Obama Proposes Two-Year Pay Freeze for Federal Employees
Published November 29, 2010
| FoxNews.com
WASHINGTON -- Federal employees will find their salaries stagnant for the next two years as President Obama announced Monday that a pay freeze is necessary to put the country on sound fiscal footing.
The president said the freeze would apply to all civilian federal employees, including those working at the Department of Defense, but would not affect military personnel.
Examples of those subject to the cut are doctors and nurses who help veterans, individuals who administer Social Security checks, Border Patrol and law enforcement.
"Today, I'm proposing a two year pay freeze for all civilian federal workers," Obama said from the White House.
Noting that hard economic times means small businesses and families must tighten their belt, Obama said, "I'm asking civil servants to do what they've always done, play their part."
The freeze will save $2 billion during fiscal year 2011, he said.
The chairman of Obama's bipartisan deficit commission has proposed a three-year freeze in pay for most federal employees as part of its plan to reduce the nation's growing deficit. The commission's final report is due to be released later this week.
Republicans said it's about time.
"At a time when our nation's seniors have been denied a cost-of-living-increase and private sector hiring is stagnant, it is both necessary and quite frankly, long over-due to institute a pay-freeze for the federal workforce," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said in a statement.
He added that the $2 billion pay freeze is a start, but improper payments -- to the tune of $125 billion last year, were a bigger problem.
"The first place we should look to make progress on higher costs, increased debt and a stagnant economy is look inward at how taxpayer dollars are being spent and doing more to ensure that tens of billions of dollars are no longer erroneously paid out," Issa said.
Republicans over the year have suggested a pay freeze for federal workers, with Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma proposing in May a compromise that included bonuses for employees and contractors among other items that were intended to help cover the cost of a $60 billion war supplemental.
Shortly after taking office in January 2009, Obama froze salaries of top White House officials. He extended that freeze to political appointees across the government in last year's budget, and also eliminated bonuses for political appointees.
In a conference call Monday, administration officials said that individuals who are about to get a promotion would not be affected by the freeze.
Ya reckon he could of saved billions by staying home?
He already froze ss and disability payment for 2 yeas already. POWDERMAN.
