New York Times: WASHINGTON — President Obama on Monday announced a two-year pay freeze for civilian federal workers as he sought to address concerns over high annual deficits and appealed to Republicans to find a common approach to restoring the nation’s economic and fiscal health.
“The hard truth is that getting this deficit under control is going to require some broad sacrifice, and that sacrifice must be shared by employees of the federal government,” Mr. Obama told reporters. He called federal workers “patriots who love their country” but added, “I’m asking civil servants to do what they’ve always done” for the nation.
The pay freeze amounted to an opening bid as the president and Republican Congressional leaders begin jousting in earnest over tax and spending policy. It also illustrated how Mr. Obama can use his office on occasion to get ahead of newly elected Republicans; they had been talking about making such a move when they assume control of the House and additional Senate seats in January.
But while the move represents a gesture toward public anger over the anemic economic recovery and rising national debt, the $5 billion to be saved over two years will barely dent a deficit that has exceeded $1 trillion for the past two years.[…] [MORE]
This all sounds so lovely on paper, but there are a few problems that are going unnoticed. First of all, we are at a record number of federal employees. As of February 2010 the Federal employee workforce was an astounding 2.15 million people, the highest ever. Second, we also have a record number of Federal employees making over $150,000.00.
What we have here is your typical game of political smoke and mirrors. For the casual follower of politics and government, a pay freeze sounds like a responsible move. However, when you realize the facts above, you understand that all Obama is doing is locking in big and expensive government for the next two years.
What is truly needed is for the Federal workforce to take some serious PAY CUTS and undergo some serious DOWNSIZING. Pay for Federal employees must be taken out the private sector and the high number of employees making record salaries is a drag on the economy we can no longer afford.
Sorry Obama, but you will have to do better than that.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: The New York Times
Via: The Washington Times
Via: USA Today