Obama to freeze federal worker pay, save $5 billion over two years
posted at 12:55 pm on November 29, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
Give the President some credit. This mainly empty gesture will net a lot more than Barack Obama’s earlier exhaustive budget trimming that saved all of $100 million after running up a $1.3 trillion deficit. Today, Obama will announce a two-year freeze on the wages of civilian federal workers that will arguably result in $5 billion in savings over two years:
President Barack Obama will announce a two-yearpay freeze for federal employees Monday, a move White House officials say is the first of many difficult decisions that must be made to reduce the nation’s mounting deficit.
The White House said Monday that the freeze would apply to all civilian federal employees, including those working at the Department of Defense, but would not affect military personnel. The freeze is expected to result in more than $5 billion in savings over two years, according to Jeffrey Zients, a deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget.
That would make only a small dent in the $1 trillion-plus budget deficit. But with voters voicing their anger over Washington’s spending during the midterm elections, even a symbolic gesture could demonstrate the White House got the message.
Actually, it will make a miniscule dent in $2 trillion in deficits. If the savings get calculated over two years, then we have to do the same with the deficits they supposedly address. The savings, assuming they actually occur, will amount to a reduction of 0.25% in the biennial deficits. Calling it a drop in the bucket is an insult to both drops and buckets. It’s a single grain of sand from the coast.
Will we actually see this cost savings? Probably not. Gabriel Malor received an official explanation given to federal employees today, which assured them that the freeze “will not impact step increases or bonuses for federal workers.” It applies to cost-of-living increases, mainly. If an agency wants to give a worker an increase, they just need to increase their pay grade or boost their bonuses to make it happen.
Even if Obama is sincere in this announcement, it’s nibbling at the far edges of the federal spending problem. The Corner has Rep. Darrell Issa’s instructive response to the proposal:
“At a time when our nation’s seniors have been denied a cost-of-living-increase and private sector hiring is stagnant, it is both necessary and quite frankly, long over-due to institute a pay-freeze for the federal workforce. As Republicans outlined in our Pledge to America there are a number of actions the President and Congress should immediately act on to demonstrate a real commitment to reigning in the excessive growth and spending of the federal government.
“To put this in perspective, the Obama Administration says this two-year pay freeze will save $2 billion, however, just last week, OMB released a report revealing that the federal government’s improper payments for FY-2010 totaled $125 billion, $15 billion higher than the previous year. It is unthinkable that we have come to accept having a bureaucracy that has institutionalized waste, fraud and abuse to the point where $125 billion in improper payments were made last year. The first place we should look to make progress on higher costs, increased debt and a stagnant economy is look inward at how taxpayer dollars are being spent and doing more to ensure that tens of billions of dollars are no longer erroneously paid out.”
We need a pay freeze a lot less than we need a reduction in the size of the federal workforce and a smaller, more effective government focused on areas of its actual jurisdiction. We need a federal government able to account for its money more successfully than the one we have built to this point. COLA freezes aren’t a solution’ they’re a way to look busy while business goes on as usual.
Blowback
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There’s little risk to Bam because all of the Washington Post readers in DC are gonna vote for him anyway.
fiatboomer on November 29, 2010 at 12:59 PM
The only way to put a dent in $2 Trillion deficits are drastic cuts to SS, medicare, medicaid, and defense. So far, both camps are wasting our time with pay freezes and ending honorific congressional action…where are the real plans?
ernesto on November 29, 2010 at 1:00 PM
‘Bout time he did something right, even if it’s microscopic. The unions are gonna be pizzed off, so at least there’s that! Haha
Tony737 on November 29, 2010 at 1:01 PM
It’s not about the results, its about the appearance of results.
ted c on November 29, 2010 at 1:01 PM
Do we even know what he is paying his czars?
ctmom on November 29, 2010 at 1:02 PM
Status Quo: Maintained.
ted c on November 29, 2010 at 1:02 PM
How about a pay freeze retroactive to 2002?
TallDave on November 29, 2010 at 1:04 PM
Barry is getting just like Shakespeare, ‘full of sound and fury – signifying NOTHING!’
