Gregory D. Lee As a retired federal government employee, I’m offended when I hear Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and a host of other conservative talk show hosts bash all levels of government employees. It seems the all-time favorite government employee to bash works for the Department of Motor Vehicles. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, federal government employees in 2008 earn an average of $67,691 compared to $60,046 in the private sector. This doesn’t count the benefits all federal government employees enjoy. Who do you think made this happen? Not all federal government employees make as much as their private sector counterparts, but many do. For example, a registered nurse working for the Veterans Administration might make $74,460 compared to a nurse at a private hospital making $63,780. However, a federal government optometrist makes about $61,530 compared to an optometrist working in the private sectors who makes $106,665 salary. What people like Limbaugh and Hannity probably don’t realize is that there are downsides to working for the federal government. Employees face severe restrictions and sanctions on many things everyone in the private sector take for granted. Congress alone determines federal employee salaries and benefits, not the marketplace. Employee organizations lobby Congress, but it’s unlawful for employees to strike if they don’t get what they want. One restriction is that federal employees cannot work outside their employment. Ethics regulations do not allow them to write a book, receive compensation for writing a magazine article or give a speech, even if the topics have absolutely nothing to do with the job they perform for the federal government. A statistician for the Department of Labor cannot write a book on her favorite hobby, such as gardening. No private sector employer could ever restrict their employees from having a part-time job, or writing an article, or giving a speech, but the government restricts the First Amendment free speech right of its employees. A friend of mine worked for a car dealership. His salary was directly proportionate to the amount of product he sold. We’d compare salaries at the end of the year, and sometimes I made more than he did, but other times he made substantially more than me. He said he could never work for the government, because his goal was to make as much money as he was capable, and the idea of being restricted in the amount of money he could earn through his hard work and initiative didn’t settle well with him. What probably offends most private sector workers is that their taxes pay for the sometimes higher salaries of government workers. They forget that federal employees pay taxes too, so the direct cost to the government is reduced. Many government jobs are unique. Police officers, judges, prosecutors, school teachers, special agents for the FBI, DEA, Border Patrol agents, soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, coastguardsmen, astronauts, diplomats and CIA spies are all exclusively government positions. Many of these jobs are dangerous. Government employees put a man on the moon, won the Cold War, and liberated Europe from the Nazis. As someone who believes in smaller government, I would like to see the overall number of federal employees shrink through the elimination of several departments that have outlived their purposes. I also think that, because government workers are taxpayer-funded, they should be drug-free, college-educated, loyal, dedicated and highly motivated. Many government employees undergo an extensive background investigation before they receive a security clearance. How many private-sector applicants would tolerate being subjected to such screening? How many private-sector employees would fail a background investigation because of their criminal background, credit unworthiness or past drug use? The next time you have a bad experience at your local DMV and lump all government employees together, remember that state governments run DMVs, not the feds. But, if you have a driver license and enjoy driving your car where you want, when you want, thank the DMV employee who gave you your driving test. He has to deal with unappreciative, sometimes annoying members of the public who complain about long lines and the way their picture turned out on their driver license. Gregory D. Lee is a retired DEA supervisory special agent. Reach him through his website: www.gregorydlee.com .

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Hey Rush, Hannity: Stop bashing federal employees