Pay Freeze

Dems Split On Obama Plan To Freeze Federal Pay

Brian Beutler | November 29, 2010, 8:40PM

President Obama, House Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats

Congressional Democrats are divided once again over an olive branch President Obama extended to the GOP. Progressive members are openly questioning his proposal to freeze federal pay through at least 2012, while their conservative counterparts support the plan, aligning themselves with Republican members who are already pressing Obama to move further to the right.

"[I]t would have been far preferable for the White House to have included this as part of a comprehensive proposal, instead of singling out the hard working men and women of the federal workforce," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) in a statement to reporters this evening. "By focusing exclusively on federal employees, the Administration runs the risk of reinforcing the myth, pushed by some for politically convenient but cynical reasons, that America suffers from a federal government comprised of unproductive and overpaid civil servants. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Van Hollen's the incoming ranking member of the Budget Committee, but also represents a large number of federal employees. That said, he's not alone.

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Barack Obama

Everyone Hates Obama's Pay Freeze Plan... Except Republicans

Brian Beutler | November 29, 2010, 2:48PM

President Obama speaks at a bipartisan White House gathering with Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) in the background.

The early reviews of President Obama's plan to freeze federal worker pay are in -- and it gets a resounding "F" from just about everybody outside of GOP leadership.

Michael Linden, a budget expert at the liberal Center for American Progress, said the plan is small potatoes that risks driving away valuable civil servants with little budgetary upside.

"Bluntly doing it this way, we risk cutting off our nose to spite our face," Linden said in a phone interview. "We risk not hiring good people, we risk not giving a raise to people who deserve a raise, and we miss not cutting the pay of those who deserve a pay cut."

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Barack Obama

Obama: Pay Freeze Is Part Of 'Broad Sacrifice' Necessary To Cut Deficit

Jillian Rayfield | November 29, 2010, 12:36PM

President Obama announced a two-year pay freeze for all federal employees today, describing it as part of a "broad sacrifice" necessary to help cut the deficit, which "must be shared by the employees of the federal government."

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