Presidents, of course, have ample opportunities to earn money after office.

And I won't defend the salaries and pensions of the specific local official you cite. They were earning twice as much as Bob Gates -- who runs the 2 million employee Defense Dept -- to run a local school district or utility board.

But how far do you carry that? Does the engineer who works for the govt deserve no pension? Or to be paid much less than an engineer at IBM? Why? If your answer is "yes", please don't complain if engineering talent in the government seems a bit weak.

True, some jobs have such non-monetary rewards that it's reasonable for govt to pay less. Federal judges earn far, far less than they would in most private sector jobs given their usually top-notch degrees and stellar work experience, but there's no shortage of people who think it'd be cool to be a judge. Ditto for astronauts.

But high school math teachers, federal IT sysadmins, or contract management specialists, jobs for which there are perennial shortages? You gonna quote Cinncinatus at them too? How about Adam Smith?