Yesterday, President Obama announced that he will freeze automatic pay increases for civilian federal employees for two years. This includes me. While my pay is not being cut, I will not receive the $500 that I was kind of looking forward to. At the same time, the federal public transit subsidy, which currently stands at a maximum of $230 a month, is expected to be cut to $120 a month on January 1st. Fortunately, my subsidy is only $140 a month, so I can make up the difference by biking to Metro station that is closer to work. Many others (dare I say, most others) are not so fortunate. But I understand the decision, and while it's annoying, it's not the end of the world.
It's frustrating, though, because these are largely symbolic gestures. Federal salaries have been in the news a lot lately, mostly being lambasted for being too high (personally, I disagree - DC is an expensive place to live - but that's just my opinion). If Obama and Congress are serious about conquering the federal deficit, that's great, more power to them. But one thing that all Americans need to realize is that in order to do it, it's going to involve a lot of pain for every single person in the country. It is impossible to point to one group of people and say "if they would just do this thing differently, the deficit would disappear." That's not how this works.
So you want to freeze my pay and cut my transit subsidy? Fine. But do something else. Do something real. Don't let federal employees be scape goats for a problem whose solution is the burden of all Americans, regardless of employer.
For a look at how I would solve the deficit puzzle, click here. It's important to note, though, that there is some disagreement as to exactly how much money they would save/raise, as well as some cuts/new taxes that are not included at all. Still, it's a good introduction into the weightiness of the issue, and the obdurateness of the solution.
Stacy's
2 hours ago
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3 comments:
Well... when I think of "federal employees" I don't always think about the people doing actual work. I think of the Congress people who are essentially getting paid a lot to do very little. The first group of people that pop into my head... are the people who work in the Social Security Administration in Superior, WI. That's right- I'm targeting. Because pretty much ANYBODY can give them any name and date of birth and they will issue a SS card to you. And the "guard"? The federal employee meant to keep us all safe? (Granted, we don't have a ton of crime- it's boring. I get it.) Could he at least pretend to not be blatantly be sleeping? Or at least not snore when I'm sitting there waiting 57 minutes for my turn even though I'm the only one there? THOSE are what I think of when I hear "overpaid Federal employees". Not you. :)
I don't have any opinions about Obama but I understand your frustration. Based on what you said, I can say that our manager runs the company I'm working for the exact same way. If you want full details, let me know. I can't put it here though. Ha!
This was all about making a symbolic easy decision that will get lots of play while using it as cover to avoid making the realy hard decisions. I would be more accepting if this was part of a bigger plan to actually balance the budget.... Instead we are the sacrificial virgin who gets thrown in the volcano to show that the chief is trying to do something about the problem.
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