What's Your Opinion on the Proposed Federal Pay Freeze?

It does NOT include the military!
Amazing how people run their moths without any basis in fact. FYI, one of the first things Obama did upon taking office was to freeze salaries of HIS cabinet. And his salary is ALREADY frozen at 400K/year--same as every past president since 2001. Get the facts people!

Considering that Obama inherited a $1.3 trillion projected deficit upon taking office, he's gotta do something! Fast!

He's proposing a two-year pay freeze for all civilian federal workers. Not the military--he has been emphatic about that. Is anyone listening anymore? This would save $2 billion over the rest of this fiscal year and $28 billion in cumulative savings over the next five years. 60 billion over 10 years--that's with a 2 year pay freeze. That's not chump change and these are tough times. He's asking asking civil servants to play their part. Lots of us have made HUGE concessions in pay, etc.

In case anyone is looking for some actual facts, you can check out the fact sheet for this topic at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/11/29/fac...

(Of course the right wingers will just assume it's "propaganda" so go on back to your Glenn Beck show!)

11 moms found this helpful

I agree that it's OK but only if our legislators also freeze their pay. It's my understanding that they've already voted themselves a raise but frozen Social Security payments.

As a country and as individuals we do need to find ways to spend less and reduce debt.

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UPDATE: FYI the quasi-proposed fed wage freeze from Obama does NOT include the military or postal workers.
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Well, I was just reading up on this today and from I could gather, Obama is proposing this in advance of the now-in-charge-Republicans making some sort of similar move. Sorry -- Just wanted to clarify that Obama is not the anti-Christ that so many would like to make him out to be.

That said, I would like to see all businesses run in accordance with the market. When the market can bear it, then pay increases and bonuses should be available. When the market tanks, growth is negative and unemployment jumps, then ALL BUSINESSES' pay and bonus structures should reflect that. And of course I mean from the top down....From the President and the CEOs to the janitors and the peons (like me = ).

I have been on both sides of this fence. I am currently working in the private sector and my company has had lay-offs, mandatory pay DECREASES, raise freezes, and bonus suspensions. Just because government offices are not-run for profit doesn't mean money should be slipping thru their fingers unchecked...As if there is a limitless supply of funds.

I think of it this way...A lot of government is funded with my tax dollars. If this bad market is hitting my pocket book then it must also hit the pocket book of the government I am funding. I am a share holder so to speak.

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This measure decided my husbands naval career. He will not stay over 20 years. The gov't should freeze their spending not our pay. They act as if gov't paychecks will make a difference but it's their spending practices that need to change. President Obama is living a very lavish lifestyle, Kobe beef dinners etc. and his travel expenses skyrocketed the white house budget. Congress is no better. Until they take ownership of their spending problem we will never make true financial progress.
Oh, I have never met a military person who's job paid less outside the military. My husband would at minimum made double his salary if he got out and worked in the private sector. His friends did get out and work for several civilian companies that paid double to start out. He stayed because he is proud to serve in the military but reading some posts on here people assume gov't workers are overpaid but that's not the case with all workers. Not that the news would say that. Right now the news has deemed gov't workers as the villains instead of holding congress and the president accountable.

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To answer the question - I am a federal employee who is content with the pay freeze. I don't like it (who would?), but it's better than getting a pay cut or losing my job.

I will divulge that I am a highly skilled PhD federal government worker who does make a very good salary. But I worked hard to get where I am - spending 14 years after high school in college, graduate school, and postdoctoral training to be trained to do my job. During that time I made a bare minimum salary, worked 40-60hrs a week and sometimes had no health insurance. So I have earned my position and my salary. My colleagues in the private sector make more than I do, but I chose government work for the stability and the long term positives in regards to my family.

