The USA Today story on the increases in highly-paid Federal workers has been making the rounds. This quote in the story is inevitable:

Jessica Klement, government affairs director for the Federal Managers Association, says the federal workforce is highly paid because the government employs skilled people such as scientists, physicians and lawyers. She says federal employees make 26% less than private workers for comparable jobs.

Right. Does anybody believe this? Living in the Washington, DC area, I encounter a lot of a lot of government workers. I tend to let a lot of their liberal talking points roll off. But this one I refuse to allow to go unanswered. Whenever I hear this whine about being paid less than comparable workers in the private sector, I say, “So quit. Take a comparable job in the private sector, and stop whining.”

Governments are losing money. They should be doing what private firms would do when they lose money–cutting the payroll. If you are worried about losing “jobs,” then instead of laying off government workers, cut their pay.

Nick Gillespie adds,

Since June, the federal government has increased employment by almost 10 percent, while the private sector has cut employment by over 6 percent. And which sector do you figure was more padded to begin with?