Debt-reduction proposals add fuel to criticism of government workforce
By Joe Davidson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 11, 2010; 7:12 PM
If federal employees didn't read the handwriting on the wall when Republicans won the House last week, they shouldn't miss the red lights that began flashing with the release of sweeping proposals to rectify the nation's finances.
The recommendations, by Alan K. Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming, and Erskine Bowles, who served as White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration, would hit federal employees hard, freezing their pay and reducing their numbers.
Everyone, inside and outside of government, would take a blow under their controversial suggestions. And the proposals are by no means final. The draft documents released Wednesday by Simpson and Bowles, co-chairmen of the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, represent only their ideas. There's no guarantee the commission will adopt their plan in the panel's final report, which requires approval by at least 14 of the 18 members. Some members of Congress wasted no time in blasting the blueprint.
For months, GOP lawmakers have called for cutting or freezing the size of the federal workforce and employees' compensation. These calls have fueled an image of bloated, budget-busting feds that sharply conflicts with the public service motivation that really drives them, especially those who could earn much more in the private sector.
"Federal labor is open and more than willing to do their part," said Matthew S. Biggs, legislative director of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, as long as they don't carry an unfair burden.
Full Article and Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/11/AR2010111106704_pf.html
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