Even the piggy bank is broke

According to Yahoo! News, among others, President Barack Obama will freeze federal worker pay for two million citizens.

“The freeze, which requires congressional approval, is expected to save more than $5 billion in savings over two years, $28 billion over five years and more than $60 billion over 10 years,” said White House officials, according to the Yahoo! News website.

Obama said in these recessional times, every person should help recover the economy.

“The hard truth is that getting this deficit under control is going to require some broad sacrifice, and that sacrifice must be shared by the employees of the federal government,” Obama said to the Associated Press.

He said this decision was not made in ease because it is not a policy, it involves others lives.

Americans are hearing words and seeing signs of what the recession has entailed and this could be the last straw to burden their backs.

John Gage, president of the 600,000-member American Federation of Government Employees, referred to this decision as “a slap at working people.”

“Working people’s wages are not the issue with this deficit or what is going on in our country,” Gage said. “To symbolically hit at federal employees I think is just wrong.”

While a $28 billion surplus sounds like a step in the right direction, we must ask ourselves: Is it a morally sound plan for working people?

With cost of living increasing, only receiving a minimal raise seems like another blow from the government.

 

Leave comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *.