John Boehner: President Obama's federal pay freeze proposal is a boon for Republican agenda!

[Better Believe It]

Republican congressional leaders applaud President Obama's federal employee pay freeze proposal.



White House pay freeze proposal is boon for GOP agenda, Boehner says
By Peter Schroeder
November 29, 2010

The Obama administration's proposal to freeze pay for federal workers is a "clear indication" that the GOP's Pledge to America is the correct way forward, and the White House should take the next step and halt the hiring of federal workers, according to Speaker-designate John Boehner (R-Ohio).

“I welcome President Obama’s announcement, and hope he will build on it by embracing much-needed steps to reduce both the size and the cost of government, including the net federal hiring freeze Republicans propose in our Pledge to America," he said in a statement. "Today’s action is a clear indication that the Pledge to America, which lays out concrete steps to cut spending and reduce the size of government, is the right plan to address the people’s priorities. Republicans and Democrats don’t have to wait until January to cut spending and stop all the tax hikes. We can — and should — start right now."

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/130955-white-house-pay-freeze-proposal-is-boon-for-gop-agenda-boehner-says


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Incoming Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va):

"I am encouraged by President Obama's proposal to freeze non-military federal pay for the next two years," said Cantor. "This past May, House Republicans -- prompted by YouCut voters -- offered the very same spending-cut proposal on the floor of the House. The YouCut proposal was one of many specific spending reductions offered by House Republicans over the past two years, and we are pleased that President Obama appears ready to join our efforts. As the recent election made clear, Americans are fed up with a government that spends too much, borrows too much and grows too much."http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/11/29-5

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Federal Pay Freeze Planned
Obama Proposes Two-Year Raise Pause in Bid to Seize Agenda in Deficit Talks
By JONATHAN WEISMAN And DAMIAN PALETTA
November 30, 2010

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama on Monday proposed a two-year salary freeze for all federal civilian employees, signaling an apparent willingness to reach toward Republicans ahead of negotiations on deficit-cutting that are likely to dominate Washington next year.

But the gesture could have broader political ramifications. It was seen by members of both parties as a sign that Mr. Obama, in the wake of what he called his electoral "shellacking," might be willing to tack away from his liberal base in search of compromise with Republicans.

"Going forward, we're going to have to make some additional very tough decisions that this town has put off for a very long time," Mr. Obama said. "And that's what this upcoming week is really about. My hope is that, starting today, we can begin a bipartisan conversation about our future."

"This is the kind of cooperation we were hoping for," said incoming House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), a member of the president's deficit commission.

Liberal activists, labor leaders and some Democrats reacted harshly to the freeze proposal, accusing Mr. Obama of capitulating to Republican pressure and getting nothing in return. Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who will lead Democrats on the House Budget Committee next year, condemned the plan for "reinforcing the myth…that America suffers from a federal government comprised of unproductive and overpaid civil servants."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704584804575644630815574018.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5


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Federal pay cuts: A bad idea for what gain?

In the context of the deficit, Obama will get chump change from freezing federal pay, and will only enlarge the degree to which federal pay lags that of the private sector (a gap of 22%, according to the federal pay agent’s report. See Table 4.)
This is another example of the administration’s tendency to bargain with itself rather than Republicans, and in the process reinforces conservative myths, in this case the myth that federal workers are overpaid. Such a policy also ignores the fact that deficit reduction and loss of pay at a time when the unemployment rate remains above 9% will only weaken a too-weak recovery. --Lawrence Mishel

http://www.epi.org/quick_takes/entry/federal_worker_pay_freeze_would_weaken_a_too-weak_recovery/


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 29, 2010

AFGE DENOUNCES OBAMA ADMINISTRATION PROPOSAL TO FREEZE PAY
Pay Freeze Proposal Amounts to Symbolic Gesture

WASHINGTON – The American Federation of Government Employees today decried President Obama’s proposal to freeze pay for federal civilian employees in 2011 and 2012.

“This proposal is a superficial panic reaction to the draconian cuts his deficit commission will recommend,” stated AFGE National President John Gage. “A federal pay freeze saves peanuts at best and, while he may mean it as just a public relations gesture, this is no time for political scapegoating. The American people didn’t vote to stick it to a VA nursing assistant making $28,000 a year or a border patrol agent earning $34,000 per year.

“President Obama asks federal workers to share the sacrifice, but it’s unconscionable for him to attack the wages of federal working people while the millionaires and billionaires on Wall Street not only get their bailouts and astronomical bonuses; they also get their tax cuts,” concluded Gage.

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The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 600,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.

http://afge.org/index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=1227&from=home


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Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka On Pay Freeze for Federal Workers
November 29, 2010

Today's announcement of a two-year pay freeze for federal workers is bad for the middle class, bad for the economy and bad for business. No one is served by our government participating in a "race to the bottom" in wages. We need to invest in creating jobs, not undermining the ones we have. The President talked about the need for shared sacrifice, but there's nothing shared about Wall Street and CEOs making record profits and bonuses while working people bear the brunt. It is time to get our nation back on track, but we should not do so by placing an even greater burden on the middle class.

http://aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/pr11292010a.cfm

[Better Believe It]

1. Obama Faces Union Backlash After Gambling on Pay Freeze Proposal

Obama Faces Union Backlash After Gambling on Pay Freeze Proposal
FoxNews.com
November 30, 2010

President Obama is hearing an earful from union allies who accuse him of chipping away at the deficit on the backs of federal employees, underscoring the political gamble he just took in proposing a two-year freeze on federal pay.

"Cutting federal employee pay is really going to do nothing for the deficit," John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, told Fox News Radio. "It just looks like a panic gesture."

Other union leaders, including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and National Federation of Federal Employees President William Dougan, piled on. Democratic congressional leaders expressed skepticism about the plan. Once the hubbub settled, the president's biggest backers ended up being congressional Republicans who viewed the pitch as an endorsement of the kind of cutback they've been demanding for months.

But Democratic strategists said Tuesday that Obama ultimately has more to gain than lose out of his pay freeze plan. Strategist Joe Trippi compared the fiscal discipline posturing to former President Bill Clinton's strategy after his party's 1994 midterm wipeout -- a strategy that paid off with his reelection victory two years later. The more Obama rankles the base, he said, the more credibility the president regains with independents.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/30/obama-faces-union-backlash-gambling-pay-freeze-proposal/

[librechik]

2. sigh--of course

look, we have no representation in government. They are all for the other side, except for a few losers who can't do anything because of the overwhelming opposition. It was a surprise to discover the president himself has decided to be a loser and bow down to the aristocracy, but now that it happened, I can't pretend not to know.

[democracy1st]

3. Always said this was a Goldman Sachs admin, but this is beyond sad! Obama was a total fraud.