GarandFan on November 29, 2010 at 1:04 PM
A little late to the Tea Party, champ. Now, how about some federal layoffs, starting with your own.
anXdem on November 29, 2010 at 1:05 PM
Oh no. Those poor union govt workers. Someone, quick start a charitable trust to help them out.
Next thing you know they’ll have to retire at 52 instead of 50.
angryed on November 29, 2010 at 1:05 PM
Sure, there’ll be a freeze on federal salaries except for those with exemptions and that’ll be about 99.99% of them.
erp on November 29, 2010 at 1:06 PM
Is this going to freeze their health increase also? Will these fed workers have to come up with money to cover them and their families?
L
letget on November 29, 2010 at 1:06 PM
I’ve got a way to save a trillion.
The Mega Independent on November 29, 2010 at 1:06 PM
When a 50% RIF is announced, THAT’S when we’ll know that someone in D.C. got the message.
CyberCipher on November 29, 2010 at 1:06 PM
My God … what will the unions do?
darwin on November 29, 2010 at 1:06 PM
5 billion over two years.
That’s $2.5 billion per year.
To get a sense of how utterly, laughably insignificant this is, let’s look at the US Debt clock – focus on the US national debt in the upper right hand corner.
That’s like taking the last 8 in the billions column (13, 788,284, XXX) and moving it down to 6 or 5 over one year and a 3 over two years.
Yeah.
That’s a big help, Barry. BIG help.
Good Lt on November 29, 2010 at 1:07 PM
Hey that’s enough money to keep Ireland running for about 60 days. Seriously, it will be interesting to see the exemptions to this edict. I remember all the exemptions to ObamaCare. Politicians have got it so easy, they don’t have to live in the world they create.
Tommy_G on November 29, 2010 at 1:07 PM
NRO’s Andrew Stiles cites the weasel-wording of the Champ.
onlineanalyst on November 29, 2010 at 1:08 PM
Have to start somewhere. Deficit reduction by a thousand small cuts works for me.
MarkT on November 29, 2010 at 1:08 PM
here’s a fed debt reduction plan: Lay off 9.6% of all gov’t employees every quarter until the national unemployment rate reaches 8%.
Fix.
ted c on November 29, 2010 at 1:08 PM
LOL – and as I typed that, the debt jumped up 12 million dollars.
That’s how out of control the government spending is.
Good Lt on November 29, 2010 at 1:08 PM
..and he thought the fat lip he got in that pick-up roundball game was serious.
The War Planner on November 29, 2010 at 1:09 PM
*And by upper right-hand corner, I meant upper left-hand corner :-)
Good Lt on November 29, 2010 at 1:09 PM
Pay freeze, yeah, big whoop…. I bet they will keep hiring tens of thousands of new ones, and not get rid of any of the tens of thousands of worthless ones that are already there.
LegendHasIt on November 29, 2010 at 1:10 PM
..Ted, it’s one of those humorous quips that is funny because it makes sense.
The War Planner on November 29, 2010 at 1:10 PM
Announcement of exemptions for unionized federal employees to be released soon. Probably on a Friday afternoon.
iurockhead on November 29, 2010 at 1:10 PM
In substance, this gesture is comparable to spitting into the ocean, and is thus worthless.
However, symbolically it cannot hurt the President and acts as his own version of the Republicans attack on earmarks, which is equally as symbolic yet light on actual substance that will greatly tackle our debt.
In addition, al though I hate to give credit to the President, I must applaud him for, at least momentarily, changing the medias morning narrative which, up until a few hours ago, focused upon the Wikileak cables with the precision of a laser beam.
Indy82 on November 29, 2010 at 1:10 PM
Yeah, we’ll see how hard and fast he sticks to that idea once the unions start clamoring……
search4truth on November 29, 2010 at 1:10 PM
No biggie. 125 billion is only about the size of New Zealand or Slovakia’s entire economy.
forest on November 29, 2010 at 1:11 PM
As Adam Sandler would say “WHOOP-EE-DE-DOO”!
yubley on November 29, 2010 at 1:11 PM
And so it begins… Obama’s run to the center to try and win back the independents he scared away with his trillion dollar spendaloozas.
He is hoping to outflank the incoming GOP House majority using a lot of empty symbolic gestures to try and appear “fiscally conservative.”
