President Barack Obama on Monday proposed a two-year salary freeze for all federal civilian employees, ahead of negotiations with Congress on deficit-cutting that are likely to dominate Washington next year.
Though in effect for two years, the proposed freeze would save $28 billion over five years and more than $60 billion over 10 years as the government pockets savings from a lower wage base for its civilian work force, said Jeffrey Zients, deputy White House budget director for management.
Workers were due to have a 1.4% pay raise in 2011. Federal wages generally rise each year in step with inflation, though Congress often makes adjustments.
Not only is the move completely cynical and cowardly -- the Pentagon pisses away more in toothpicks on Tuesdays -- but it won't even fucking work!! Does anyone really believe that this transparent bit of hustle will suddenly have the Republicans drooling all over themselves in a bipartisan frenzy?
I sympathize that he may not have the easiest job right now, but, let's face it, we elected a lightweight. The next two years are going to suck.
6 comments:
Looks like someone's feeling a little cynical himself. I don't disagree that our President may be a lightweight, but he's worked incredibly hard and will not please everyone; to me the fact that he's put 100x the effort into making changes than the last president is a good sign that the next 2 years we as a nation could see some turn around.
As for the federal pay freeze, they got to make cuts somewhere, better them than me. What exactly will "not work" about this plan?
JW
Ummm ... I'm a professional cynic, it turns out?
Without doubt he's better than the last joker we had in there, though that's not exactly like clearing a pole vault you know.
The problem with the pay freeze is that it is a tiny tiny drop in the bucket which doesn't even have the advantage of going in the right direction of changing how and where the government spends money. Across the board cuts are not good economics, in my opinion.
And they're also not good politics. The tiny amount he's proposing is obviously meant as a bargaining chip where he throws the teabaggers something they have talked about and hopes that this will win him some political points for later. The idea being that now they will come to the negotiating table and we can all be friends. At this point I consider it obvious that this kumbaya moment of bi-partisanship the Obama administration keeps expecting is simply not going to happen. They'll take the concession and keep pushing their advantage until they shut the government down. That's what I meant by "not working".
So in your professional cynical opinion, maybe the president along with the democratic party should keep laying down & taking it in the ass. There probably won't be "a kumbaya moment" but is it better not to attempt some small form of bipartisanship for the sake of getting something done, as opposed to allowing the teabaggers & republican fuckers to stall the government until they get their own boy back in office? When (or if - I'm still hopeful) that happens in 2 years, I'll join you at the pub in MX where I will set up a new office for professional cynics.
I think perhaps you are misinterpreting my professional cynical opinion. I am NOT arguing that Obama should give in and compromise and, as you delicately put it, take it in the ass.
Quite the opposite.
I was hoping that he would finally give up on the idea of dosing the Republican water supply with any amount of kumbaya, drop the pretenses, and actually start to fight back instead of continually giving ground. Why doesn't he turn the tables, get aggressively liberal, and give it THEM in the ass? His party still controls 2/3rds of the government after all. The goal isn't just to get *something* done, but to get the *right* thing done, and this pay freeze stunt does not go in the correct direction.
Plus, dude, I've tried leaving the country and it doesn't even work. Even foreign cynics still have to deal with US politics.
If Obama were to take a strong stand at this point, then it's very possible we will be greeting our first Barbie president in 2 years, that is if she is still game for the job after her reality show fame; in which case, I will try to hitch a ride with the alien scientists closest by.
My point is you can't expect Obama to play it too strong in his 1st term right after his party just got a good "shellacking" at the polls a few weeks ago. He has to play it down, and it may frustrate the liberal masses for the next 2 years, but I still won't give up hope that he just MIGHT make it to 2nd term where he will let loose and get things done.
As the Dude would say: "Just take it easy, man".
What he said:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/opinion/03krugman.html
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