Recession Of 2008 Exposed True Cost Of Public Employee Unions

A silver lining in the dark cloud of the recession that began in 2008 is that it has awakened the nation's beleaguered private-sector work force to the fact that government employees are prospering at their expense.

For the private sector, the recession meant layoffs, pay cuts and reduced benefits. State and local employees felt nary a scratch. In fact, life is pretty good if your paycheck comes from the taxpayer.

In 2009, hourly compensation (wages plus benefits) for the average state and local government employee was 45 percent higher than the private-sector average. The share of state and local employees offered health care benefits was 88 percent versus 71 percent in the private sector.

For retirement benefits, it's 90 percent to 67 percent. State and local employees are also more likely to be offered life insurance (80 percent to 59 percent) and paid sick leave (89 percent to 67 percent).

Did I mention that defined-benefit pensions are offered to about 80 percent of state and local employees, versus 20 percent in the private sector? Or that they're typically twice as generous? That's kind of a problem because these pensions are underfunded by about $3 trillion and state and local government finances are already in poor shape.

But wait, there's more.