Posted on 12/01/2009 7:28:11 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
President Obama on Monday reiterated that he will limit the across-the board pay increase for federal employees to 2 percent in 2010.
Obama originally issued the 2 percent recommendation in August. Under federal law, the president has until the end of November to propose an alternative to pay levels set under procedures laid out in the 1990 Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act. Under that law, employees would be due a 2.4 percent base pay raise in 2010, plus locality pay increases averaging 16.5 percent. That total pay increase would cost about $22.6 billion in fiscal 2010 alone, Obama wrote.
The president has cited a national emergency since Sept. 11, 2001, as well as the sluggish economy and high unemployment as his basis for overriding FEPCA and proposing the lower-than-average 2 percent figure.
"As I said in August, I do not believe this decision will materially affect our ability to continue to attract and retain a quality federal workforce," Obama wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Joe Biden. "Since any pay raise above the amount proposed in this alternative plan would likely be unfunded, agencies would have to absorb the additional cost and could have to reduce hiring to pay the higher rates."
The 2 percent figure has angered some lawmakers and federal employee groups, many of which have pushed for pay parity between civilian workers and military service members. Members of the military are slated to receive a 3.4 percent raise. Congress could still override the president's plan, however. The Senate's version of the fiscal 2010 financial services appropriations bill includes a 2.9 percent civilian raise for 2010, while the House bill follows Obama's request for a 2 percent raise. The House passed its version of the financial services bill in July, but the full Senate has yet to vote on the measure.
It had to be said.
Your information is sadly outdated. At one time government jobs were low pay but high benefits. That has changed. Recent studies show that government employees are paid more and have more benefits than the equivelant job in the private sector.
Apparently the gap will be growing since wages for most workers in the private sector are flat or being cut. So after a 5% cut last year and no raise this year, my taxes will be paying for a wage increase for government workers.
Thanks!
Just try to fire one of thoses saps! Everyday its a possiblity for me! I have to hustle, they don’t!!
The 2% was the parting gift for the 30,000 troops he mobilized...
Taxpayers get to pay 2% tax increase. Our dear reader is not an economic genus from Indonesia, is he.
Stupid author. He is mixing apples and orangutans by putting the yearly pay raise and the regional pay adjustment of the base rate in the same sentence. You have to pay a New Yorker more to get the same job done than someone in Alabama. That has nothing to do with the 2010 pay raise.
[Keep in mind that government workers have a very low wage except for the big wigs.]
Because “government workers” are actually civil servants and are paid accordingly. Besides, $28K is not bad money for someone who can pretty much do NOTHING, can almost NEVER get fired and still get a pay raise (regardless of the current fiscal situation in which the US government finds itself)!
I spent almost ten years in the Corps, and I have family that do work for the government - you get a job for life and you get pay raises regardless of work ethic!
Sorry, but I do not feel sympathy for anyone WITH a job right now - my wife has been out of work for almost two years! In addition, this year I took a cut in work hours and pay, and was “rewarded” with FOUR additional states to cover!
Is this trying to say that the average pay increase is only going to be a total of 18.5% instead of 18.9% I feel quite confident that can't be right, but that appears to be how it reads to me.
He ought to cut them 10%.
Yet, he won’t let the Social Security recipients have a Cost of Living increase.
This man is a hypocrite.
I agree that during these times govt employees should not be getting a raise. I also don’t think they should have any unions in the govt sector. Hubby is a govt employee. He is a disabled vet, and works taking care of the AC in a va hospital. He does not make alot considering what a 30+ year experienced HVAC/R with loads of commercial experience would make in the private sector, but the private sector is feast or famine in his industry (really hot and really cold temps he makes a boatload of OT) seasonal temps he goes home early. Here it is steady work and steady pay, a very hard thing to find in HVAC. He is getting up there in years and working 80-90 hours a week is getting to be alot every summer and winter, as well as the on call for emergencies. I know the vets appreciate his hard work, and he has time to meet with and thank them throughout his day. It sucks to have to feel ashamed that he works for the govt because so many feel that he is a leach and a tax drain........
exactly. My company didn’t give raises this year and probably won’t next year either. They’ve done cutbacks and layoffs everywhere. What planet is Obama on? He thinks he’s being humble by saying only a 2% raise when people aren’t getting raises at all or are getting salaries cut back?
Last pay raise in our office: 10/1/2007
Not to mention that the public sector has way too many people working at jobs that private industry would either not have or would have a small percentage of workers doing the same job. Government supervisors get paid according to how many people are under them, so they always exaggerate the work load and do not encourage people to work hard, that way they can request more workers and raise the G rating and therefore their pay rate. Government, isn’t it wonderful?
And that doesn't include the handful who I know that were laid off completely.
What the hell, I still have a job. I'm better off than many.
Besides, SOMEONE needs to work to pay taxes, so that all these useless bureaucrats can get their COLA raises.
#%#$%#@!$@#s, all of them.
Fire the 25% of unneeded federal employees first, then I would say give the remaining ones a 2% increase.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.