I don't think that article gives enough info to actually understand the entire situation. The example given regarding Dr's seems like they might have been under paid in the past. I just don't know. I know when I looked at balancing the budget I choose cut federal pay across the board. So I guess to some degree I agree it's a problem or at least should be part of the solution. Is it fair to blame it all on Obama and the Dems, I don't know. Is it possible these pay increases where already bargained for, you know like the tax cuts were set to expire before Obama was ever elected and now he's getting blamed for wanting to increase taxes?
Yes, I was in two unions Afscme and Opeu. I worked in a very rural area and my position was partially funded by the state of Oregon and partially funded by a federal grant. Most of the time when I had an issue, such as constantly losing comp time the unions fought over who was responsible for me. They both had no problem taking mandatory dues out of my check. After working there less then 2-3 years I gave up on trying to gain back any lost time. Myself, like most of my co-workers just stopped keeping track when called at in the middle of the night.
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Here's an article I found on Obama and federal/military pay raises-
Quote:
President Barack Obama proposed a 2 percent pay increase for civilian workers and a 2.9 percent pay hike for military personnel in fiscal 2010, according to a budget outline released on Thursday.
"As families are tightening their belts in this economic crisis across the country, the president ordered a freeze of White House senior staff pay," the budget stated. "In this budget, federal employees also will be asked to do their part ... bringing federal pay and benefit practices more in line with the private sector."
On the military side, however, Obama proposed increasing pay by nearly 1 percent more in an effort, the document said, to reflect "the priorities of an administration that is committed to caring for the service members who protect our security and the families who support them."
A 2004 law mandates that military pay raises be equal to the change in the Labor Department's annual Employment Cost Index for the private sector's wages. From September 2007 to September 2008, the change in the ECI was 2.9 percent.
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Source
Sounds more like reality then the other article to me.