Negotiating Against Yourself

Negotiating Against Yourself
David Kurtz | November 29, 2010, 11:29AM
A pay freeze for federal workers is the sort of gimmicky deficit reduction measure that you could see using as a bargaining chip in broader negotiations over how to best reduce the deficit. But as a standalone, unilateral concession? It doesn't do much to actually reduce the deficit and it's a shot at a core part of the Democratic base, so why concede it right off the bat?

The DLC-esque Third Way offers its explanation: "The President's announcement today recognizes that we need to take serious action to get the deficit under control, and that we need to take a 'government goes first' approach to build public trust and prepare for the sacrifices we'll need to put our fiscal house in order."

"Government goes first" usually means "Democrats go first" in these negotiations. Republicans then use that concession to redefine the "middle" as further to the right -- at which point Democrats concede again and the whole cycle repeats itself.

Obama's Federal Worker Pay Freeze Was Blasted By Democrats Months Ago
Brian Beutler | November 29, 2010, 12:14PM

President Obama proposed a two year freeze on federal employee compensation today, just ahead of a Tuesday post-election meeting with the GOP leaders. The proposal was originally put forward by Republicans in recent months -- and slammed by Democrats.
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In recent months, Democrats have attacked Republicans for proposing federal pay and hiring freezes, and experts have derided the idea of attacking massive budget deficits with small-fry initiatives like this one.

On the Senate floor in June, now-retired Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-DE) whacked a Republican amendment that would have frozen federal pay as an "assault" against "those who choose to serve."

"Now is not the time to talk about laying off federal workers, or freezing their pay," he said.

To the contrary, a pay freeze is likely to drive top talent out of government work and into more lucrative private sector jobs. "We should be talking, seriously and on this floor, about how to invest in recruiting the next generation of federal employees," Kaufman said.

The same week, Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) called the GOP proposal "arbitrary and restrictive."

And just a week ago, the National Federation of Federal Employees called out Republicans for pushing a pay freeze, and signaled their fear that Obama would join forces with the GOP


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