A Freudian slip for the Seattle Times? "Only" 74 out of 200 state worker catagories paid more then private sector counterparts?

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Only? Seriously?

Out of nearly 200 standard occupational categories analyzed by The Times, representing most of the 149,000 or so state employees, median pay last year was higher for state workers than for all other workers in only 74 categories. (Median means half earn more, half less.)

State employee employment levels continue to be roughly the same now, in the midst of a horrific recession, while large segments of the private sector employment picture are literally decimated... only a 0.7% or so decrease overall.

The number "149,000" indicates that for each of 41 or 42 or so people of this state; men, women and children, there is a state employee doing something. And:

According to the Federal Bureau of Economic Analysis data, Washington state employees earned an average $54,079 in 2007, versus $49,777 for the average private-sector worker. Those figures include employer contributions to retirement plans, health insurance, Social Security and the like, as well as wage and salary income.

Instead of reducing the disparity for the 74 of 200 sectors of government employees obviously overpaid, the state democrats have jacked up our taxes almost $900,000,000.

So, I ask, where's the "shared sacrifice" that Barry was talking about?

Clearly, the results of this remarkable short sighted plan here will be two-fold:

First, democrats can look forward to a 1994ian massacre at the polls this November.

Second, business will flee in search of less hostile income redistribution schemes like those propagated in this most recent session.

A courageous governor and legislature would put the needs of the people ahead of the needs of the "wants" of the special interests that control them. But where have we seen "courage" and "democrats" together in the same room?
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