Filed under: Democrat Corruption, Domestic Policy, Economy, Election 2012 | Tags: Bureaucrats Deserve a Raise, Feds Hired 2000 More Workers, Private Sector Wages Decrease
All those civilian federal workers who are paid about twice as much as comparable workers in the private sector — roughly two million of them — will get a 0.5 percent pay increase as part of Obama’s 2013 budget proposal. Raises for within-grade step increases and promotions have continued during the pay freeze which began in late 2010. No decision has yet been made on raises for uniformed military personnel. Roughly 85 percent of the civilian federal employees live and vote outside of the District of Columbia.
John Gage, president of the American Federation of Federal Employees said the move “doesn’t make me yell and cheer.”
Clearly I don’t think it comes close to paying federal employees what they’re worth, but at the same time, it also breaks this terrible pay freeze that has been put on us,” Gage said. “And hopefully it will carry through, and we will avoid any pay freezes that might come from the payroll tax deduction negotiations.
A real threat remains that Republicans will successfully enact a pay freeze as part of the payroll tax negotiations. AFGE and other unions believe Republicans should focus on raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans instead of federal employees, the vast majority of whom are middle-class wage earners.
The federal government added about 2,000 new jobs in December, according to employment statistics released on Friday. The two senior administration officials who released the modest pay increase news said that “a permanent pay freeze is not an acceptable policy. While modest, a 0.5 percent increase reflects the belt-tightening we must do in these difficult times.”
Uh huh. Can’t have two million federal workers suffering in an election year from only getting step increases. As Ace at Ace of Spades said: “This needs congressional approval you say? I hope the GOP offers the following counter-proposal: 15% of you are fired.”
@PoliticalMath added on Twitter, “Pro tip: Don’t announce raises for bureaucrats the day after you announce you’re firing 10,000 soldiers.”
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