TheRightMan on November 29, 2010 at 1:11 PM
So this only applies to the COLAs? In FY10 civilian employees got 2% and were scheduled to get 1.5% in FY11 due to COLA. Given that SS & retired federal employees already had received no COLA in FY10 and weren’t scheduled one in FY11 this really only puts current employees in the same place. Not much of a sacrifice.
katiejane on November 29, 2010 at 1:12 PM
Why not, the states have done it. I haven’t had a raise in 3 years. This year we get a 3% one time bonus and pay 38% of it back in taxes. Still, glad to be employed.
scalleywag on November 29, 2010 at 1:13 PM
$5 billion is equal to the amount the federal government overspends on paper clips in a given year. This action is nothing, committed by a naive POTUS who isn’t serious and never will be.
Stupid leftists will be trotting this out for months though, shoving it in our faces as proof that PBHO is a fiscal hawk.
Bishop on November 29, 2010 at 1:14 PM
are we sure that the unions are NOT exempt from this little freeze, it seems they are always exempt from any other ‘cuts’
we always seem to find out later
cmsinaz on November 29, 2010 at 1:15 PM
Hey, let’s jack up Federal spending and government workers’ pay and then freeze them for two years and call it “fiscal responsibility”!
Jaibones on November 29, 2010 at 1:15 PM
Titanic. Deck chairs. Rearranging. Noah’s flood. Bailing. With a teaspoon.
Paul-Cincy on November 29, 2010 at 1:16 PM
is this Orwellian Newspeak for “freeze” or what?
WitchDoctor on November 29, 2010 at 1:17 PM
Now they’re only going to make 99% more than I do.
John Deaux on November 29, 2010 at 1:19 PM
“And so it begins… Obama’s run to the center to try and win back the independents he scared away with his trillion dollar spendaloozas.”
He is only going to go so far in order to arrive at the middle, however “TheRightMan.” Obama is not Clinton. He will triangulate as far as the hard left with let him, as opposed to Clinton who all out sacrificed the approval of the left in order to win the approval of the middle.
Bush tax cuts (to a degree), federal pay, defense spending reductions, and a repeal of the 1099 clause in Obamacare-those are about the only things he is bound to agree on. The left will never allow him to cut deep into entitlement spending, and he himself even stated this morning that he is only willing to go so far in regards to getting our debt under control.
Indy82 on November 29, 2010 at 1:20 PM
If they take so much of our money that they can pay 125 billion dollars worth of improper paymetns then only the most ignorant or moochers could not think the gov’t is too big!
That 125 billion could also have paid the deficits being run by the Blue States… not advocating that though, we all know it’s going to happen especially in CA where all the Democrats were re-elected in spite of the fact that they have run the State into the ground. The Dem voters are going to be looking for their payback you know.
CCRWM on November 29, 2010 at 1:20 PM
I would like to personally contribute to the President’s plan by opting out of my income tax payments.
j_galt on November 29, 2010 at 1:21 PM
Here’s the link to the official W.H. propaganda on this. Still whining, transferring blame, and talking about “targeted” approach – which is just another way of saying “cronyism”. Preview function not functioning so I hope I got this link right…
Buy Danish on November 29, 2010 at 1:23 PM
Reducing the federal workforce by 20% is the sincerest form of deficit reduction, not some smoke and mirrors media play like this.
Sailfish on November 29, 2010 at 1:26 PM
It’s one small step in the right direction.
dczombie on November 29, 2010 at 1:26 PM
Wait, what?
rogerb on November 29, 2010 at 1:27 PM
PS- $5 billion saved over two years covers one day of current US debt.
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
rogerb on November 29, 2010 at 1:41 PM
Translation: “Dear federal unions: Bear with me for 24 months, and I’ll make us all kings.”
logis on November 29, 2010 at 1:41 PM
Right. It’s a bunch of BS.
forest on November 29, 2010 at 1:42 PM
No, it couldn’t. How TF will a .25% decrease in future Federal spending — which won’t actually happen — going to convey any message other than “F**k You” to the voters? You’d have to be an imbecile to think this means anything.
Jaibones on November 29, 2010 at 1:46 PM
Freeze? It’s called FIRE.
