Obama backs overdue freeze on federal pay raises
“President Obama today proposed a two-year freeze in civilian pay for federal employees that the White House says will save $2 billion in fiscal year 2011 and more than $60 billion over the next decade.
“The hard truth is getting this budget under control is going to require some broad sacrifice, and that sacrifice must be shared by employees of the federal government,” he said, adding that he “did not reach this decision easily.”
The freeze will apply to all civilian federal employees — including, as the White House noted, doctors who care for wounded veterans, national parks workers, Department of Defense employees and other federal workers — but not military personnel….
American Federation of Government Employees president John Gage told the Associated Press that the move was “a slap at working people.” He suggested federal employees were being made into scapegoats….
Republicans have called for federal pay freezes (and even brief furloughs for federal workers), and the bipartisan federal deficit commission is expected to call for a pay freeze when it releases its recommendations this week. (A proposal from the commission chairmen called for a three-year freeze.)”
The pay freeze would have to be approved by Congress, but with Republicans now in control of the House, I doubt that’s going to be a problem. And while the White House would probably deny it, it’s pretty obvious that Obama’s move is a direct response to the midterm results.
That said, it’s also the right thing to do. Most Americans are feeling the pinch in one way or another, from losing their jobs and homes to going without pay raises or even taking unpaid leave. That includes employees in state and local government. Voters and taxpayers shouldn’t have the sense that federal employees are somehow immune to the pain felt by the rest of the country; it feeds a resentment already close to the boiling point.
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354 comments Add your comment
popeye
November 29th, 2010
8:20 pm
“was thinking the same thing about Sister Hillary…I mean, for real, surely she knows at least ONE hairdresser.. ISH”….
You must have all kinds of time on your hands Josef to give secretary Clinton’s hair one iota of thought!
By the way what is this ISH nonsense?
Paul
November 29th, 2010
8:23 pm
josef nix 7:51
Okay, so I’m a sucker for musicals like South Pacific –
SoCom 7:58
You had three points, so I’ll keep this brief: yup, yup and yup.
Pleasant evening, all -
Mick
November 29th, 2010
8:24 pm
dave r
No need to; there are no absolutes – including yours..
josef nix
November 29th, 2010
8:28 pm
popeye
Oh, for the love of Mike, lighten up…BTW from downstairs and the attack out there in O-ree-gone,,,them white folks are shore a tolerant lot, ain’t they! ISH…insert smile here…and in case you havent’t been paying attention, Sister Hillary is my and @@ choice in 2008 (and for me, if she runs, 2012)
Southern Comfort
November 29th, 2010
8:29 pm
Doggone
Had that been me, it would have been the same result. Last thing I want to see is the barrel of a loaded gun pointing at me.
Time to check out. Got to see C’Mon Man on ESPN. Now it’s lights out time.
See Y’all later…
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2010
8:32 pm
If layoffs are decided on how is the decision to be made?
Will they be made like in big corporations?
Will they be based on who is the least productive?
Will they be based on who makes the most money?
Will they be based on longevity?
Interesting concepts to muddle over, eh?
JohnnyReb
November 29th, 2010
8:36 pm
“…and in case you havent’t been paying attention, Sister Hillary is my and @@ choice in 2008 (and for me, if she runs, 2012)”
josef, I’m not sure it would be successful, but turning you away from Hillary might be a fun project. Besides, after the security leaks under her watch, she may not now have a prayer. That is if the initial info holds up that most of Wikileaks came from the State Department. Too many people asleep at the wheel.
TnGelding
November 29th, 2010
8:40 pm
I think he can do it under executive order, but let’s wait and see the fine print. They’ll get a raise someway, hook or crook. He should have taken action about a year ago.
josef nix
November 29th, 2010
8:41 pm
johnny reb
I’d sure like to be a fly on the wall when she gets them in “for consultation.” I like her for her sense of self-ironic humor…and when she reminded Iran that we have nukes, I had step back…seriously, though. I was no big fan of Hillary’s early on, her Tammy Wynette quip didn’t set well with me. but the more I listened to her, the more I had to see her as perhaps the best choice…
BADA BING
November 29th, 2010
8:43 pm
Just a quick question about the Oregon Christmas Tree Bomber……….I forget, in the 12 Days of Christmas, what day was I supposed to get the exploding backpack? Before or after the Lords a Leaping?