But some of these responses just confirm how little is understood about what the federal government does and who 'federal employees' are. It appears that some people think we are sloths who earn too much, work too little, benefit greatly, and milk the system. And that we are not like the 'rest of the country' or like the 'regular public'. I am a normal person who applied to many different jobs in many different places, was lucky enough to be offered a job in federal government and accepted it. It's not fair to make statements that I'm not making sacrifices like 'the rest of the country', or I'm not like 'the rest of the country'. I am a working citizen just like you. I pay my taxes, my mortgage, my daycare bills, and have debt just like you. And to say that my benefits are extraordinary? I don't accept my federal health benefits because my husband's union benefits are far better for our family.

It is important to realize that federal government is much more than Congress. It is people who determine the safety of the medicines that you take, and the food that goes on your table. It is people who guard our borders. It is people who work to make housing affordable for people with lower incomes. It is people who research to find cures for cancer and a multitude of other diseases. It is people who overall help to provide our country with a better quality of life. So when you think about just 'cutting' our pay, or decreasing the workforce, think about the trickle down that will ultimately affect services that we as citizens receive.

6 moms found this helpful

My DH has a federal job that is not the military... He works for the United States Border Patrol spending ten hours a day making sure that drugs and illegals dont get into this country. Most people I know (other than those in the military and those in other branches of law enforcement) dont have to worry about coming up on a coyote smuggling 2000 pounds of coke in the middle of no where, alone for the most part, and have to worry about if that person is so desperate they do something stupid with the weapons they are provided with by drug lords... just one of the many scenarios that happen every single day
So when your DH gets out from behind his desk working a regular 9 to 5 and the most he has to worry about is wether or not he has gotten his proposal just right then you can talk about pay freezes....
Just like doctors, these guys in branches of law enforcement or military do things that either you are not willing or cant do. They make our country a better place for you to be allowed your glorious lives.

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I had heard it did NOT include the military...

I agree it should begin with our legislators...and I'd like THEIR health plan...and retirement plan as well...while I am wishing!

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According to the Army Times (Nov. 10, 2010), they are recommending a military pay freeze for 3 years...

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/11/military-debt-commi...

This was especially hard to read since my husband is deploying in January.

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I think its a good thing. Lots of people have already had this happen to them.

My hubby had to take a 30% pay cut and has had a freeze on all raises for almost a year now and had to take 2 weeks of mandatory furlough with no pay this past summer!

It is my understanding that the military IS NOT included in the federal pay freeze!

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Yes, my daughter's father is a controller in a construction related arena and had to take a big hit. I am in a very specialized, scientific sales where they can make the pay plan so we are not making 115K plus like before (also a big hit). Our business is all private or public. To expect doctors to accept less than 100K is crazy...think of the loans and the knowledge they have gained in the 15 years to specialize. What about the taxes they pay???They deserve every dollar they earn! Maybe 100K is too much in some rural areas, I don't even know where, but they deserve more.

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Mom2KCK!!

Oh my word!!! Do you REALLY want to know what I think?!!

I think it's not even a band-aid. It will save MAYBE $5BILLION on a $3TRILLION deficit.

This doesn't even start with the TRILLIONS that Obamacare is going to cost us.....

This administration has done so much damage to our country - I don't know how we will be able to recover from it. People need to wake up though. They need to THOROUGHLY vet their candidates - they can't keep using the excuse "my vote doesn't matter" IT DOES!!! DO NOT SCREAM FOR CHANGE AND VOTE THE SAME ILK BACK IN OFFICE (Pelosi and Reid are prime examples of this).

Call your representatives - they ARE your employee!! If they don't listen to you the first time - remind them WHO they work for and YOU WILL vote them out. Stay on top of what's going on. We've been complacent for the last 40+ years and look what it has done to us!

We MUST get a handle on Congress again. Hold them accountable for their actions (votes, messes, etc.). They should NOT be allowed to vote themselves a pay raise (they did this in Obama's stimulus package) or give themselves benefits (full pay after serving one full term). THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!

I wasn't a big Bush fan. But Obama makes me miss him!!