CynicalOptimist on November 29, 2010 at 1:47 PM
With this pay freeze,Federal pay will come back to being equal to or less than private sector pay, right?
I mean, we wouldn’t pay our public servants more than we ourselves make, would we?
hawksruleva on November 29, 2010 at 1:47 PM
I have a suggestion for Mr. President: impose a limit on how much each member of Congress gets to soak the taxpayers for their office space and travel.
scalleywag on November 29, 2010 at 1:48 PM
I think we should interview some Wall Street employees and see how bad they feel for the folks in the federal workforce.
Maybe Ken Feinberg could decide which feds are making too much and just summarily change their salaries.
hawksruleva on November 29, 2010 at 1:49 PM
Ed, you’re easily snookered. Over the last two years, Obama has increased the number of federal employees like no other POTUS. Then he turns around and says “No raises…save money”.
Total federal payroll will continue to increase without let up, and you want to give him credit for doing something.
I’ve got this bridge, in Alaska, that I’m selling…..
BobMbx on November 29, 2010 at 1:50 PM
The shaping of the Grand Canyon began with the first drops of water against the earth. Keep it coming, Mr. President.
Sheerq on November 29, 2010 at 1:51 PM
Funny. Last year, Ed thought that $54 billion of savings from tort reform over a 10 year period was significant.
Jimbo3 on November 29, 2010 at 1:52 PM
if he had any real gonads, he slash all federal budgets by 30% or more…
but alas, we have President Obama, so a PR pay freeze which won’t actually happen will be all we get
gatorboy on November 29, 2010 at 1:54 PM
What small cut? A government worker just told Rush his step increase would be $10-12K.
ladyingray on November 29, 2010 at 1:56 PM
PR is right. The fed gov employees union is unhappy (wahhh) and the Pres wants to set a tone before he meets with Congress.
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-spokane/president-announces-two-year-freeze-on-federal-salaries
jdawg on November 29, 2010 at 1:57 PM
So the federal workforce got obscene pay raises in 2009/10 and now have a pay freeze for two years? Can I get that deal too?
A used car dealer would be ashamed at how transparent of a fraud this is…
18-1 on November 29, 2010 at 2:00 PM
If he is really serious, he’d impose a hiring freeze along with the pay freeze.
Special Forces Grunt on November 29, 2010 at 2:00 PM
i’ sure the obamapress will fail to mention that workers will now only get 1 step raise per year, plus whatever grade increases they get…poor dears.
r keller on November 29, 2010 at 2:05 PM
I’m not a government worker, but for those of you supporting this you should know this is very anti-conservative. Conservatives believe in treating people as individuals and that group ID politics is not a basic American value. What this is is a cras political move by Obama because he knows he has the votes of most of these people anyways and that most of them would committ suicide before voting for a Repub. This is the kind of personnel policy used by the likes of GM, and we all know how well that works. Really, really dumb move
georgealbert on November 29, 2010 at 2:07 PM
Going into the 2012 election, a big chunk of Øbama’s base will have been pissed off at him for two years. Way to hand the election to the GOP, Barry.
Kafir on November 29, 2010 at 2:17 PM
And therefore there should be no across the board … anything…? in government labor practices? Because that would be anti-conservative? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills again.
WitchDoctor on November 29, 2010 at 2:21 PM
What an empty gesture. I sure a good CEO could find a lot of fat in the payroll of the federal government. Fire a third of the workers and tell the others to pick up the slack.
SC.Charlie on November 29, 2010 at 2:22 PM
GOP can’t name a single thing they would cut, yet when Obama makes a cut saving billions, you clowns hum and haw and complain that it’s a pointless drop in the bucket, as if it’s the only thing he’s going to cut.
Nothing he does will ever make you crybabies happy.
Such pathetic partisan hackery here.
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 2:22 PM
It seems hoyer thinks the pay freeze should include the military, not those in Iraq or Afghanistan, but all others in the element of ‘fairness’!
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/new-dem-whip-hoyer-says-pay-freeze-should-include-military/
L
letget on November 29, 2010 at 2:23 PM
Going into the 2012 election, a big chunk of Øbama’s base will have been pissed off at him for two years. Way to hand the election to the GOP, Barry.
