Government workers' taxes paid by private sector - FB Conversation

I posted this tidbit: "$15T Federal Debt Equals $160,545 for Each Full-Time Private-Sector American."

S.B.: last time I looked, I, along with my fellow public sector employees, paid income taxes, federal excise taxes, state taxes, etc -- just like those private sector folks! So what does the pro-rationing to "per private sector American" accomplish?

Me: Because the private sector wage earners supply the funding for everything else, including the money that the government takes back from you after they pay you.

S.B.: but the debt is just as much mine, or your local cop, firefighter, or teacher (or insert your other favorite public sector leach on society here) as it is any of those people's. And we contribute equally to paying it down.

Me: I would take issue with the assertion that it is anyone's direct responsibility. But granting you that, it still remains that every single dollar a public sector employee receives in wages and benefits came from the private sector. If we follow the money trail, the taxes you pay were sourced from someone else, placed in government coffers, and then issued to you only to be taken back by the government.

S.B.: and I don't get your point, Rich, if there is one. Clearly we have government for a purpose. Most would argue that government is merely ONE way that we collectively organize to do things that we cannot do individually -- whether that be a space program, fire protection, national defense, etc.

If your implication is that somehow, none of this provides any societal value, then I would say that there's really nothing to argue about -- I wouldn't be working for the gov't if I believed that -- just as I found it hard working for private sector companies that had no higher purpose than providing a return on investment to their shareholders. A position, incidentally, which I don't expect you to embrace.

I am proud of being on the government payroll; what I do has value and I make no apologies for it. I am a productive member of society and if you are implying that I am anything less because I chose a career of doing science in the public interest, then I don't know what to tell you.

Me: You seem to assume I'm making some sort of value judgment, either about you, or about federal workers in general. However, I have pointedly and specifically dealt with a particular economic reality of who pays for what.

I note that you have yet to address that single point, instead making an emotional appeal. It makes me wonder, do you have a rebuttal?

May I also point out that I have not brought up anything about the value of government. Nor have I discussed anything regarding the societal value of government work. Indeed, I have no intention of making a defense of things I did not write about.

So, if you want to actually discuss the crippling nature of the national debt, that would be refreshingly on topic.