“Freezing the current rates guarantees they will be grossly overpaid for the next two years.”
Judy, just who are the “they” you are talking about? Would that be the fed employee working at a daycare “grossly overpaid” at $8 per hour or the retail clerk making $7.50 per hour. Their pay just got frozen, obviously to your delight.
Rush Limbaugh who prides himself on his research has his head up his arse on this one. Like people on this site that think this is so good Limbaugh has no clue how the fed system is setup. In many fed jobs people earn less than or equal to a Wal-Mart employee, they are called WG, WS, NS, NF and some GS. They just had their pay frozen. The vast majority of the “they” you refer to do not make as much as an assembly line worker at Ford. The “they” are professionals from the trades, medical profession, law enforcement and former military personnel with very specific training, not common in the public sector. “They” have to maintain all the same professional certifications as their private sector counterparts; many jobs require a degree along with specific training and years of experience in non –private sector systems and familiarity with hundreds of federal regulations and rules. The “they” are nurses, laundry workers and hospital orderlies, retail clerks in post exchanges, janitors, teachers, police, pilots, technicians and landscapers. Many professional could make more money in the private sector, but choose for various reasons to work in the public sector.
Many of the “they” serve in combat zones along side the military or Dept of State and are compensated for their risks. Obama has indiscriminately, with your approval frozen all federal pay. I am sure you have guessed that I am a federal employee. I have a graduate degree in my field and I have over 30 years of experience in my field. I do make slightly more than a private sector position I was offered. The additional compensation was directly related to the grad degree I worked so hard for. The civilian sector position did not require a degree. My federal job required a degree. Millions of us provide vital services for the military and federal police agencies at a fair compensation. The unintended consequences of this pay freeze will be more contractors, a decrease in service and more unemployment.
Rabble rousing is even more fun when the rouser doesn’t know what he is talking about. Nothing is more fun than kicking federal employees. A version of Class Warfare.
I retired 10 years ago from the federal government at age 56. I have a pension of $111K. Although my pension has not increased for this year and won't next year, it is still a cadillac of a pension plan. The USG also pays 70% of my health care insurance or close to 10K a year. Federal employee compensation and benefits have gotten out of hand. There is going to be blowback from the public. It is inevitable.
The “they” I am referring to are those who are making nearly double what their private sector counterparts are making.
I don’t know how it would be implemented, but it’s those union members who have had their pays increased approximately 34% over the past few years (I think that’s what I heard).
If your country is anything like mine, MANY of the government workers are not necessary - it’s pretty much a joke up here.
On the other hand, I have a good friend who works VERY hard for the federal government and is paid along the same lines as the private sector. He is an honourable, ethical accountant - he deserves to be compensated accordingly.
Don’t forget the “they” that are in the CIA, DEA, FBI, and border control. The citizenry expects top dollar performance and then claps their hands in glee when the people in these agencies are nickled and dimed. And then scratch their collective heads in wonderment that the best and the brightest go to private industry.