Kafir on November 29, 2010 at 2:17 PM
——-
Yes, and 2 years of childish and unprofessional GOP just say NO strategy really has made the middle 20% of undecideds really happy.
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 2:28 PM
I have a suggestion for Mr. President: impose a limit on how much each member of Congress gets to soak the taxpayers for their office space and travel.
scalleywag on November 29, 2010 at 1:48 PM
——–
Wait – you’re b*tching that 5 billion is a grain of sand, but you want to talk about office space and travel? Get out the microscope to see the effects of your awesome awesome idea.
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 2:29 PM
It’s one small step in the right direction.
dczombie on November 29, 2010 at 1:26 PM
——-
How dare you not condemn this like all the other Hotair clowns.
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 2:31 PM
Nothing.
Notice the crickets chirpping from their lair. Obviously it means they have nothing to complain about, or the payoff in the furture more than makes up for it. One thing for sure, in some way not disclosed it will benifit their desired to move from capitalism to socilism
No suprise that it is only for two years. Why? It just happens to be the time he will win re-election or the Republicans win. In the former, since nothing was really taken away, nothing comes of it as the freeze is quietly sit aside. If he loses, it sets up the new president with unions demanding pay raises to compensate them for agreeing to a pay freeze. A form of punishment for rejecting him you could say, as well as an SOP out of the Democratic play book.
Will we see a dime of the savings? Not likely, as many have said here. Obama is trying to impose a socialist government and as we have seen time and time again, socialist governments are always looking for money to pay for its social programs. That saving is probably already appropriated; most likely into a union approved program or bill.
As for the inherited $1.3 trillion projected deficit, lets just keep it and work on reducing his. Maybe then we can at least keep his from growing in leaps and bounds.
Franklyn on November 29, 2010 at 2:31 PM
John Boehner responds to the federal pay freeze announcement.
onlineanalyst on November 29, 2010 at 2:31 PM
Lame. Just lame.
BHO Jonestown on November 29, 2010 at 2:32 PM
How often have you been duped by sidewalk shell games?
onlineanalyst on November 29, 2010 at 2:33 PM
How dare you not condemn this like all the other Hotair clowns.
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 2:31 PM
How often have you been duped by sidewalk shell games?
onlineanalyst on November 29, 2010 at 2:33 PM
——-
President makes a cut to save money.
Why aren’t you happy?
wtf is your problem?
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 2:35 PM
I think the argument is that it treats the worker who is actually doing his job effectively just the same was the incompetent boob in the next office over. Ideally, you’d cut the bad employees pay by 3% and give a 3% COLA to the good one.
As for exempting military employees, I know that is good politics, but I don’t see why non-combat military employees should be exempt. So some military member stationed at the Pentagon will get a pay raise while a civilian stationed at the Pentagon will not? Don’t see why.
AngusMc on November 29, 2010 at 2:36 PM
I think the argument is that it treats the worker who is actually doing his job effectively just the same was the incompetent boob in the next office over. Ideally, you’d cut the bad employees pay by 3% and give a 3% COLA to the good one.
As for exempting military employees, I know that is good politics, but I don’t see why non-combat military employees should be exempt. So some military member stationed at the Pentagon will get a pay raise while a civilian stationed at the Pentagon will not? Don’t see why.
AngusMc on November 29, 2010 at 2:36 PM
——-
OMG WAIT so a Hotair person agrees that pay freezes/pay cuts are a good idea????
UNBELIEVABLE
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 2:39 PM
I’m a government worker and my pay is now frozen.
I’m good with this – and, I’ll take a pay freeze for 5 or 10 years if it will help.
Now … can I get some assistance from the rest of you on a pressing problem?
You see, though my pay is frozen – I do perform a valuable and dangerous service for the nation in my job with the department of defense. I don’t make anywhere near 100K for that service.
Still – I’m good with this but I ask this question …
Why is my government still payng artists to create statuettes of Jesus out of dog feces and urine? Is it too much to ask that the government eliminate the NEA?
Why is my government still subsidizing NPR? PBS? What function is the Department of Education serving this nation and why are we paying for that?
Why is the government still paying women to have and raise babies without men? And … taking care of those babies when it’s the men that should be doing it?
