The two most effective ways to control federal spending: 1)<\/span> Rescind the \u201cBush tax holiday\u201d for the wealthy; restore tax rates for the wealthy to Clinton levels. 2) Bring the troops home from Iraq, Afghanistan as soon as possible. Don\u2019t let Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats fool you; everything else is \u201cwindow dressing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n By all accounts, President Barack Obama had a very successful December, 2010 with the Lame Duck Congress. He did some tricky negotiating with both Republicans and some progressive Democrats and considerable legislation was passed, including a comprehensive act on taxes, unemployment benefits, and more.<\/p>\n However, one of the criticisms of President Obama has been that his negotiating style seems to frequently include the unique tactic of finding items that Republicans might like and \u201cgiving them\u201d to the GOP before the Republicans even ask for them.\u00a0 That\u2019s what happened with the estate tax and with the freeze on civilian workers\u2019 pay.<\/p>\n The freeze on civilian pay is one of those provisions that hits home for the two million federal civilian workers<\/a>. Most of these workers make far less money than their counterparts in the private work force. Most federal workers are willing to sacrifice when it is fair, but it is difficult to understand a civil-service pay freeze when tax breaks for the wealthy continue.<\/p>\n Since the New Deal, labor unions have been the primary advocates for workers. However, union membership has decreased dramatically since business executives and shareholders discovered out-sourcing. But it\u2019s difficult to out-source government and the American Federation of Government Employees<\/a> (AFGE)<\/a> is strong enough to present the American people with the logical objections to the pay freeze.<\/p>\n Recently, the leadership of AFGE sent a letter to its members outlining how the pay freeze hurts the workers far more than it addresses our deficit. National President John Gage points out\u00a0 that employee pay is only a small fraction of federal expenses; even cutting the payroll in half<\/span> [for 2 million workers) would reduce total spending less that 3%.<\/p>\n Is there a disconnect between the idea of imposing a freeze on federal civilian workers while letting Wall Street moguls make as much money in salaries and bonuses as they did prior to the \u201cCollapse of 2008?\u201d \u00a0Here might be an explanation as to why the federal workers take it on the chin and Wall Street gamblers don\u2019t.<\/p>\n