Something to keep in mind when you reading/hearing/talking about Obama’s federal pay freeze: Costs don’t stop growing for these workers just because their income stops increasing. Their health insurance premiums, as will their other costs of living. In real terms, it’s a pay cut.
One thing Michael Linden pointed out to me today is that, with almost non-existent inflation, cost of living is increasing pretty slowly. So if you’re going to freeze pay in a sweeping fashion like this, now’s the time. But in addition to the recruitment and retention problems this plan could cause the federal government, it will leave workers worse off, or less well off, than they were before.
