Obama, seeking to address deficit concerns, said sacrifices “must be shared by employees of the federal government.” .
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.
That issue and others will be on the agenda on Tuesday when Mr. Obama will host the House and Senate leaders of each party at the White House for the first time since the midterm elections.
Tuesday will also be the last day for emergency federal assistance for about two million Americans who have been unemployed for long periods, and on Friday a temporary measure providing money for government operations will run out.
……..READ more HERE…….if you like…..
.
Rush Limbaugh Talked About this on his show yesterday:
RUSH: So Obama is now gonna ask for a federal pay freeze for two whole years. He’s gonna save $2 billion. I mean, big whoop. (interruption) Twenty-eight billion? Yeah, if it lasts that long, that’s my point, $28 billion, big whoop. Twenty-eight billion and he’s got a deficit run up of one and a half trillion. Twenty-eight billion, we’re supposed to be impressed by this? Sorry, not me. Especially since he’s locking in pay raises for people, essentially pay raises for all these new hires. If I were one of these new hires and there’s all this attention being paid to how bloated the workforce is getting and all of a sudden the president just announces, in effect, not a pay freeze but a guaranteed salary for whoever knows how many years I’d be celebrating. Obama’s just hired all these new people and locked ’em in and now he’s out there presenting this as some kind of great economic savings day with a two-year pay freeze.
Well, how many of them have been hired? The federal workforce has, what, gone up how many percent since Obama took office? And now with the pay freeze they’re locked into a salary that on average is twice what their counterparts in the private sector make, and we’re getting the swan song, the violins have been pulled out for them. And then on top of that we’re supposed to be impressed after one and a half trillion dollars of debt that we’re gonna save two billion.
.
Wild Thing’s comment……..
Notice also how the Republicans have this on their agenda but we don’t know the details of how they would do it. So Obama jumped the gun and announced HIS own pay freeze before his meeting with the Republicans. LOL He is so easy to see through.
Can’t help but agree with you Chrissie, we will have the same obstructionist policies that have been in place since 2004. It’s like baiting a hook, all those worms out there haven’t felt the barb yet!!! Your cover photo is priceless, “She is a peacock in everything but beauty.”
Rush had a caller yesterday who gave some insight into federal pay for those of us who don’t know the system. This freeze is largely symbolic and not a very real cost-cutting attempt. Posturing.
Maybe obama should look at White House expeditures and bloated staff. His trips alone cost hundreds of millions of $$. Michele also could do with a lot fewer “assistants”.
I agree, Jack, usually the hens are ugly as sin, and true here too, and the male Peacock are the ones with all the looks. I think that maybe we have two hens here, they missed the boat on both occasions, after it was Carvelle who said if Hillary gave him a Ball she’d still have more than obama.
Actually the only thing Peacock feathers are good for is making ‘Wooly Buggers’ for fishing, that leaves obama out of it on two counts.
Jack, giggle. I am just so sick of looking at these two, and I saw this photo of the two of them that shows how ugly they are on the inside. hahaa
Thank you Jack.
Jim, thank you so much, I appreciate it.
Tom, wow good point, your right about the trips and yes his staff too.
Mark, LOL two hens is right.
$O federal workers average $130,000 annually with grrreat cadillac health bennies across the board minus breast(s) implants for men in pink states, and the US Mail is still slower than UPS, FED EX and the Pony Express, and pro – Obamanation Unionites wants sympathy from me? I’ll remain a Conservative Confederate Wild Thing…
HAPPY HANUKKAH SWEETIE!!!
Let’s freeze Steny Hoyer and Obama. Let Starfleet thaw ’em out in about 2,000 years. Better yet, let’s just toss ’em out. They’re WAY past their expiration date.
People that have worked very hard and did right with their money should not have to pay for the mistakes of others trying to live way above their means.