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In reply to the discussion: MoveOn Calls Obama’s Proposed Social Security Cuts ‘Unconscionable’ [View all]24601
(3,998 posts)Obama has frozen our pay since 2010. But his OPM, which approves Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP) premiums, also let our premiums rise each year even though our pay was frozen.
Did the President cut our pay? No, he didn't. Salaries have remained constant. Do we have less money after paying our premiums? Yes. One is not dependent on the other. If our salaries remained frozen and premiums went down, I wouldn't claim we got a pay raise.
You can side with the President that the freeze was necessary because of the budget. Or, you can take the other side that pay increases should have matched premium increases. Both arguments have merit. You can say that with economic conditions - like gas prices and FEHBP increases we have less money to spend for other things like food and housing - that is in fact true.
But if we go around claiming that the President cut our pay, it simply is not accurate. We are entitled to our beliefs about what should happen, but redefining a pay freeze as a cut is to ignore facts. Redefining a slower rate of growth as a cut also is inaccurate and it damages the credibility of one who makes that claim.