File this one under “WTF???”

“People do not seem to understand that so many people come to government knowing that they are not going to make the kind of money that they would make in the private sector but they come to government to feed their souls,” Cummings told the audience.

So, in the mind of the honorable Mr. Cummings, the folks that find themselves working for “the man” are only there because they have forsaken the money they could make in the private sector so that they could become self actualized and fill up their soul mug while working at the DMV.

My guess is that by saying “people,” he means “worthless, wretched Tea Partiers who don’t understand how important it is to pay a crap-load in taxes so it can be redistributed to those special snowflakes who haven’t got any White Privilege.”  I can say that in my average day, I talk to exactly zero federal government workers.  As in none, nada, zip, zero.  Not one.  So I can honestly say I am not certain exactly what they are doing for me for the price that comes with “filling their souls.”

But, in the interest of establishing the numbers, let’s just see how the concept of “soul fulfillment” for government workers plays out, using something that most of us like to call “math.”

“In 2013 federal civilian workers had an average wage of $81,076, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. By comparison, the average wage of the nation’s 107 million private-sector workers was $55,424.”

So, the average wage of government workers is $25,652 higher than that of the person who works to pay the taxes so that the government worker can be paid.  Hmmm…  That sure sounds like a great many souls being fed.  That number means there is a marked difference also between what fills their souls, as well as their driveways and refrigerators.  Here is my favorite part;

When benefits like health care and pensions are included, “federal worker compensation averaged $115,524, or 74 percent more than the private-sector average of $66,357.”

Wow, a $49,167 dollar difference in pay and benefits, which is the most important part of many compensation packages.  Sounds like some people’s souls in government service have an obesity problem…  Someone needs an intervention.

But wait, I am certain that this amount of compensation is the reason that we have top functioning bureaus of government like the TSA (who rely on citizens actually on the airplanes to catch shoe bombers–whereupon the DHS Secretary said that the system “functioned as designed.”), the IRS (who evidently are very concerned about the tax status of anyone who likes smaller government and dislikes PINO Obama), the DHS (who can’t get Secret Service agents to properly pay Columbian prostitutes for their services so they don’t end up on CNN, or stop one crazy guy from running in the front door of the White House), the DOJ (who somehow thought running guns into a foreign country wouldn’t blow up in their faces on Fox News), and the DoS (which spends it’s time getting James Taylor to do it’s hard diplomacy through soulful serenades reminding allies that “you’ve got a friend.”).

Anyone else want to fire at least half of these warts on the posterior of society?  I am certain they are the leading cause of oxygen thievery in North America.

So, No Mr. Cummings, they aren’t there to “feed their souls” at all.  They seem to be there so that they can be in a position of power that allows them to never be fired and to be taken care of at tax payer expense for all of eternity; at nearly twice the cost of the average worker who struggles to pay his or her own taxes.  The idea that Mr. Cummings would say with a straight face that the 3.8 percent raise he wants them to have (it doesn’t include the military BTW) isn’t enough is something that in another time would have gotten him chased around the neighborhood by men in white coats with a butterfly net.

This is exactly why we can only get what we currently get with the government we have elected for ourselves.  The reason we can’t get smart people in government service is that they are all too busy being smarter and being compensated less for it, all while being hassled and regulated more by a class of people who produce nothing of value.

So if I am now responsible for catching my own shoe bombers, can I please do it while flying with more than 3 ounces of shampoo?

Damn straight sister…