salaries Archives - Where Is The Outrage?

Conservative Freak Out (Update)

It was this itty-bitty little graph that caused conservatives to absolutely lose their minds last week. Basically, a study from the Pew Research Center revealed that there are a lot of women who are the sole breadwinner or the major breadwinner in their households. For those of us who live in the reality-based world, we’ve recognized for some time that the “Leave It to Beaver” or “Father Knows Best” male-dominated models of the household simply don’t exist to the extent that they did back in the 1950s in the United States. This changed for a variety of reasons. Yet, conservatives simply want to blame women for this trend. Oh, let me correct myself. Conservatives would like to blame “liberated” women for this trend.

If you want to blame someone, there’s plenty of blame to go around. First of all, and my blame list is in no particular order, one of the glaring facts that springs off the page when you read this study is the fact that women get paid less for doing the exact same job as men. Why is this? This is simply a fact of gender discrimination. From my personal vantage point, as a physician, I’ve seen nurses’ salaries stagnate and even regress over the past 20 years. It is clear that there are more women who go in the nursing than men. Nurses, outside of California, have yet to band together to demand higher salaries. Instead, what we see in the nursing profession is that nurses after five, 10 or 15 years will leave a hospital because the work load is too hard, the hours are too long and the salaries are too small. So, nurses will move to doctors’ offices for better hours and a decreased workload in exchange for… wait for it… most the time, lower salaries. (more…)

By ecthompsonmd|2013-06-06T21:56:04-04:00June 6th, 2013|Economy, Education|2 Comments

Some of the richest counties in the United States surround DC, why? (Updated)

This is an interesting question. I’m glad it was brought up in discussion. Some are pointing to the salaries of federal employees as an indication of how bloated our government truly is.

I look at the zip codes around DC, Virginia and Maryland and I see lobbyists. I see $3000 suits. I see expensive sports cars. I see government contractors. I see multimillion dollar houses which government employees cannot afford. Average income in Loudoun County, Virginia is $110,000. The average government employee income is less than $75,000.

Please note that the house below is for sale in the Loudoun County area.

In case there is some doubt about the enormous income of lobbyists generate, here is the income that these firms are required to report. This is 2009 data. (this table has been updated. It was correctly pointed out that the previous table did not reflect income to the lobbying firm.)

Lobbying Firm	Total
Patton Boggs LLP	$40,080,000
Akin, Gump et al	$32,390,000
Van Scoyoc Assoc	$27,300,000
Podesta Group	$25,780,000
Brownstein, Hyatt et al	$23,220,000
Cassidy & Assoc	$22,270,000
Ogilvy Government Relations	$21,810,000
Holland & Knight	$21,240,000
Dutko Worldwide	$19,780,000
K&L Gates	$18,570,000
Hogan & Hartson	$18,160,000
Williams & Jensen	$17,220,000
BGR Holding	$15,510,000
Ernst & Young	$14,077,701
Quinn Gillespie & Assoc	$13,570,000
Cornerstone Government Affairs	$12,780,000
Venable LLP	$12,394,000
Ferguson Group	$11,890,000
Prime Policy Group	$11,443,333
Alston & Bird	$11,170,000

By ecthompsonmd|2010-11-12T19:35:40-04:00November 12th, 2010|Domestic Issues|Comments Off

Bill Maher – New Rule

I like this rule.

From HuffPo:

New Rule: Let’s not fire the teachers when students don’t learn – let’s fire the parents. Last week President Obama defended the firing of every single teacher in a struggling high school in a poor Rhode Island neighborhood. And the kids were outraged. They said, “Why blame our teachers?” and “Who’s President Obama?” I think it was Whitney Houston who said, “I believe that children are our future – teach them well and let them lead the way.” And that’s the last sound piece of educational advice this country has gotten – from a crack head in the ’80’s.

Yes, America has found its new boogeyman to blame for our crumbling educational system. It’s just too easy to blame the teachers, what with their cushy teachers’ lounges, their fat-cat salaries, and their absolute authority in deciding who gets a hall pass. We all remember high school – canning the entire faculty is a nationwide revenge fantasy. Take that, Mrs. Crabtree! And guess what? We’re chewing gum and no, we didn’t bring enough for everybody.

But isn’t it convenient that once again it turns out that the problem isn’t us, and the fix is something that doesn’t require us to change our behavior or spend any money. It’s so simple: Fire the bad teachers, hire good ones from some undisclosed location, and hey, while we’re at it let’s cut taxes more. It’s the kind of comprehensive educational solution that could only come from a completely ignorant people. (more…)

By ecthompsonmd|2010-03-13T17:12:59-04:00March 13th, 2010|Education|Comments Off