Government Insourcing article draws rebukes.

• Author: Meyer, Thomas C.
• Position: Readers' Forum - Letter to the editor

The article by Daniel Goure, "Federal Agency Insourcing: Why Government Costs So Much," (March 2011, p.20) of the right-wing Lexington Institute contains inaccuracies, half-truths and fabrications.

Goure raises the argument that federal employees have higher salaries than their industry counterparts. Nearly every independent analysis has found that statement inaccurate. While lower graded, and blue-collar jobs are sometimes shown to be paid higher in government, depending on the locale, middle-graded positions are usually about equal in pay, and higher graded and professional positions are significantly lower paid in the federal sector. Furthermore the averages Goure cites are likely not weighted to reflect the significantly higher proportion of jobs requiring higher education, higher skill, and higher responsibility levels in the federal service than the private sector.

More offensive and largely wrong were the examples used by Goure to support the statement that "federal workers also have access to an array of benefits rarely matched in the private sector."

Since 1987, newly hired federal employees are under the Federal Employee Retirement System which is a defined contribution plan (i.e. a 401k plan), not a defined benefit plan as his article stated.

Prior to that time, employees were under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) which is a defined benefit plan but which required employees to contribute 7 percent of their pay, after taxes. Under that system the retiree is not entitled to Social Security for his...