Awe, Poor Babies!

When it comes to paychecks, federal employees keep falling behind people doing the same jobs in the private sector. It's slightly worse this year than last year. Data presented at a Federal Salary Council meeting shows feds earn, on average, 35 percent less than private-sector counterparts. A 1 percent raise next year could narrow the gap a little bit. These latest numbers come from the Office of Personnel Management and the Labor Department. But the pay gap is widely disputed. Several think tanks have looked at the issue and come up with widely varying conclusions.