a $300,000 annual pension from the Park Forest district, and was later rehired on a $1,200-a-day consulting contract for the same position in the same district.
OpenTheBooks.com found that many city administrators, legal/law enforcement, and athletic coaches earned more than any U.S. president (whose salary is $400,000) , and more than their own state’s governor.
Hat tip: westernjournal.com
![](http://www.parentalrights.org/vertical/Sites/%7BC49108C5-0630-467E-9B9B-B1FA31A72320%7D/uploads/%7B3EA8D754-D841-4FF4-882C-32895D89991D%7D.PNG")
[1]
In Illinois it’s not unusual for a small area to have two school districts – one K-8 and a second for high school. Of course, that means two superintendents and two staffs.
[2]
The amount of redundancy within and across all levels of government is staggering.
And that ignores how unnecessary some government functions are to begin with.
So how many government employees are “too many”? Probably 50% if you total up all levels.
Related question: Why hasn’t Trump made good on his idea of re-locating some agencies to the middle of the country? THAT would decentralize some of the Beltway Bullshit…and maybe bring Virginia back to the South.
[3]
O/T but equally ridiculous:
https://www.weaselzippers.us/406790-us-catholic-magazine-should-we-stop-referring-to-god-with-male-pronouns/
[4]
TLS #3 –
I am a serious Catholic and follow the Catholic press closely (actively participating in comments sections). I have never heard of US Catholic magazine.
[5]
ZH finally highlights what BJG did a month ago when the comments were made.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-27/angela-merkel-nation-states-must-give-sovereignty-new-world-order
She couldn’t be more clear.
[6]
Collectivist communism runs strong with this one. merkel
[7]
#4 Good to know, thx!
[8]
KH #5 –
You’re right. It was about a month ago we ran that thread.
[9]
TLS –
Just as you have billionaire leftists trying to undermine our nation, there are billionaire leftists (most of whom, like Soros, aren’t Catholic) working to undermine the Catholic Church. Not that Francis and Cardinals like Cupich and Tobin aren’t doing their absolute best to undermine it.
[10]
Parents of migrant boy who died brought son for ease of entry:
https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/27/mother-guatemala-migrant-child-dead-easy-entry-border/
[11]
2,
Actually the number is 100% if you live in this town — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8qFvo2qJOU
[12]
Sears has till 4pm to stay alive,
[13]
Oh joy:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-28/massive-new-migrant-caravan-leave-honduras-overloaded-el-paso-faces-imminent-crisis
Funny though reading the piece:
“We’re facing a real crisis coming up … to find places for all of these (migrant) families,” said Democratic representative-elect Veronica Escobar.
Escobar said migrants who can’t be housed in shelters have been staying in hotel rooms paid by Annunciation House, the non-profit spearheading the efforts to house and feed them. But, she said, if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues releasing large numbers of migrants, the El Paso community will struggle to find places for them because many hotels have been booked by people attending Monday’s game.
Escobar added it’s already been “very, very difficult and very challenging” to put up the migrants dropped off by ICE. And, she said, the coming hotel crunch will only make the task tougher. -CBS News
During a Thursday bilingual press conference, Annunciation House Executive Director Ruben Garcia announced that US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had dropped off over 1,600 migrants in El Paso since Sunday – and that Wednesay’s delivery of 500 migrants was the largest he’s seen. On Thursday, around 320 more were taken to El Paso.
Welcome to the party Veronica. Vote for funding border security or get all these people dumped into your district on a weekly basis, I’m sure your voters are loving it. 😉
[14]
12 – Well deadline has passed. 🙁
[15]
“Escobar called on the Trump administration to help El Paso by undertaking the “short-term” solution of investing in “family-friendly” holding facilities for migrants. ”
—
I say hell no. You wanted this Veronica, now choke on it along with the expense to your district.
[16]
Illegal, who killed a legal immigrant police officer in CA with a young child, has been apprehended.
[17]
Jim I was hoping for suicide by police. Save tax payers the cost of a trial.
[18]
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-28/centurylink-system-failure-causes-911-outages-across-us
Anyone notice the problem with the image they tweeted?
[19]
Heh.
CNN has a history of issues with maps LOL
[20]
This is the easiest answer EVER: 19 million too many!
New discussion thread please…..
[21]
14,
4.6bn offer on table — https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-28/lampert-makes-last-minute-46-billion-bid-rescue-sears
[22]
It looks like we are going to have a few less Federal Employees. This shut down is getting better and better.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/423048-epa-braces-to-run-out-of-funds-at-midnight-as-shutdown-continues
A week after the government failed to agree on a final funding bill, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to follow suit and shut down.
The agency, which had enough funding to remain open a week after about 25 percent of the federal government officially ran out of funding, will begin furloughing employees Friday night at midnight.
“In the event an appropriation is not passed by midnight Friday, December 28th, EPA will initiate orderly shutdown procedures,” read a message obtained by The Hill from acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to employees.
[23]
21 – oh so he did file that one at 4pm? I thought that was the one already rejected?
[24]
A new offer.