As a current government employee and former regional guy I'll vouch for the fact that government is taking a hit right now. I have spoken in the past about how great government jobs are(and they still are) but with all the cutbacks right now jumping into one isn't the best idea. With that said I probably wouldn't want to just be starting my aviation career right now either. With the cost of flight training it doesn't justify the return especially at the starting end. There are plenty of pilots with former 121 time and other experience waiting to see what happens in the biz with the retirements coming up. May or may not be worth taking another shot at "liv'n the dream". Everyone's got different goals in life and I know plenty of happy professional pilots... vice versa too.