Soooo … while I’m good with this pay freeze … I will note this …
There are a lot of government workers who are a drain on society – but a few do perform a vital service for the nation. And … while those folks are now under a pay freeze – nothing has been done to defund the completely non-productive programs the government sponsors.
So let’s get on them NOW.
HondaV65 on November 29, 2010 at 2:41 PM
Once again, your concern is showing. This is a totally empty gesture. This doesn’t freeze hiring nor does it freeze step increases. It only freezes COLA, and that is all. That can be gotten around by promoting an employee one single step, which alone can be an increase of $10-12K per year. There won’t be any savings from this empty act, let alone $5B in two years.
ladyingray on November 29, 2010 at 2:41 PM
Depends on the bucket. The first entry when I type in “bucket” on Amazon.com is a 12-quart bucket. A “drop” in US customary units of volume is 1/480 of a fluid ounce.
Since there are 32 fluid ounces in a quart, a drop is 1/(12*32*480) or 1/184320 of a bucket. That amounts to 0.000543% of a bucket.
The 0.25% reduction is about 461 drops in a 12-quart bucket.
You’d need a bucket about 1 fluid ounce for the drop to be about the same as 0.25%.
DaveO on November 29, 2010 at 2:43 PM
Once again, your concern is showing. This is a totally empty gesture. This doesn’t freeze hiring nor does it freeze step increases. It only freezes COLA, and that is all. That can be gotten around by promoting an employee one single step, which alone can be an increase of $10-12K per year. There won’t be any savings from this empty act, let alone $5B in two years.
ladyingray on November 29, 2010 at 2:41 PM
——–
Belt tightening starts somewhere, fool.
Did you know that this cut is exactly 1 more cut than the GOP is proposing? Amazing, isn’t it.
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 2:44 PM
Why is my government still payng artists to create statuettes of Jesus out of dog feces and urine? Is it too much to ask that the government eliminate the NEA?
Why is my government still subsidizing NPR? PBS? What function is the Department of Education serving this nation and why are we paying for that?
Why is the government still paying women to have and raise babies without men? And … taking care of those babies when it’s the men that should be doing it?
Soooo … while I’m good with this pay freeze … I will note this …
There are a lot of government workers who are a drain on society – but a few do perform a vital service for the nation. And … while those folks are now under a pay freeze – nothing has been done to defund the completely non-productive programs the government sponsors.
So let’s get on them NOW.
HondaV65 on November 29, 2010 at 2:41 PM
——-
ha ha ha imagine that – a right winger who hates the arts
Such a typical dooshbag who thinks all art is jesus poo sculptures.
Go learn something before you look more stupid.
Do you even know what the annual NEA budget is?
Didn’t think so.
Talk about your microscopic grains of sand.
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 2:48 PM
Great to see you back after the tremendous whipping your boys received earlier this month at the polls there Drywall. ;)
First of all – the government shouldn’t be subsidizing ANY art – even “good” art – such little of it as there is.
Second of all – I don’t care if it’s a “drop in the bucket” … get rid of it – all of it. Every dollar we cut out of BS programs is one more dollar we have to pay off the debt. We’re in trouble in this nation – and we need to eliminate “luxuries” like NEA, PBS, DoE … etc.
HondaV65 on November 29, 2010 at 2:52 PM
Great to see you back after the tremendous whipping your boys received earlier this month at the polls there Drywall. ;)
First of all – the government shouldn’t be subsidizing ANY art – even “good” art – such little of it as there is.
Second of all – I don’t care if it’s a “drop in the bucket” … get rid of it – all of it. Every dollar we cut out of BS programs is one more dollar we have to pay off the debt. We’re in trouble in this nation – and we need to eliminate “luxuries” like NEA, PBS, DoE … etc.
HondaV65 on November 29, 2010 at 2:52 PM
————–
You need to tax the rich a wee bit more
You need to tax corporations a wee bit more
You need to abolish the tax free status of churches
You need to cut your retardedly bloated defense budget
You need to make sweeping cuts to everything else no doubt
It’s amazing how obvious it is to you what needs to be cut yet not a single GOP clown has the balls to state a single thing they would cut. So pathetic.
Eliminating the NEA is a horrible idea. It’s not surprising that you see no benefit to the arts.
