Obama may have staved off deeper cuts in federal employee pay.

[dkf]

Apparently a two year freeze is not so bad compared with what the Reps were starting to ask for. 3 year freezes, hiring freezes, and pay cuts and layoffs were being thrown out as ideas.

Maybe he thought this was better than what he would have had to negotiate. Just get it out of the way and turn it into a non-issue before the Reps start delving into comparisons of benefits etc.

[babylonsister]

1. OK, I'll ask first. Link? Maybe there is a method to this.

And to emphasize, a freeze is not going to make anyone poor or homeless.

[dkf]

2. Ezra Klein talked about this on Morning Joe.

I'm sure you can imagine all the ideas the Reps had though.

[angee_is_mad]

3. NC State employees are going into 2nd yr of freeze

and nobody is quitting. It sucks, but layoffs are a lot worse.

[dkf]

5. Ezra also mentioned that with all the new regulations in health and finance the Feds

need a lot of expertise so Obama needs to keep Federal pay as decent as possible. It was a preemptive strike really.

[hlthe2b]

4. You know, I want to think there is strategy to all of this...

He is smart--that is unmistakeable. And for all of us to have been so wrong about him, if one accepts that as a possibility (NOT A PROBABILITY, calm down, folks), it just doesn't make sense.

So, yes, like Babylonsister, I am watching these inexplicable decisions and seeming backtracks of his campaign promises, with an eye that there just might be some method to the madness. God, I hope so. I have no problem eating crow, even though I've never come out decidedly in any way--in a manner that would denounce him. I am just plain puzzled and dismayed. But, I can remain hopeful-- an I am.

[CreekDog]

6. Silly...that's his opening position!

:rofl:

he gave this up without a fight.

when the fight starts...think of what else will happen.

it's like Obama was hired to protect a guy, so the bully comes over and says, "I'm gonna hit him."

Obama tells the bully, "okay, but only hit him once"

Then obama tells the guy, "he was gonna hit you twice"

Then the guy says, "he still might, he didn't agree to anything before you said it was okay to hit me!"

:crazy:

[Merlot]

8. How do you know it was his opening position?

Meetings are all for show, so are votes. Everything is discussed and negotiated long before we hear about it.

I'm not defending Obama or the decision.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

7. You may be right, as I can assure you that after yesterday's outrage

by some unions, today this was not the topic of conversation among myself and fellow federal government employees. In fact, there are very few of us who disagree with the freeze. I think we all realize how lucky we are to have jobs that are stable...for the moment.

[renate]

9. well, if that's true, he needs a new head of PR starting a couple of years ago n/t

I want him to get credit for doing a good job when he does a good job, but nobody from the White House is doing a good job of catapulting the propaganda.

Similarly, Rachel did a great job tonight discussing the $700 billion that TARP didn't cost (it only cost $25 billion) but I shouldn't hear that only on MSNBC... I should hear that on the evening news and see it in the New York Times. Nobody is talking about the good stuff.