TnGelding
November 29th, 2010
8:44 pm
She was certainly the best choice of those running. But we’d still be mopping up the blood from the carnage. And could she have won? It was just too easy for Obama. But nobody said life was fair.
josef nix
November 29th, 2010
8:45 pm
BADA
“Five bombers bombing….”
JohnnyReb
November 29th, 2010
8:46 pm
josef, I probably have not supported a Democrat since the very early 70’s. I do agree to preferring her over Obama, and surely she would have been a better choice for the party. My guess is, if Hillary was POTUS the mid-term results would have been very different.
stands for decibels
November 29th, 2010
8:46 pm
And while the White House would probably deny it, it’s pretty obvious that Obama’s move is a direct response to the midterm results.
That said, it’s also the right thing to do.
Is conservative ass tasty? is that why you feel compelled to kiss it so often, Jay?
blech. gross. Disgusting.
shame on you.
popeye
November 29th, 2010
8:46 pm
Hands raised up….Ok Josef I’ll lighten up, but sometimes I type as fast as my knee jerks!
By the way it’s Ory-Gun!
josef nix
November 29th, 2010
8:48 pm
TnGelding
I really think she would have had a chance, She had substance and was more than a drag show (hair-do notwithstanding
). As far as mopping up the carnage. I would tend to agree on that one…same thing if she takes on Fierce Adovocate in 2012…but as the sexist North Carolinian said, she’s got cajones….
BADA BING
November 29th, 2010
8:50 pm
We have had the Shoe Bomber, the Underwear Bomber, the Christmas Tree Bomber…….What is next? The Toaster Bomber, the Teddy Bear Bomber, where will it end?
JohnnyReb
November 29th, 2010
8:51 pm
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the Neveda primary was the turning point for Obama over Hillary. The uinons pushed Obama into the lead; and from my conservative viewpoint Obama has not failed in paying them back.
josef nix
November 29th, 2010
8:52 pm
popeye
Oops! I had forgotten Ory-gun!
Love that jerking knee comment…me too!
Johnny
I agree with you on the mid-term results…
Mick
November 29th, 2010
8:53 pm
Warren Buffet says it best:
“There’s no sacrifice among the rich. There’s plenty of sacrifice going on now,” Buffett said. “I mean, if you look at Iraq and now Afghanistan, there’s been sacrifice. But I would doubt if you take the people on the Forbes 400 list — whether many of them have a child or a grandchild that served in Iraq or Afghanistan — they come home in body bags to Nebraska, but they don’t have to call up anybody up at the country club to notify them.”
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2010
8:54 pm
josef nix@8:48 pm
but as the sexist North Carolinian said, she’s got cajones….
————————————
Yep she’s got Bill’s and she wears them as a necklace LOL
Del
November 29th, 2010
8:56 pm
What’s all this candy a$$’d $hit about Obama freezing federal workers compensation. He knew that would happen anyway come next month. I’m more concerned with this P.O.S. Julian Ass ange and that little dilbert PFC who for what ever reason had access to all this confidential information that she downloaded and turned over. The damage has been done, however, Assange should soon suddenly disappear off the face of the Earth and Manning should be doing hard time to the extent that after his first few years you could drive a Honda Civic with the doors open up where he sits down. Where in the hell is Obama on this serious breach.
fedgal
November 29th, 2010
8:58 pm
Politicians trot out these federal pay freezes from time to time to make the citizenry think they’re doing something. Don’t worry about the feds, we’re fine. Different pols and political appointees come and go but we’re always here. Actually we pretty much run things. The federal civil service and the Supreme Court are the only stable, enduring elements in the U.S. government.
josef nix
November 29th, 2010
9:00 pm
common sense
@ 8:54
stands for decibels
November 29th, 2010
9:00 pm
Where in the hell is Obama on this serious breach.
seriously, have you been asleep today?
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2010
9:02 pm
But he does it as a soprano these days
josef nix
November 29th, 2010
9:02 pm
fedgal
“The federal civil service and the Supreme Court are the only stable, enduring elements in the U.S, government,:
Yep, C’est vraie. But I’m still not sure that’s such a good thing. They need to be shaken up from time to time…
Del
November 29th, 2010
9:04 pm
“have you been asleep today” no but I’ll bet you’ve either been sleeping or pissing away your day blogging. Probably not too far off, am I?
JohnnyReb
November 29th, 2010
9:05 pm
josef, I recently discovered this website. If you are not familiar with it, it is anti-left but in my opinion has a lot of information you may find interesting.
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/
stands for decibels
November 29th, 2010
9:07 pm
Probably not too far off, am I?
um no. you couldn’t be farther off if you tried.
anyone who had access to a halfway decent news source would know where the Administration was on this issue.