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 3:01 PM
From one caller, anyway, all that was frozen was the COLA, which SS recepients have had frozen already for 2 years.
So it was truly a scam announcement.
AnninCA on November 29, 2010 at 3:03 PM
You do know why the freeze is two years, don’t you?
In 2012, just before the election, Obama will say “Time’s up” and give all federal workers retroactive raises. Any guesses on how they will vote?
Peri Winkle on November 29, 2010 at 3:06 PM
I don’t think so, Drywall – that all sounds too “Candian” for those of us in the United States who believe in Liberty and Freedom. By the way – how’s Canada’s lack of Freedom of Speech working out for you these days?
No Drywall – we just had an election down here – and your boys got their asses handed to them … prison style. And Obama? Hell, his approval rating is heading towards Nancy Pelosi’s faster than an F-22 in afterburn.
HondaV65 on November 29, 2010 at 3:12 PM
Obama . . . cancel that pile of got dung healthcare aberration of yours and increase that savings by a power function. This is a farce.
rplat on November 29, 2010 at 3:19 PM
Very good observations, Franklyn.
Let me add that if Obama loses re-election, the lame duck period before a Republican president takes over is likely to be very busy. I fully expect to see spiteful actions from Obama similar to what Chet Culver of Iowa did recently with respect to handing generous gifts to his union buddies and saddling the next governor with the mess.
TheRightMan on November 29, 2010 at 3:23 PM
I don’t think so, Drywall – that all sounds too “Candian” for those of us in the United States who believe in Liberty and Freedom. By the way – how’s Canada’s lack of Freedom of Speech working out for you these days?
No Drywall – we just had an election down here – and your boys got their asses handed to them … prison style. And Obama? Hell, his approval rating is heading towards Nancy Pelosi’s faster than an F-22 in afterburn.
HondaV65 on November 29, 2010 at 3:12 PM
——–
You think raising taxes is socialist?
What a fu*king buffoon you are.
You do realize that rich people laugh at your stupid a**, don’t you?
They laugh and laugh and laugh at the amazing deal they have in your country: not having to pony up fu*k all.
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 3:23 PM
No suprise that it is only for two years. Why? It just happens to be the time he will win re-election or the Republicans win. In the former, since nothing was really taken away, nothing comes of it as the freeze is quietly sit aside. If he loses, it sets up the new president with unions demanding pay raises to compensate them for agreeing to a pay freeze. A form of punishment for rejecting him you could say, as well as an SOP out of the Democratic play book.
Franklyn on November 29, 2010 at 2:31 PM
Very good observations, Franklyn.
Let me add that if Obama loses re-election, the lame duck period before a Republican president takes over is likely to be very busy. I fully expect to see spiteful actions from Obama similar to what Chet Culver of Iowa did recently with respect to handing generous gifts to his union buddies and saddling the next governor with the mess.
TheRightMan on November 29, 2010 at 3:23 PM
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NEW ALERT NEWS ALERT
THIS JUST IN: POLITICIANS DO THINGS TO TRY TO CURRY FAVOUR WITH POTENTIAL VOTERS, 2 HOTAIR CLOWNS ARE AMAZED AT THIS REVELATION
Dave Rywall on November 29, 2010 at 3:26 PM
I don’t think it’s really a freeze. I think it’s a COLA freeze.
And they really wouldn’t or shouldn’t have gotten that, anyway.
We’ll hear more, no doubt.
AnninCA on November 29, 2010 at 3:28 PM
It’s a bucket with many drops in it.
I refuse to snark on the President when he’s finally doing something he wants us to do.
I’ll note, however, that the pay freeze should be permanent. The assumption that the government should automatically adjust its payouts for “cost of living” every year, without negotiation or evaluation – unlike every other buyer of a service anywhere, ever – is more or less at the core of the fiscal practices which have brought us to this point.
@Dave R: Yeah, because America would have such a dearth of art and artists without federal funding. The heterogeneous colossus of America’s arts would bestride the Earth no more without the NEA.
As for taxing the rich “a wee bit more” (again), to what purpose? “Social justice?”
HitNRun on November 29, 2010 at 3:32 PM
@myself: Correction, “we want him to do.”
HitNRun on November 29, 2010 at 3:32 PM
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