The White House has issued the following “Fact Sheet: Cutting the Deficit by Freezing Federal Employee Pay”
Because of the irresponsibility of the past decade, the President inherited a $1.3 trillion projected deficit upon taking office and an economic crisis that threatened to put the nation into a second Great Depression. He moved quickly to get the economy moving again. Now, the economy is growing, and we have gained private sector jobs for the past 10 months. But families and businesses are still hurting, and our top priority is making sure that we are doing everything we can to help boost economic growth and spur job creation.
Now, we need to turn our attention to addressing the massive deficits we inherited and the unsustainable fiscal course that we are on. Doing so will take some very tough choices. Just as families and businesses around the nation have tightened their belts so must their government. That must be done in a targeted way that focuses our investments in what works and in what will lay the foundation for job creation and economic growth for years to come while cutting back elsewhere in our budget.
That is why the President has decided to propose a freeze in civilian pay for federal employees for two years, 2011 and 2012.
* This two-year pay freeze will save $2 billion for the remainder of FY 2011, $28 billion over the next five years, and more than $60 billion over the next 10 years.
* It will apply to all civilian federal employees, including those in various alternative pay plans and those working at the Department of Defense – but not military personnel.
This was a decision that was not made lightly. From the doctors and nurses who care for our veterans to the scientists searching for better treatments and cures, the men and women who care for our national parks, and the thousands who make sure that the Social Security check is in the mail and that students get their scholarships, federal workers serve their fellow Americans. They do so often with great sacrifice and motivated by a patriotic love for their country. This freeze is not to punish federal workers or to disrespect the work that they do. It is the first of many actions we will take in the upcoming budget to put our nation on sound fiscal footing – which will ask for some sacrifice from us all.
This move also is another step in what the Administration has done as part of its Accountable Government Initiative to cut costs, save taxpayer dollars and do more with less in the federal government:
* Upon taking office, the President froze salaries for all senior White House officials; in last year’s budget, he proposed to extend this freeze to other top political appointees; and he eliminated bonuses for all political appointees.
* The President directed agencies to dispose of excess real estate to save $8 billion over the next two years.
* The President set an aggressive goal of reducing improper payments by $50 billion by the end of 2012.
* In each of his budgets, the President put forward approximately $20 billion in terminations and reductions, encompassing more than 120 programs all of which have strong supporters.
* The President put forward more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction in his 2011 budget, including a three-year freeze in non-security spending – which will bring non-security discretionary spending to its lowest level as a share of the economy in 50 years.
Ultimately, reining in our deficits will take tough decisions and sacrifices made by us all. We look forward to working with both sides on Capitol Hill over the next several months to forge a commonsense deficit reduction strategy that will rein in our deficits, keep our economy growing, and lay the foundation for American competitiveness for years to come.
This leaves out the most important part, Obamy is ONLY proposing to freeze Cost Of Living Adjustments! Step increases and promotions are not frozen! If the CPI doesn’t go up, there’s no COLA anyway! The CPI is currently below what it was the last time we got a COLA, so it has to go up ABOVE that point for a COLA to occur. “Hope and Change”? More like “Smoke and Mirrors!”
Yes the hope and change are turning out to be really great and any bad things two years into Obamas term are all bushes fault.You know Bush fired the artillery at the South Korean island to make Obama look bad.Obama walks on water.
I retired to move to Kentucy with my life mate, Bruce! Just glad I don’t have to deal with this fuss any longer. More time to shop and bake and whatever.
This is a disgracemerican people are being run into the ground so we can give money to every other country in the world. Where is all the money allegedly paid to Halliburton and supposedly lost? Why are we giving billions to Israel every year when we have a huge deficit? Why are we spending billions in the Middle East when we cannot support our own country?
Why are we NOT using tarriffs to make the Chinese trade more fairly? Tarriffs will bring back jobs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First we (the poor & middleclass) bail out Wall Street, AIG, the banks, the dealerships, etcetera, and now we get to clean-up the Governments debt too! What do we the people get – SHIT ON AGAIN! Apparenty, the American people are NOT too big to fail. In the meanwhile, our Government polices the world, wastes money fighting wars in the middle east that won’t accomplish SHIT; and continues to provide foreign aid – $$$ to countries like Isreal – who ain’t broke by any means, and corrupt politians in 3rd world countries – e.g., Pakistan!
Our government is in bed with and in debt to Communist China. Unemployement is at an all time high. Foreclosures are still happening in record numbers. Bush tax cuts will probably expire cause the Govt. needs $$$, since they robbed Social Security to the brink of colapse. What’s next? Maybe they’ll give all Govt. jobs to the illegals, or outsource!
the U.S.Postal Service is a Quasi-Federal Governmental Agency.They do not receive any funding from the federal government.They are self supporting,therefore not part of this current plan. It is what it is! they can not have it both ways and will not be brought up as an argument in our current negotiatios. end of story here. Continue the negotiations firm but fair!
News Flash! The most respected federal governmental agency just came in is the U.S..Postal Service!
P.S.To the Union Boys.-Noraises=no bonusesPeriod!
I hope Congressman D. Issa, the Republican Congressman from the 49th District of California, and Chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee is paying attention. This is how you spank federal employees who make too much money and have too much job security. Not by going after postalworkers. If he was awake during any of his committee meetings that were previously chaired by a democrat, he would already know this.
Blame Bush, Blame Bush, Blame Bush, Blame Bush. It’s like a broken record that skips playing the same track over and over. As for the above comment, I am a GOP conservative and I’m not howling. I hope we get to at least keep what we already have with the new contract. Management is going to want massive give backs (with no sacrifice on their part).
WHAT!!! I thought the federal employees put obama in…. Can you even imagine if Reagan/ Bush/ or Bush proposed this!!!!!! Wheres my Union?
You sent PALLETS of cold cash to the Mid-East. You deploy 100’s of millions of dollars worth of manpower, equiptment, and hardware to 3rd world countries around the planet. For what?? If farmers here can be paid to NOT grow corn and wheat. . . then pay those who grow poppys and cannibis the amount of money needed to grow banannas, dates, rice. The more people in the US who work, the more tax revenue for the country. STOP doing whatever makes our industries close shop and move south. …you wanna balance the budget? Find President Regan’s first budget director. In six years we’ll be solvent.
Apparently this freeze does not apply to postal workers. Huh.
Now let’s just see how many loyal GOP “conservative” postal employees howl.
hows that hope and change working for you now???