Off to watch some football…
Hillbilly Deluxe
November 29th, 2010
9:09 pm
This could serve as a cautionary tale……….
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/111434/familys-fall-from-affluence-is-swift-and-hard
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2010
9:14 pm
Hillbilly Deluxe@9:09 pm
This could serve as a cautionary tale……….
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/111434/familys-fall-from-affluence-is-swift-and-hard
———————————–
I read that the other day. Trying to keep up with the Jones or in his case family did his family in financially.
josef nix
November 29th, 2010
9:16 pm
johnny reb
Horowitz intrigues me…of course, I view a lot of what he has to say from the “Jewish angst” syndrome, but, IMHO, he raises a lot of points worthy of consideration and does so withing the parameters of the intellectual inquiry paradigm…
RW-(the original)
November 29th, 2010
9:16 pm
JohnnyReb,
Nevada was a surprise to the Clinton camp but their whole strategy was wrapping up the nomination on Super Tuesday. They really had no plan for after that and when ST was pretty much a tie she was all but toast. Democrats allocated their delegates within states so even though she was able to regroup and win some big states late she couldn’t overcome his lead. Her only chance was to stay in and hope to sway the “super delegates” at the end.
stands,
When Obama had a press availability to announce this fantasy about wage freezes doing anything meaningful he refused, in advance, to take any questions about the leaked docs. That pretty well set the image for “where’s Obama on this”, although I’m in the camp that thinks he’s probably right to keep from drawing Presidential attention to the leaks.
Mick
November 29th, 2010
9:17 pm
hd
Read that story, you would think that getting a 10 million dollar check after taxes and you’d be able to have a comfortable life. Life is still unpredictable and sometimes the curve balls will cause you to strike out. I think I could’ve managed however.
josef nix
November 29th, 2010
9:21 pm
hillbilly, common sense
Interesting read…reminds me of an old Southernism, “just flying too high for his little ole sky…”
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2010
9:25 pm
Like the guy who won the first million in the Ga lottery. He said he was gonna sell his machine shop to his employees and go live in a doublewide on the lake. LOL
Del
November 29th, 2010
9:25 pm
H.D., by no means impossible, it’s still very difficult for the average man to piss away 10 million dollars in 10 years.
josef nix
November 29th, 2010
9:26 pm
It’s that time…really enjoyed this p.m. Nice break from the other screen…thanks, all…and. Dearest Dusty, was I in a good enough mood for ya?
Hillbilly Deluxe
November 29th, 2010
9:26 pm
I saw a program on TV once about how many people who’ve won the huge lotteries, eventually wind up broke. I agree though, if you get $10 million, free and clear and lose it, you really have nobody to blame but yourself. I mean damn, you could spend $250k a year for 40 years. Who really needs to do that?
Common Sense isn't very Common
November 29th, 2010
9:30 pm
Hillbilly Deluxe@9:26 pm
I mean damn, you could spend $250k a year for 40 years. Who really needs to do that?
—————————————
My ex-wife thought she needed to LOL
Scoremore
November 29th, 2010
10:18 pm
It seems that gov’t workers are just the whipping boys/girls of the deficit hawks?
And Peterike — our regulatory agencies are all ready cut to the bone– but maybe your game is population control through the deaths that come from unregulated food, toys, factories, drugs and the like.
md
November 29th, 2010
10:56 pm
“American Federation of Government Employees president John Gage told the Associated Press that the move was “a slap at working people.” He suggested federal employees were being made into scapegoats….”
Says the man that makes a living off the backs of those very same “working people”……………..
md
November 29th, 2010
11:14 pm
Well, I guess we can now include that rich family in with the rest of those “poor things” and take care of them with others money for the good of all.
Too bad many of the folks paying for them will never get to spend the crap out of their own 10 million.
TnGelding
November 30th, 2010
5:20 am
Mick
November 29th, 2010
8:53 pm
Warren talks the talk, but can’t walk the walk. He’s still taking every tax deduction he can. The filthy rich could redeem every bond China holds and set a huge bon(d)fire and not miss it. Not that I endorse that. We’re all going to have to pitch in a little more, especially those of us that aren’t contributing anything.
USinUK
November 30th, 2010
5:36 am
Happy St. Andrews Day to all my fellow Scots and Scot hybrids!
