Here's a telling little addendum to Katie's earlier post: according to a poll released today from Rasmussen Reports, the majority of Americans are under the impression that private-sector employees are both more diligent workers than public-sector employees, and are rewarded less handsomely for their efforts.
A full 66 percent of Americans believe that the private sector works harder than the public sector, with even a plurality of 46 percent of the bureaucrats polled in agreement -- only 32 percent of government workers believe the opposite to be true. 56 percent of all Americans believe that private sector employees earn less money than their government counterparts, while over 60 percent of both groups believe that government workers have greater job security.
In a nutshell, only 8 percent of Americans think that working for Uncle Sam inspires greater productivity than working in free enterprise -- and in light of instances of government waste like the GSA debacle, that really makes all this government expansion comforting, doesn't it?