Federal Employee Pay Freeze

I totally agree.. politicians should not be allowed to get rich, that's probably why our politicians are so bad, they get in it for the money, not to help people or make a change. It stinks. I also agree with the pay freeze for the military. My foster brother was just telling me yesterday that his step son, who's been in the marines for a few years, who's only 22 years old, just bought a $175K house. How many 22 year olds do you know with that kind of cash?

like most governments, they spend like there is no tomorrow but think they have to cut costs in the most stupid ways. places where there shouldnt be any cost cutting thats where they do it.

First i think that all departments should go back to the 2008 levels in pay and staffing. This is necessary because the size of government has greatly increased in the past two years. We need to change the retirement plan to a defined contribution rather than a defined benefit plan. What is interesting is the Debt Commission has recommended that the Military Pay and allowances be frozen for 3 years. It also proposes that changes in the Military Health Care increasing the cost for the soldier and his/her family. http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/11/military-debt-commission-recommendations-111010w/ The other thing that should be done is to end government subsidizes. The Farm program is based on depression era needs. For example dairy farmers in Eau Claire, Wisconsin get paid less to produce milk than a dairy farmer in California. Farmers in the mid west can produce milk cheaper and ship it to California than a farmer can in California. Why do we pay for irrigation projects to plane crops in the desert at the same time we are paying farmers not to grow crops and let the land sit idle? Then we pay people to monitor these programs. This is just one little example where the government could cut an outdated program that is no longer efficient.

I would be willing to bet that this Pay Freeze does not include Congress or any of Obama's staff!!

It appears really easy to spend other people's money, especially when the money now isn't even real money - it's make-believe ghost debt that no one in office now will have to worry about by the time they have to worry about it. Some federal employees actually WORK, unlike these bozo politicians. So I think they have it bass ackwards again if Congress is still getting paid. If there's any waste in the military, like people holding titles just to hold them and collecting checks just to collect them, then cut it. You can find waste in anything if you look. The fear I have: what we think of as "waste" is some crooked schmuck's livelihood, and they'll cut money that matters to tamp the flames while not fixing the problem in the slightest. We'll see what happens...

As a retired federal civil servant, I can tell you my pension and benefits are on the chopping block too (I didn't receive a cost-of-living increase this year and I'm not getting one in 2011 and who knows about 2012 and beyond. And they're proposing increases in my share of my health and other benefits... (I should have listened to my Dad when he told me not to enter Civil Service. "They don't keep their promises...".) So I have a dog in this fight. First, I'm willing to sacrifice (I most likely will lose my home because of it, because I'm just barely able to hang on now), if I know all Branches of Government sacrifice as well. Let's start with cuts/downsizing in all Branches of Government -- Legislative, Judicial and Executive. But rather than just slash equally across the board, actually review top to bottom every department, division, bureau, branch, office, etc. and freeze or make cuts that make sense (based on the Constitution, national priorities, etc.). I can tell you from experience, when previous Administrations called for downsizing, headquarters (often located around the Beltway) would always take the least amount of hits. The installations/field units...the folks doing the real work...were always hit with the most cuts. So I say start in the Beltway -- all Branches of Government...then I might be able to support "sacrifice" on my part. As for freezing pay (I'm already there), I again would perform a review. Are federal wages out of line with private industry? Listening to Fox, the Republicans, etc. one would conclude that the public sector is way over paid. I don't buy it. So let's take a deeper look and then make the decision to freeze pay, control grade creep, etc. This is already done, but let's do a more comprehensive, thorough look. As I've noted in previous posts, the plans, programs, projects, etc. we sought money to implement at my installation were directed by Executive Orders (coming from the President's desk); laws created by Congress; regulations written in the Executive Branch, by the States, counties and cities; etc. If you want to save money, review the mandates being sent down by these organizations and then tell us which ones will be funded and which ones will be postponed/delayed/gotten rid of/etc., but stop blaming the folks in the field trying to keep up with sh*t policy and even sh*ttier procedures, plans, programs, etc. And how about keep some policies consistent from one Administration to the next? There's nothing like spending the first two years of a new Administration setting a new course (new regulations, plans, programs, etc.), of course completely reversing the course you've been on with the old Administration, and then changing it before the next election to win a few more votes. I can't tell you how much waste is created simply by changing Administrations and by the Administrations themselves. I say, "Get your dam* acts together before you start sending down mandates from above!" You want me to go on?