WH Official: Obama to Freeze Pay for Fed Workers

reply to post by W3RLIED2


Exactly civilians are getting it not the government go figure right? They get those raises becuase they work in areas they often have high costs of living and make less than the private sector jobs in that area. And it has been restricted to 1.5-2% for a long time. If you actually read what government employees are supposed to get it was about 18%. But we have been cutting back in what the federal mandates were required to give. So welcome to your world? Welcome to ours, they have been holding back our saleries and cutting jobs here and there. Now private sectors want to complain because they are losing jobs because their companies got greedy? A bit hypocritial no?

It is a start. Now cut the pay to the congress critters and cut the staffs of said critters. Let's get term limits and severely restrict professional lobbyists. Tell the big "O" no more vacations! Then again, his family trips probably cost us less than his social programs. So maybe a 2 year vacation instead?

reply to post by W3RLIED2


That is an interesting thread...to believe you can save that much with so few people...that tells you something doesn't it?

Welcome to our world??

At least you still have a job. I am assuming that you're pay is going to be effected by your statements and while I'm sorry that that's going to happen, if your attitude is the same that other government workers carry than I really have no sympathy.

Instead of calling us hypocrites, and instead of complaining about the raises federal employees should be getting why not just say hey we're both in the same boat because we're Americans having hardships.

But no. Your sense of entitlement still lingers amidst the sea of those who literally have NO entitlement what so ever. So cry all you want.

Corporations utilize similar methods of pay freeze, and/or, lay off's ect. to the same effect. Why should the government be any different. Oh yeah i forgot because we NEED you guys right? BS

Good luck with your current job situation (if my assumptions are correct). How are you ever going to survive with out an 18% raise each year? Oh yeah... probably like the rest of us who have no annual raises. tighten up the belt, reign in the spending, and get a smaller place to live.

Just saw this.

Congress is not covered by Obama's order, but lawmakers voted last April to freeze their pay, with the House and Senate opting to forgo an automatic $1,600 annual cost-of-living increase. House members and senators now are paid $174,000 a year. Their last pay increase was $4,700 a year at beginning of 2009.

Source:

Pay cuts.

174k, not bad for a part time job huh? They only work a third or half of the year?

reply to post by Everwatcher33


Everyone needs a good scapegoat, today it's the federal worker.

Now they are screwing with Military retirement too. They want to tie it into the stock market and make it a 401K style program...oh hell no. It's gonna be just like when Regan tried that BS-everyone is gonna get out.

I have a better idea, lets cut congressional and senate salaries in half. Give them a cheaper health care plan, reduce their traveling expenses, and have them start paying into social security. Maybe than they won't become career politicians and they'll start to understand the average American struggling to make ends meet.

We can also start cutting the enormous expenditures in our military budget. Start closing down military bases we have around the world. Bring our troops home!!! We need to start securing the mainland and stop protecting countries that can protect themselves. Oh, and while I'm spewing, stop sending billions to Israel and Pakistan. ...They always make cuts at the bottom of the ladder. They're no different than corporate America.

Maybe he should forfeit his own pay in respect of the conditions here in the trenches,rein in his wasteful wife and kids,and freeze the wages of congress and other freeloading scum.

Then maybe it would at least appear that the guys at the top gave a crap about us down here.

They won't ,they don't.

Payback is a beeeyatch.

reply to post by WeRpeons


Its funny you should mention that my friend.

Originally posted by W3RLIED2

Every one is losing their jobs and TPTB havn't made any cutbacks. They all have rediculous government salaries while the rest of the country suffers. I'm tired of it.

The primary goal of the UAP will be as follows.

• Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members and Senate members from 100 to 50 (one per State). Also reduce remaining staff by 25%.
  
• Do this over the next 8 years. 2 elections, 2 votes.
  

Some yearly monetary gains include:

$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay / member / yr.)

$97,175,000 for elimination of the above people's staff.
(estimate $1.3 Mil in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Mil in staff per each member of the Senate every year)

$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year.
(those members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion / yr)

The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and would need to improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country?

We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well. It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.

Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in
1911 when the current number of representatives was established. (telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)

Note:
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems.
Also, we have 3 senators that have not been doing their jobs for the past
18+ months (on the campaign trail) and still they all have been accepting full pay. These facts alone support a reduction in senators & congress.

Summary of opportunity:

$ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members.

$282,100,000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.

$150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.

$59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.

$37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of congress members.

$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings.

Big business does these types of cuts all the time, just like they are doing right now America!

If Congresspersons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits there is no telling how much we would save. Now they get full retirement after serving only ONE term. Which is a load of Bravo Sierra.

IF you are happy how the Congress spends our taxes, then just don't reply to the thread. IF you are not happy, then I assume you know what to do.

Together we can make this happen America. UNITED AND FREE! This will be the primary proposal of the new party. If this proposal should fall upon deaf ears, then we'll be the ones that spearhead the 2nd American Revolution.

Jefferson and the other men that founded our country DID NOT MIX WORDS. Revolution is essential in a free democratic republic.

Originally posted by W3RLIED2
Welcome to our world??

At least you still have a job. I am assuming that you're pay is going to be effected by your statements and while I'm sorry that that's going to happen, if your attitude is the same that other government workers carry than I really have no sympathy.

Instead of calling us hypocrites, and instead of complaining about the raises federal employees should be getting why not just say hey we're both in the same boat because we're Americans having hardships.

But no. Your sense of entitlement still lingers amidst the sea of those who literally have NO entitlement what so ever. So cry all you want.

