I agree with Matt K about federal workers being held up as the boogeyman. I've worked in federal government, in private industry, and in the military. I've encountered lazy, incompetent, or a-hole people in all of the above sectors. I've encountered hard-working, talented, awesome people in all the sectors. Fundamentally, there was no difference, people are people everywhere. For every slacker in government, I saw one in private industry.
And like others said, if working for the government is such a gravy train, why isn't everyone applying? And if everyone is trying to get in on the lucrative, overpaid jobs, but not getting hired, maybe that speaks to the qualifications of those that are hired? It's not like it's some secret, good-ol'-boys private hiring network. All are welcome.
I think most anyone who's worked in government would likely agree that there are cuts that can and should be made. 800,000 civilian DoD workers sounds like a lot, as an example. I don't know if that's too many or not enough, although it sounds like too many because it's such a big number. Who knows. But once again, the federal workers didn't decide how many workers there needed to be or where the taxes should be spent. Congressional appropriations and the executive branch decided that. Now they should get their freakin' act together and quit acting like it's some mythical bloated federal worker's fault for getting us in this mess.
We could all argue if there are too many FBI agents or food inspectors, but it seems harsh to blame the FBI agent or the food inspector for our country's screwed up spending and priorities, or for earning whatever pay and benefits they are getting in exchange for their labor. Does an FBI agent make too much? Do food inspectors or forest rangers in government make too much? If so, doesn't competition within the free market handle that? But hell yes, I really wish government overall would be cut back to realistic levels.