Southern Comfort
November 30th, 2010
7:29 am
G’morning all/Afternoon UnU
http://fiscalstrength.com/
There’s now 84 “millionaires” who have signed on to ask Obama to end the tax cuts on incomes over $1,000,000. I don’t know whether they all are millionaires, but there was only 45 a week or two ago. I’m curious as to whether or not any well known millionaires will sign on.
http://nolabels.org/
If you’re tired of the partisan bs, there are a few who are trying to work around those obstacles. It’s worth a look at this site if you’re seriously independent and tired of the partisan stuff.
Rodger French
November 30th, 2010
7:33 am
Never mind that this is a politically stupid move; it’s also bad economics. Federal workers with less money coming in will necessarily spend less money on goods and services, thereby decreasing demand, which is what drives job creation.
md
November 30th, 2010
8:31 am
“Federal workers with less money coming in will necessarily spend less money on goods and services, thereby decreasing demand, which is what drives job creation.”
It is a pay freeze, not a pay cut…………there are 20 million folks out there that would gladly take a freeze…………………….IF they had a job.
Silver
November 30th, 2010
10:30 am
I agree with the pay freeze. Us social security people had to live with it
Adam
November 30th, 2010
6:26 pm
It’s a test. Obama has a “Rove of his own” in the White House now, I think, telling him what to do or say as a political tactic. This is one of two examples I know of that could fit this:
1) Say you support a pay freeze. The GOP will react in opposition because Obama supports it
2) Say you support body scanners. Fox News and GOP members will react in opposition because Obama supports it.
I’m thoroughly convinced with number 2 above, Fox is running as many anti-body scanner stories as they can because Obama is in support, and if Obama came out AGAINST the machines, their tune would change rapidly to be in support of them.
As for the pay freeze, Obama is taking a GOP position to see how they react. It is unlikely any such bill will actually be created. This is nothing more than a test to see just how far the anti-Obama theme goes.
Jay
November 30th, 2010
7:07 pm
md (8:31): It is clear this means less money coming into the economy, and thus helping to slow the economic recovery; if you don’t grasp that easily and intuitively, I’m not sure how to convince you. And it is all well and good to empathize with the unemployed (making sure unemployment benefits are extended would be a better move than sust feeling for them, however). But what does the number of unemployed have to do with freezing the pay of people with jobs? Nothing. Think about it for a second, sincerely. Where is there a connection other than a nebulous sense of “shared sacrifice.” Why should federal employees sacrifice a pay increase at this point in time? I have yet to hear a valid reason; it gets down to pure symbolism and the myth that feds are overpaid. You might as well choose to arbitrarily punish the whole country through raising their taxes; such a move would be just as sensical. The reality: the recommended federal civilion pay increase is calculated just as the miltary increase (although the military sometimes gets a bit extra tacked on; choose to agree with that or not) and the military is getting a 1.9% increase next year (versus the scheduled 1.4% increase for civilians). The proposed increase isn’t pulled out of thin air; it is based, in part, on private sector wage trends, and despite ongoing high unemployment, private sector wages are rising slowly (really, despite plenty of people having to take cuts, wages in general are going up) (as an aside, the fed wage increase is calculated differently than Social Security COLA increase, so that is why SS was frozen last year and this year while fed civilian pay was scheduled to be increased 1.4%). I’m a federal employee, so obviously this hits me directly. But separate from the 1.4% cut this means for me next year, and the ~2% cut(1.4% this year, and about the same naxt year) it means next year (and each and every year thereafter), what bugs me most is that this was an arbitray and nonsensical move. There is no justification for it based on the wages federal employees make; it was simply a symbolic move pulled out of… the sky. But it is a symbolic move that will suppress my wages, and the wages of millions of other people, for their entire careers. It won’t do much to help the deficit. and it will help to slow down the economic recovery in the short term. It is economic nonsense and political bs at the expense of millions of (mostly) hard working dedicated individuals.
jm
December 1st, 2010
7:49 am
Not sure why this was a hard decision for Obama. European countries are implementing civil service pay cuts of 5% to 10%. A freeze is getting off pretty light in my book. It’s a (very small) start though.
Next up, deficit reduciton commission….
James
December 1st, 2010
2:33 pm
I am typically a conservative. I just started a federal job and took a massive pay cut to do so. Now my less than $15 an our is frozen for 2 years. They could save a lot more money chopping at the top. Congress, senate, the presidents staff. They could all afford pay cuts. I agree something had to be done. But, with our benefit costs going up significantly this is not good for lower paid federal employees. We will spend less and it will affect the economy.