Tim Hightower (no, not the Hightower from Police Academy), gives us the raw figures of how the contracting industry has ballooned since Bush was sworn into office. For the first time in American history, a majority of government employees are owned by corporations:

Since the Carter years, Washington has drifted toward more and more outsourcing of public functions to private contractors, but Bush Incorporated has turned that gradual increase into a fullblown, jet-powered rush to privatization. The shadowy and highly lucrative world of government contracting has boomed under George W, rising 86% since he’s been in office and now totaling nearly $400 billion a year. Get this: There are now more people doing federal jobs under corporate contracts than there are people employed directly by the government. In other words, in today’s government, corporate servants outnumber civil servants.

Full post and links at The Blue State