4 moms found this helpful

No pay increases for me last year. My hours were cut and the small employer contribution to my 401K was eliminated. Things aren't looking too good this year either.

With most of the private sector having to make cutbacks, the government should do the same.

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Losing proposed raises is indeed distressing for anybody. But let's keep the facts in mind:

In April of this year, for the second time in 2 years, Congress voted a pay freeze for themselves. Presidential pay has not increased for eight years.

And the military is NOT included in the current proposal to cancel pay raises for the next two years. It's for civilian employees only.

Except for the super-wealthy, many U.S. citizens in the private sector have already suffered actual reductions in pay and benefits. Many have lost jobs. And homes. I've had only one modest pay raise in the almost 30 years I've helped run our tiny non-profit, and that was about 6 years ago.

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Hi Mom2KCK,

It is actually not a pay freeze. It is a proposal to stop paying the cost of living increase.

My husband works for the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and got the details yesterday. Every January, federal employees usually get an automatic 'cost of living' increase to their salary. It is an extremely low percentage which has been lowered each year for the past few years because of the economy. The scheduled increase for his dept for Jan 2011 was .9%, so if your salary was $50,000.00 your increase would be $450.00.

Normal steps up the pay schedule and bonuses and promotions will not be affected. So, in my opinion, it sounds like Obama wants to make it look like this decision will save the government a ton of money. Since normal pay increases are still in effect, I do not think it will help with the deficit.

It seems like a nice gesture, but families that have someone working for the government (like mine) still live paycheck to paycheck and struggle with unexpected expenses (like needing a new transmission for our Ford Explorer- our only vehicle).

Since he is freezing 'cost of living' increases, will he also freeze minimum wage? Kinda goes hand in hand...

I don't see why we (the people) are responsible for the government's years of poor judgment in spending.

L.

3 moms found this helpful

IMHO, it is about darn time! I hope that it is a sign that the Administration heard the voice of the voters this past election, and is moving more towards fiscal responsibility. Everyone else has had to tighten their belts and deal with no raises, so why not the Feds?

3 moms found this helpful

This idea is BULL! Pay should ONLY be frozen IF everything else is frozen. By this I mean, no cost increases for ANYTHING - that includes food (groceries and eating out), vehicles, housing (rent and the cost of buying a house), ANY consumable goods. HOW can it be fair to freeze anyone's pay and have no increases in salaries when the cost of living continues to increase? If this happens - people will just get further and further into the black hole of debt!
Also - as far as government pay - some people believe that government employees have it made - that they make soooooooooo much money. This is NOT true for ALL government employees. Just because someone is a government employee - that does not mean that all government employees are paid like senators and congressmen. My husband works for the government and we live in the D.C. area - the cost of living here is VERY high. The pay at my job (not government) was frozen for two years - we do not need my husband's pay to be frozen also.

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Haha, did you realize what a hot topic this would be?

It's another way to make the common person pay for all the spending that politicians and other powerful people implement. I think there are better ways to positively affect our nation's budget, but I'm just a commoner; what do I know?

I don't see where it says that it's only COLAs that are being frozen. It may INCLUDE them, but nowhere does it say only COLAs are frozen.

I work for state government, and we already have not seen raises for more than four years, and most state agencies here (to my knowledge) have never gotten COLAs.

Here is a link to the proposition. I intend to read it myself but I imagine I won't understand it all: http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/sites/fiscalcommission.go...

Incidentally, the web site whitehouse.gov is a site for the Obama administration: it is NOT the website of the US Government (that site is www.usa.gov) and thus not impartial. I find it worth pointing out the first words on the "fact sheet" about freezing federal pay on the whitehouse.gov site that Denise P provided a link for--"Because of the irresponsibility of the past decade..." hmm. More finger-pointing. Just what we need.

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I think Obama wants to freeze the wrong people's pay. He said it wouldn't affect Congress. Are you kidding me?! They're the ones always "voting" themselves the huge raises. Freeze their pay and leave us middle and lower income people alone!

