honeymoons really over

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

http://fredericksburg.com/News/Web/2010/112010/pay-freeze

feds get pay freeze? oh my!

[vaskidmark]

The savings from the pay freeze make only a small dent in the nation’s $1 trillion-plus budget deficit. But with voters voicing their anger over Washington’s spending during the midterm elections, even a symbolic gesture would show the White House got the message.

Mayhap if there were some significant cuts in what little discretionary spending is left within the budget I would believe anybody "got the message".

Even better would be the complete repeal of some of the socialist programs that were supposed to save us money, except they built whole new bureauracracies around them.  Say, oh maybe, Obamacare?

And as much as I would love to have a safety net out there that was absolutely guaranteed, so that nobody might need to actually get a job and support themselves, maybe we can cut some of the "entitlement" programs and let private charity pick up what slack it can?

stay safe.

[longeyes]

When he cuts Federal pay schedules by 30-40 per cent and lays off a third of all Fed employees, he'll get my attention.

[Ben]

As a fed.gov employee, I approve of this. It's just a drop in the bucket, but in this case the symbolism is important. I'll actually believe it if next November I don't see everybody getting $2k bonuses as a way to sneak in extra pay.

I would be more impressed if the administration hadn't gone on a hiring free-for-all prior to this. All the extra fed jobs created more than cancel out the savings of the pay freeze.

[Tallpine]

Sorta like drinking your single-malt out of a paper cup to save money 

[MechAg94]

I heard on the radio all this does is limit (not stop) the automatic pay increases for cost of living.  It doesn't stop promotion based increases or a few other types. 

[Ben]

I heard on the radio all this does is limit (not stop) the automatic pay increases for cost of living.  It doesn't stop promotion based increases or a few other types.  

Exactly. Step increases (for those in the GS system) and performance raises (for those in pay for performance) will all still occur. As well as bonus eligibility for all. They don't even have to be big year-end bonuses. Supervisors can give up to $500 as "cash in a flash" bonuses, which require minimal approvals, at anytime throughout the fiscal year. This freeze is COLAs only.

[TommyGunn]

   Perhaps if Obama hadn't dramatically increased the size of the federal workforce in the first place ......  

[Waitone]

Any word on Congress doing away with the quaint law that requires congress to specifically vote down its programmed pay raises?  Didn't think so.

[longeyes]

COLAs, huh?  Seems to be that SS retirees were told there WAS no inflation.  Of course, cynics argue that the Feds have been lying about underlying inflation for years and keep changing the metrics to mess with the numbers.

[sanglant]

Sorta like drinking your single-malt out of a paper cup to save money 

guess it's better then having diamond glasses, and being stuck with canadian lake.

[MicroBalrog]

How will this affect Obama's popularity with Federal workers?

[makattak]

How will this affect Obama's popularity with Federal workers?

He may be less popular, but who else are they going to vote for?

[MicroBalrog]

He may be less popular, but who else are they going to vote for?

If you don't like the guy, there's a greater likelihood you won't be a***ed to get out and vote. This even works when you KNOW the other guy is worse.

[Ben]

How will this affect Obama's popularity with Federal workers?

Not much. Most of the grumbling I hear starts with, "How could he do this?" but ultimately blames the Republicans and "stupid voters".

[dogmush]

How will this affect Obama's popularity with Federal workers?

Not much. Most of the grumbling I hear starts with, "How could he do this?" but ultimately blames the Republicans and "stupid voters".

Not at my workplace.  (We're all Department of the Army Civilians as well as Army Reservists)  They didn't like him before, and now everyone's really pissed.  It's actually kinda frusterating, Nobody really gave a damn either way for the healthcare takeover, union bailouts, bank bailouts, any of that stuff, but mention a COLA freeze or DADT, and the whole shop goes for pitchforks and torches.

At least around the guys I kow in the DA, Obama had very little popularity to lose.

He may be less popular, but who else are they going to vote for?

You do know that federal workers get to vote for whoever they want, right?

[Ben]

Not at my workplace.  (We're all Department of the Army Civilians as well as Army Reservists)  They didn't like him before, and now everyone's really pissed.  It's actually kinda frusterating, Nobody really gave a damn either way for the healthcare takeover, union bailouts, bank bailouts, any of that stuff, but mention a COLA freeze or DADT, and the whole shop goes for pitchforks and torches.

At least around the guys I kow in the DA, Obama had very little popularity to lose.

I should have put a DoD caveat in my response. :)

So many other parts of the fed.gov are so highly Democrat, I sometimes forget. Especially being the lone conservative in my office.

[makattak]

You do know that federal workers get to vote for whoever they want, right?

So do black people.

Both groups vote overwhelmingly for Democrats, though.

[dogmush]

Possibly I need the opposite disclaimer from Ben.  Around the DOD, very few of the civilian employee's like Obama.  I guess it's just which part of the fed.gov one hangs out in.

[Leatherneck]

but who else are they going to vote for?

Pretty broad brush there, MAK.

As Dogmush points out:

Around the DOD, very few of the civilian employee's like Obama.

Think in terms like fractions of one percent.

TC

[makattak]

Pretty broad brush there, MAK.

As Dogmush points out:  Think in terms like fractions of one percent.

TC

Looking at the numbers DoD personnel is a larger percentage of total federal employment than I expected:

736,000/2.8million

So, I retract my overwhelmingly vote for Democrats statement. I didn't mean to tar those here with that brush, I just assumed they represented a tiny minority of federal workers.