This news alert NY times article on Obama’s plan for a pay freeze for civilian federal works made its way into my inbox this morning. It talks about the President’s plan to wipe out a 1.4% across-the-board raise in 2011 for 2.1 million federal government employees, which include those at the Department of Defense. The article further claims that this pay freeze will save “$2 billion in the current fiscal year that ends in September 2011, $28 billion over five years and more than $60 billion over 10 years…”
Does this suggest that this pay freeze will be going on for 10 years?!? Does anyone else think that sounds a bit unrealistic?
I acknowledge Obama’s gesture to keep that “we are all in this together” spirit in an effort to tackle the nation’s deficit. However, while this public acclaim seems great, I personally feel that this proposal will likely not stick. I also feel like we will never really hear the full story of how these things actually go down – will there be a future article or acknowledgement of how much money was saved? When and how does this plan to be addressed?
Anybody else have any other thoughts on the subject?
Shikha Dalal
While I didn't fully jump into the numbers, I'd bet their math doesn't take into account a 10 year pay freeze, rather the savings coming from the math of in three years instead of getting three raises, the employee gets 1. And difference between the 3 years of raises and 1 year is counted as savings.
ReplyDeleteThe proposal most likely won't stick as it has to make it through Congress, which at this points seems highly unlikely. Overall, I think it's a terrible idea. It has no stimulative effect on the economy and just hurts federal employees and will take money out of the economy. It is a largely empty gesture towards tackling the debt and does nothing but put take away one of the reasons many people choose to take a lower paying job in the government sector potentially shrinking the pool of qualified government officials in the future.
While I agree with you guys that it's probably not the best idea to have a pay freeze for federal workers, since it's really just a small dent in the budget, I think it's a very hard case to make to the voting public that it shouldn't be done. Federal employees are paid with taxpayer money and with the country still at a 10% unemployment rate and congress voting to block an extension on benefits, allowing federal workers to get a raise would probably be seen as unfair and in poor taste. The majority of working people, if fortunate enough to still have their jobs, have had to forego raises and endure salary cuts. These people are working just as hard and paying their taxes so effectively, they're paying the federal employees their salaries.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I understand the argument from both sides. It's unfair no matter how you look at it. I think it's just a hard case to make because federal employees are paid by "the people" and "the people" are suffering right now.
But realistically, as Brandon said, this won't make it pass Congress anyway.
-Conchita