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Being married to a soldier and fed employee , It sucks.
Pay freezes don't stop inflation.
Most low grade military are already at or below poverty level combine that with rising prices of everything else and not raising their pay level and you get more people that have to resort to social programs like food stamps. costs the government even more money.
He's only doing this for show and it will hurt thousands of families.
If he really wants to do something he needs to stop creating government job positions ie, the czars and the departments he created for them. I wonder how much they are making a year.
Stop building bridges for turtles , etc. No more earmarks.
Extend the shuttle program and don't pay the Russians 50million per astronaut to send them up, when we can launch for 60million for 7.
There are much better ways to bring down the budget.
like the president and his family stop taking trips , like his up coming trip to Hawaii for Christmas. He wants to see his mom that bad she can fly to DC , hell Christmas in the White House has to be awesome.

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Everything that comes out of this President's office - is a bunch of dangerous policies and laws that are designed to ruin America. Cannot wait for re-election!

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My pay has been frozen for a year, my friends & family have had pay freezes, furlough days, pay cuts... no one is exempt.

2 moms found this helpful

Well as someone whose husband took a 30% pay cut to keep working this year a pay freeze seems like heaven. Workers everywhere are hurting. So it seems only fair to me to include govt workers. Who are unlike other workers are guarunteed a raise every year.

1 mom found this helpful

Keeping the military out of this.......I think they should not only get a freeze but a cut and that includes everyone who has a federal government job! And yes, this should include President Obama as well.

The common folk have been suffering lay offs, pay cuts, pay freezes for quite some time.

1 mom found this helpful

I pretty much agree with most of these posts. However, it is easy to say 'freeze their pay!', especially when we think that it targets the higher ups. But what about the lower government employees? Does this also freeze their pay?

Truthfully, I don't really think anyone needs to be getting a raise right now, especially when a lot of people feel like most government workers have cushy desk jobs. I'm not sure what happened to the American worker. Everyone wants to have the easiest, most high paying job. Some people want to put in minimal effort but want a huge return, apparently at other peoples expenses.

Now, I don't think it is okay to freeze the pay of soldiers or doctors. It is so obvious where our priorities have been. Why is it that sports players, actors/actresses, and the like, make more money than I would even know what to do with!?!?!?

I agree.... bandaid on cancer. Because this is way deeper than just the national debt, this is our Principles.

1 mom found this helpful

They should freeze pay for Congress however, I think most of their income comes from kick backs. They get the best health care, pensions, pay for life! Why is that there hands are in eachothers pockets and not doing a thing for middle class, they should suffer something for making poor decisions personal and professional. I think this is just a smoke screen to say they cut federal pay. Sounds good to the people who don't understand what "federal" they are referring to. Why don't they put a freeze on some of the scientific hub bub like a fish they discovered in the Artic or a new beetle species. I am sure there is excessive spending in those areas. This cut effects contract workers in Iraq and many other areas of the gov't. I do believe that there are a lot of Gov't jobs that over pay but, it should not be an overall freeze.

1 mom found this helpful

For the higher ups? Sure, go for it. But leave the military's pay alone already.

I don't know about you, but last I checked minimum wage was anywhere from $6.15 an hour to $10.00 an hour, starting. That's a far cry from $0.58 an hour base pay, for an E-5 with 13 years in.

I can hear it now, "Why not get promoted?"

A- There are no E-6 slots available for current MOS, haven't been for a long while.
B- That would only be an increase of $0.08.

And please, don't start with the, "But you get free medical care, and college, and housing, uniforms, and.." No, we don't. Believe it or not, we DO have to pay for medical, dental, housing, college, and yes uniforms. Even the mandatory life insurance.

Cut the B.S. spending of the higher ups. They don't need those antique Louis 14th chairs and desks. They don't need the Tiffany lamps or designer curtains. Or the catered lunches and designer suits. If the military can make it on MRE's and cheap poly/cotton blend. So can Congress.

