Private Sector

Jim Rogers ("Government workers deserve no sympathy," Dec. 11) denies sympathy to federal employees who complain about attacks on their pay and benefits. Truth is, federal employees have it good, like private-sector employees in those European "socialist" countries that our politicians denigrate. But over there, at least for northern industrial countries like Germany and France, private and public employee compensation is about the same (European Central Bank, Working Paper 1406) - public employees are ahead in southern Europe.

Your Thursday article concerning Social Security workers complaining about pay raises ("Facing the fiscal cliff," Dec. 6) shows how these employees feel entitled because they are federal employees. They fail to realize the private sector is also encountering pay freezes, increases in health insurance and layoffs. Private sector employees do not enjoy the lucrative benefits provided to federal employees. What they do is get a second job to send their kids to college. So stop the whining and get another job if you want more money.

Your article states that Social Security worker Celisa Ford is "losing sleep and is stressed," fearful that she will have to pull her daughter out of college, because she has had a two-year pay freeze ("On the brink of the fiscal cliff," Dec. 6). I work in the private sector and have not had a pay raise in five years. I have a daughter who just left college and got married, a second in college, and one about to go next year. I am stressed too. Unlike Ms. Ford, I don't have time to take off work and whine in a picket line on North Greene Street.

After a 45-year career in the private sector, first with Bethlehem Steel, then with Harley Davidson Motor Company and ending with General Motors, I lost wages, medical benefits and pensions when these companies were not making profits. Federal workers have not made any sacrifices that compare to losses in the private sector jobs ("Federal workers rally, underscore their sacrifices," Dec. 6). Most of them retire with 85 percent of their salary and medical benefits that they never paid into.

When Gov. Martin O'Malley is stumped for a fact or a word, he typically cocks his head, turns to the side and says: "Rick. " That would be long-time aide Rick Abbruzzese, a staffer so deeply familiar with O'Malley's thinking that -- more often than not -- he can cough up the answer even if he hardly seems to be paying attention. No more. Word spread today that Abbruzzese is leaving O'Malley-land to work for the lobbying firm Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan and Silver. There Abbruzzese will join O'Malley alum Josh White , who managed the governor's 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

Once again The Sun is out of touch with economic realities in proposing an increase in the state's gas tax ("Pump up the economy," Nov. 25). First, a gas tax is highly regressive and disproportionately impacts the poor. Second, according to Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, who (unlike The Sun) actually knows all the financial details of the state, we already have ample tax revenues in Maryland, which is one the highest-taxed states in the nation. Third, the state needs to focus on creating an environment that encourages private sector investment and the creation of jobs.

Travelers gripe about having to remove shoes while going through airport security or undergoing full-body pat-downs. But imagine being the Transportation Security Administration screener who has to deal with thousands of grumpy passengers daily or must rummage through strangers' dirty underwear to look for items that could blow up a plane. It is not surprising that TSA employees rank among the federal workers who are least content with their jobs. Some of the most satisfied employees year-in, year-out work at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that encourages careers in government.

In her letter ("Four more years," November 3), Rae Abbot suggests that we give President Barack Obama four more years. Her reasoning is that it "...doesn't make sense for us to hand the reins over to a less capable and more narrowly focused man simply because instant gratification has not been ours. " As to capabilities, Mr. Obama' was a community organizer, law professor and state and federal politician. No private sector experience in that resume. Mr. Romney has been a governor, turned around the troubled 2002 Olympics, and was an executive working with businesses (i.e.

What if Congress was bought and sold by corporate interests? What if tax loopholes and regulatory exemptions were bought and sold in the halls of Congress? What if both major political parties have become ineffective at addressing the issues of the day? What if the Constitution was actually designed to restrict government but we continue to elect people to Congress and the presidency who ignore it? What if our use of drones kill more civilians than terrorists and create more enemies for America?

I was flabbergasted by Stanley Glinka's recent letter criticizing President Obama's performance in office ("Obama made U.S. weaker, more vulnerable," Oct. 31). He obviously lives in a different country than the rest of us. Let me point out that over the last 32 years the White House has been occupied for 20 years by Republicans and 12 years by Democrats, counting President Obama's first term. So I marvel during this campaign season at how, according to the Republicans, all the nation's problems supposedly begin and end with President Obama.