Legal and illegal theft goes on every day when the public delegates the running of government to the mal-motivated and/or incompetent. Here are just two examples. The first is from the NCPA, the next is from the Sun-Times:
We’re No. 1 – In Public Employee Pay –
Pay for state and local government employees has gotten a great deal of publicity. Lost in the press attention, however, is that federal employee compensation remains a problem, too, and new data again indicate that Washington, D.C., may be overpaying for the 2 million workers it employs, says Andrew G. Biggs, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
In a 2011 paper with Jason Richwine, Biggs concluded that federal workers receive salaries and benefits around 37 percent higher than do private sector workers with similar levels of education and experience. A study by the Congressional Budget Office, using slightly different methods, showed a smaller wage premium for federal workers, but still reached a qualitatively similar conclusion: Federal workers receive pay and benefits 16 percent above private-sector levels.
Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) allows Biggs to compare how U.S. federal government employees are paid relative to central government employees in 18 other countries.
Prosecutors: Lyons Township Schools’ treasurer stole $1.5 million
The former Lyons Township School’s treasurer stole more than $1.5 million from the organization during his 24-year tenure, according to prosecutors who have charged him with theft.
Robert Healy, 54, of LaGrange Highlands, has been charged with one count each of felony theft of government property and official misconduct, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office. Judge James Brown ordered him held on a $100,000 bond.
Healy is accused of stealing more than $1.5 million from the organization over the past 20 years.
Healy served as treasurer from July 1, 1988, until he resigned in Sept. 1, 2012, according to the state’s attorney’s office. He was responsible for making investments and managing the payroll for 13 school districts and agencies.
Prosecutors claim that in 1989 Healy began adding unauthorized compensation to his bi-monthly paychecks and issuing himself additional salary and benefits totaling $630,346.78.
