Romney complains federal employees make more than he does

Multimillionaire Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R) told employees at a steel fabrication plant on Monday that government employees "are making a lot more money than we are."

Wearing his best plaid work shirt and Tommy Bahama blue jeans, the candidate explained to workers at Giese Manufacturing that he would slash the number of federal employees if elected.

"We have to cut back on the scale of the federal government," Romney declared. "And for me that will start by reducing federal employees by 10 percent. You do that through attrition."

"And then something else that is just as important, and that's to make sure the people who work for government don't get better pay and better benefits than people that work in the private sector."

He added: "The tax payers shouldn't have to have money taken out of their pay checks to pay people in government who are our servants who are making a lot more money than we are."

Romney's desire to appear as a regular American has caused him to make a series of gaffes this year.

In June, he told a group of unemployed people in Florida that he was "also unemployed."

Returning to Florida in September, the candidate claimed that he was part of the middle class.

The former Massachusetts governor has a net worth estimated at up to $250 million.

Watch this video from CNN, broadcast Nov. 7, 2011.