The WaPo continues the lame expose series on the Intelligence Community and its workforce today. There is little to add (as it’s another 16 slides of the same stuff ‘Puter covered below) but I will dispute the following:

The idea that the government would save money on a contract workforce “is a false economy,” said Mark M. Lowenthal

and

“…because they thought – wrongly, it turned out – that contractors would be less expensive. Nine years later, well into the Obama administration, the idea that contractors cost less has been repudiated, and the administration has made some progress toward its goal of reducing the number of hired hands by 7 percent over two years.”

The following is a direct quote from a Bureau of Labor Statistics report from June 2010:

“Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $27.73 per hour worked in March 2010. Total employer compensation costs for State and local government workers averaged $39.81 per hour worked in March 2010.” 

Federal employees have historically earned (total compensation) 20% more than state and local government employees, which would put them around $47.72 per hour.

I’m not trying to debunk this claim on my own. Look at the USA Today article here. Or the American Thinker article here.

“The average federal employee earns an annual salary almost 60% higher than the average private-sector employee.”

The difference in the Intel Community is the level and quality of the employees drives a higher cost.  However, when total, lifetime benefits are factored in, private industry doesn’t hold a candle to the federal government.  If the government wants to reform spending – start with making the federal government workforce as competitive as private industry – remove the excessive benefits, adjust hourly pay and compete to find the best person for the job.

It’s amazing that Dana Priest and William Arkin couldn’t do the simplest of research and find out that their quotes and the quotes from Leventhal are either conextually inaccurate or flat out wrong.  We’ve covered this topic before, maybe they need to consider following us on Twitter.

GorT

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