Cryptocurrency: The Only Way to Drain The Swamp

[grarpamp]

"Fill The Swamp": The Federal Administrative State Grew Even Under
Trump, Paid Most Under Biden

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2021/07/01/bidens-white-house-payroll-is-most-expensive-in-american-history/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2021/09/27/the-federal-administrative-state-grew--even-under-president-donald-trump/

https://www.openthebooks.com/mapping-the-swamp--openthebooks-report/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2019/08/28/a-progress-report-is-president-donald-trump-draining-the-swamp/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2021/06/17/with-juneteenth-federal-employees-now-get-44-paid-days-off-on-average/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2021/02/11/ceo-jeffrey-lyash-earned-155-million-at-the-tennessee-valley-authority-a-federal-agency/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2021/01/28/president-trumps-regulatory-agencies-continued-to-stockpile-firepower/

Everyone from Ronald Reagan (1983) to Nancy Pelosi (2006) to Donald
Trump (2016) issued calls to "drain the swamp." However, in a new
oversight report by OpenTheBooks.com, Mapping The Swamp, A Study Of
The Administrative State, we found that the federal agency payrolls
continued to grow unabated.

President Trump was holding the headcount of the executive agencies
roughly flat through at least 2018. Then, the pandemic driven spending
caused a massive federal hiring spree in FY2020.

Key Facts

1. EXPENSIVE BUREAUCRACY: The federal disclosed workforce costs the
American taxpayer $2.3 million per minute, $140 million per hour, and
$1.1 billion per day. In FY2020, the federal government disclosed 2.8
million employees — including 1.4 million executive agency
bureaucrats; 698,547 DOD employees; and 678,537 USPS employees — for
an estimated total compensation cost of $292 billion. (Formula:
disclosed cash compensation: $225 billion plus an estimated 30-percent
in benefits equals $292 billion).

2. THE SWAMP GETS BIGGER: 1.4 million disclosed employees in the
executive agencies (non DOD and USPS) rose to a modern-day high (2020)
– up 3.7-percent from 1.35 million employees in FY2016. Veterans
Affairs with 421,542 employees was the largest executive agency, and,
since FY2016, headcount grew by 48,928 employees (13-percent).
Homeland Security with 210,253 employees, grew by 26,290 employees
(14.3-percent).

3. HIGHLY COMPENSATED BUREAUCRATS: 532,784 employees made $100,000+ in
the 122 executive agencies (non DOD and USPS) — from 406,960 employees
in FY2016 (up 31-percent). Furthermore, 37,631 employees made
$200,000+ (up 52-percent) and 7,692 employees earned $300,000+ (up
144-percent). Dr. Anthony Fauci was the most highly compensated
federal employee — across all agencies — for the second year and
earned $434,312.

4. A NEW MINIMUM WAGE: The average pay was $100,000+ in 100 of 122
executive agencies (non DOD and USPS) and departments. 26,853 federal
employees out-earned every state governor ($225,000 | New York).

5. PAID TO STAY HOME: 44-days of paid-time off (PTO) on average for
bureaucrats employed in the executive agencies (non DOD and USPS) – 11
holidays, 13 sick days, and 20 vacation days. The estimated taxpayer
subsidy of this benefit is $22 billion annually.

6. THE $15 MILLION MAN: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a
quasi-public federal agency, paid their CEO Jeffry Lyash $15.5 million
in salary, retirement and other benefits over a two-year period,
FY2019-FY2020. The TVA is a federal entity, but doesn’t currently
receive taxpayer funding.

7. VA EMPLOYMENT FARM: Since 2012, Veterans Affairs added 106,037 new
positions to payroll, yet only 6,674 were doctors (Medical Officers).
Only one in every sixteen new positions were doctors.

8. BLOATED WHITE HOUSE PAYROLL: The Biden White House is the most
expensive in history with over 560 employees and $50 million annual
payroll expense. By comparison, President Trump employed 377 staffers
with an inflation adjusted $40 million payroll in his first year
(2017).

9. ARMED BUREAUCRATS: Federal employees (non-DOD) with firearm
authority (200,000+) now exceeds the number of U.S. Marines (186,000).
Employees in 103 agencies with firearm authority include 69,000 at
Department of Justice; 63,000 at Homeland Security; and even 4,547
police officers at Veterans Affairs and 2,159 special agents at the
Internal Revenue Service.

10. TRANSPARENCY PROBLEMS: 259,000 names were redacted accounting for
an estimated $25 billion in cash compensation within the executive
agency payroll (non DOD and USPS). The number of redactions grew from
3,500 in FY2016. Department of Defense: only disclosed the 698,547
civilian employees with salary, title and branch, but redacted all
names. The U.S. Post Office disclosed 678,537 employees, but redacted
all bonuses.

In addition, another $225 billion in estimated compensation remains
hidden and not subject to the oversight of this report: an estimated
$100 billion in non-disclosed salaries of the 1,379,800 million active
military members; and another $125 billion in undisclosed
pension-retirement annuity payouts.