Denver, CO—While private sector workers have been laid off or seen their pay decrease over the past few years, appointed Sen. Michael Bennet has rubberstamped pay raises and fought against pay freezes for federal bureaucrats.“Giving pay raises to federal employees is a perfect example of why Americans are fed-up with Washington,” said Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck. “Federal workers make 30-40 percent more than private sector workers for performing identical jobs. We just can’t afford this type of spending.”
While the average American employed in the private sector only makes $42,290 in salary, the average federal employee makes $66,010. When you add in the benefits package, the average federal employee makes over $100,000 a year.
In 2010, Bennet fought against two bipartisan measures that would have frozen federal pay for bureaucrats in order to offset costs for the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to offset spending to extend unemployment benefits. Both measures exempted military personnel from the freezes. In 2009, Bennet rubberstamped a raise for federal employees.
Despite his vote for the federal pay increase, Bennet told a group in Greeley this past weekend, “This is a time when we need to restrain wages in the public sector,” and that we must ensure “our wages are not growing faster than inflation or faster than our growth.”
“Coloradans deserve better from their senator than this type of shell game, especially when they’re paying the bill,” said Buck.
