Citing deficit, Obama freezing federal worker pay

[lindy]

Originally Posted by Pete

Locality Pay????? 24%?????? Based on Washington????

Think of the poor saps in the ranks of the Military. The BAQ "Locality Pay" is based on where you live. Would have been nice to have it based on Washington.

This is the bottom line "........Though proponents believe the payments are necessary to address recruitment and retention concerns, "the foreign service career field remains highly competitive with 25,000 applicants competing for 300 to 900 positions annually," the commission concluded................."

SGM,

My experience has been that the 24% is a nice perk for FS employees who reside in CONUS then spend a few years OCONUS only to return CONUS: keeps the pay stable. I would argue that it is really no different than SDAP or a re-enlistment bonus.

War zones excluded.

I will also say that the military guys I worked with busted their ass 24/7 and I would not have had successful tours without them. Plus...soldiers know how to have fun!

Lindy

[Pete]

Silly me..... Here I thought FSOs hung out overseas only coming back to the sates every now and again.

I didn't know they lived in Washington at a comfortable level only going overseas for the occasional fling.

[silentreader]

Originally Posted by Peregrino

It's very simple.


2) A Constitutional Amendment limiting elected officials to 12 years. They can combine it any way they want to but after 12 years, they're out. Without a retirement. I'm tired of seeing the rest of the country suffer because of Nancy Pelosi's constituents - and others like them who keep re-electing trash because they are effective at robbing the rest of us to support their power base. Everybody likes their "Robin Hood" and despises everybody else's. Solve the problem by limiting their ability to do damage.

I know this is an old post, but I'm curious about this sentiment as it appears to be one shared by most of the posters here. However, this implies something else; it's red states (and presumably, politicians) that consistently take more from the trough than they put in.

These numbers are old (2004) and they may not mean anything (you can find a series of similar studies going up to 2007 here). But it seems to me that conservative politicians had no problem taking with one hand and criticizing the piggy bank with the other. Maybe this has changed with the Tea Party?? Would be interesting to see more up to date numbers.

States Receiving Most in Federal Spending Per Dollar of Federal Taxes Paid:
1. D.C. ($6.17)
2. North Dakota ($2.03)
3. New Mexico ($1.89)
4. Mississippi ($1.84)
5. Alaska ($1.82)
6. West Virginia ($1.74)
7. Montana ($1.64)
8. Alabama ($1.61)
9. South Dakota ($1.59)
10. Arkansas ($1.53)

States Receiving Least in Federal Spending Per Dollar of Federal Taxes Paid:
1. New Jersey ($0.62)
2. Connecticut ($0.64)
3. New Hampshire ($0.68)
4. Nevada ($0.73)
5. Illinois ($0.77)
6. Minnesota ($0.77)
7. Colorado ($0.79)
8. Massachusetts ($0.79)
9. California ($0.81)
10. New York ($0.81)

As for the state department, I have a feeling it will be seeing more cuts in the future months. It seems to be the one area Americans can agree that we're spending to much on------------- (even if we're not).

• When it comes to decreasing the deficit, cutting spending is a more popular approach than raising taxes, by a margin of 62% to 5%. And here's what the public is willing to cut:

(list is in attachment and links)

• Foreign aid makes up less than 1% of America's total spending.