Corporations utilize similar methods of pay freeze, and/or, lay off's ect. to the same effect. Why should the government be any different. Oh yeah i forgot because we NEED you guys right? BS

Good luck with your current job situation (if my assumptions are correct). How are you ever going to survive with out an 18% raise each year? Oh yeah... probably like the rest of us who have no annual raises. tighten up the belt, reign in the spending, and get a smaller place to live.

reply to post by Everwatcher33


I don't try to hide my bias. And I understand we're in a kind of agreement that this freeze is BS but i think the reasoning behind our agreement is different.

My bottom line is that this has been happening, not only to me, but to a few million other americans as well. That doesn't just make it my problem, it makes it everyone else's too. And yes I do blame the government for my job situation, at least in part. The whole situation would be different had there been a real attempt to save american jobs, but there has not been.

Not good enough.
Make a clause that Government workers 'cannot' be paid more than an equivalent private sector worker.
Make another clause that prevents them from retiring and then coming back to their old position as a private contract worker.
Prevent the inflated pensions that they get by working incredible overtime their last year.

I believe we are all missing the point. Most govt' workers are underworked, uneeded, and overpaid already. So now they want us to ignore this fact and lock this clusterf*** in by saying "freeze" I say eliminate! Barry has created over 30 new federal agencies since he came into office. All these new overpaid and uneeded new positions are legitimized by this move. Government is out of control. It's bloated and needs to be purged not frozen.

Originally posted by W3RLIED2
reply to post by Everwatcher33

 

I don't try to hide my bias. And I understand we're in a kind of agreement that this freeze is BS but i think the reasoning behind our agreement is different.

My bottom line is that this has been happening, not only to me, but to a few million other americans as well. That doesn't just make it my problem, it makes it everyone else's too. And yes I do blame the government for my job situation, at least in part. The whole situation would be different had there been a real attempt to save american jobs, but there has not been.

That I can agree too. I wish they would actually make a real attempt at fixing what went wrong with this country. I was like you before I moved to the government and I was facing the loss of my job. So I managed by some stroke up luck to get into the government. I am making 38k a year as a gs7, which is below the median income for my area but above the poverty line so it's good enough for me. My wife can't work because there are no jobs here and day care costs are so expensive it wouldn't matter even if she did. I've watched a lot of people private and government lose their jobs around here. It makes me sad that the ideas that led to this problem are still around and people are still taking our money and not behing held accountable.

I want to see what else he proposes honestly, if it's a REAL attempt at fixing our budget problems then I'm all for it. If it's a half arse attempt at throwing a bone to the american public I will oppose it. I am a firm believer that you can't trim the bottom unless you trim the top or else you will become too top heavy and crash. That seems to be what we are doing now.

reply to post by ..5..


My agency doesn't offer over time except for once a year for two weeks. I am not sure how it is at other agencies though. The only reason we have it is to reduce some backlog on applications around July.

reply to post by dillweed

Amen Brother! We need to eliminate all of these new czars, and roll back federal employment levels to pre- 9/11 levels. Additionally, each and every agency should start with a budget of zero each year. Then they should justify each and every dollar they request.

reply to post by W3RLIED2


Government is always wasting taxpayers money. They rely on the free money we give them in taxes and they don't understand the term budgeting. I've worked in the private sector for 10 years and I'm sorry to say, but government workers are the biggest whiners. I guess the grass always looks greener on the other side. I can attest to that because I've been working for our state government for the past 15 years. They always think private sector jobs pay higher salaries. I get so pissed when I see the upper management wasting tax payer dollars. Here is a typical example how your government wastes money...

I'm skilled in a lot of areas. My boss came to me and asked me if I could put together a 25 ft. welcome banner for a visiting state governor. He needed it in 4 days. I said sure, let me check if I can get the materials and I'll let you know what it will cost. After making some calls to my vendors, they assured me they would send me the material over night by Federal Express. The entire banner would have cost $89.00. I told my boss and assured him I would assemble it in 1 day. Plenty of time before the governor would arrive. He said he would get back to me on it. Two days passed, and I was thinking maybe he decided not to have a banner after all. I talked with his secretary later that day about the banner. She said "he ended up having it made in town because he was afraid he wouldn't have it on the big day". (My boss knows I've never been late on any projects I've taken on). Anyways, I was surprised he didn't have me do it, so I asked her how much did he pay for it? Hold on to your seats folks...$1,000 dollars! I almost hit the floor!

This is just one of many incidents of wasteful government spending. I could write a short book on the abuse of expenditures just from things I've seen. They feel they're not accountable to anyone and if they need more money, they'll just raise taxes!.

Talk about too little too late. Way too little.

How about we go back and retract the raise that Congress gave themselves the last few years as well? How about Obama stop travelling the entire US campaigning every time he wants to throw new legislation ideas around that either never seem to go anywhere or are a complete waste of money to begin with?

This is ridiculous and is even more evidence that Obama does not get it.

reply to post by WeRpeons


True, and in the mean time they just ignore the problem and throw a spare bone to the public to please some people. If you can take the public's mind off the problem they will lose sight of what they really want.

The government wastes billions of dollars in aid to countries that don't like us or want us. Why? They spend billions on wasted projects for the military. They spend billions on redundancy that isn't needed. They spend billions a DAY on a war that most people don't want. Cut the afghan war budget and get people home and you save billions of dollars.

reply to post by WeRpeons


Thats what really angers me! the fact they give billions to other countries not to mention weapons that have been paid for by american tax payers yet have the utter audacity to cut benefits of the needy in the states? i mean wtf?? why is that even happening, what happened to taking care of home b4 u start taking care of everyone else? why cut benefits of the people who have young children or are out of work who havent got two pennies to rub together and give billions to other countries such as india etc?

it angers me to no end how the u.s citezens are being treated....and the funny thing about it is IM NOT EVEN AN AMERICAN! i live in the uk, why are you all allowing this to happen??

its scandalous!