ManagementSpeak: I’m not going to hold you to these estimates.

Translation: Yes I am.

We’re holding this week’s anonymous contributor in high esteem for her excellent translation.

Demonstrating once again that certainty and knowledge are inversely correlated:

One camp is absolutely certain federal workers are paid twice what private-sector employees receive. Another camp is absolutely certain they’re paid 24% less. The first is outraged at how overpaid federal workers are. The second is outraged at the propaganda leading to the outrage of the first.

As FactCheck.org reports, the studies cited by each camp in support of its position are so flawed as to be useless. The last credible comparison was conducted in 1990.