1 mom found this helpful

It's to help pay off the nat'l debt. Ha, ha, ha, ha! Bandaid on cancer.

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It's about F*@king time!! ANYONE making $100K or above on an individual salary should have a serious look at why they are making so much (even Doctors) and see what can be done to freeze it.

1 mom found this helpful

I had heard this was only for the military, not everyone, and I think it stinks, our service men and woman get paid way less than their civilian counterparts.

For those who keep saying it does not effect the military, here are 2 links talking about it, but hopfully this will change and it will not happen.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/11/military-debt-commi...

http://www.military.com/news/article/presidential-panel-f...

1 mom found this helpful

many government employees receive salaries in excess of $100K/yr thanks to very liberal house and senate that has been in office since 2007-believe me-they will exist comfortably for two yrs without a payraise-I have been unemployed for 27 months-don't go there.

1 mom found this helpful

We've frozen the pay at my business because there just isn't any money for raises. We can't steal from the public like the government does. I think it's a no-brainer. The unions are going to fight it big time though, and I doubt it will ever pass Congress. (Government wages are way above private business wages already, by the way. I think I need a government job!)

I think............whats the catch?

I think they should do it, we lived through it here at work. Reduce higher level government salaries, including Congress by 5%, and reduce all their perks.

As for ObamaCare, the cost of taking care of all the veterans damaged in mind and body by these terrible wars will far outweigh all of that.

Congress votes themselves pay raises all the time, what does it have to do with the Stimulas? (I will have to do some research about this).

I think it's a "duh" step. I can't believe there's been so much news about the economy and how bad it's been, and they're just talking about this now. And I remember when the President was saying we'd spend a little and then have to tighten belts to make up for it. Well, this won't even begin to tighten it. Just because you don't add extra weight doesn't make you skinnier. And the whole healthcare...well, clearly tightening means something different in my house. So while I think it's good, it doesn't even seem like it's a real "step," if you know what I mean. And while he gets to say they've saved however much by not giving raises, how much is going to be required for the national healthcare? This to me is both a "duh" and a "so what?" issue.

As alot of people have said, "regular" people haven't seen a raise in years. Yes, times has been hard, is still hard, and will continue to be hard for some time. But we have to deal. This didn't just happen (it started way before Obama). I am frankly tired of people blaming him for everything. Did we forget how long we've been funding a war (don't get me started on that), as well as other things the media tries to deflect our attention from. I know how to read between the lines; its common sense. I'm glad to see some of you are not fooled by the negativity. Sometimes you have to give alittle to get alittle and being stubborn isn't helping anyone; in gov't or anything else in life.

Yes freeze them. We're all (OK most) making less money, which means we're paying less taxes into the govt, which means how can we possibly increase their pay which is paid with our tax dollars?!?! I seriously wonder why govt seems to think it has unlimited budget?!?! America has lived on the immediate gratification principle for too long. Think about the housing boom - people buying houses they couldnt really afford cause they figure they deserve to have them (maybe some were tricked into it, but seriously, if you make next to nothing why do you believe a banker when they tell you you can afford it?); people buying things on credit they couldnt afford cause they want it. Its everywhere, govt, private businesses, everywhere. Time to remember the old adage you cant get something for nothing. And now when the bills are due the American taxpayer is expected to bail everyone out. Live within your means, and this is ESPECIALLY required of government, since its OUR money they are spending. OUR government needs to learn to say NO to spending money, even if its the hard decision to make. We need to require them to behave like responsible adults, not 4 year olds. Did our leaders all skip math class?

i'd prefer they reduce congress's outrageous pay and benefits and cut pork. but since that's not going to happen, this beats the hell out of layoffs, doesn't it? look at how many of the businesses who get all the tax breaks keep their bottom line healthy by axing anyone who's been with the company long enough to accrue a decent salary.
this might hurt, but it could be worse.
khairete
S.