Feeling lonely? Defense by the numbers

Do you know how many fellow federal workers live in your city, your congressional district, your state? Probably not. At least not off the top of your head. But you might want to bone up on the subject.

Point being there may be more fellow feds (all old enough to vote) and retirees in your neighborhood than you think. And that’s a point that should be driven home to members of the House and Senate. Especially newcomers who come in with an agenda to whack federal spending — often taking it out of the hides of flesh-and-blood people. Like you.

Texas, California, Ohio and Florida have huge numbers of federal workers. And retirees. So do New York and Pennsylvania. Those states are critical to anyone running for the presidency. But they also have huge numbers of people who don’t work for the government. The difference is that all feds/retirees are old enough to vote, and are probably better educated (maybe paid) than many of their neighbors. And fellow voters, or non-voters!

But there are some smaller population states where feds are a big chunk of the voting population. Maryland, for example, has 5.9 million people and about 306,000 feds. Maryland is a solid blue state (except for the surprise election of a GOP governor last November).

Utah is a red state. It has 2.9 million people, and about 68,000 feds. Uncle Sam is a very, very important tenant to the state in terms of salaries, rent and stability. Ogden is not exactly a household word in most parts of the country. But in Utah it is fed city. If you have a job in Ogden, odds are it is with the IRS, the Air Force or the Interior or Agriculture departments. That could be important information for Rep. Jason Chavetz (R-Utah), if he plans to seek higher (Senate/governor) statewide office. Chavetz, whose home base is Provo, now heads the House committee that handles/initiates/kills most legislation impacting the pay, pensions and jobs of federal workers. And retirees.

Virginia and North Carolina are, according to many pundits, Democratic but increasingly tending to Republican. Purple rather than solid Red or Blue. But Old Dominion politicians, especially in the heavily-populated bedroom counties around D.C, know and love feds whether they are Republican or Democratic.

According to long-time Congress watchers, this is the earliest (and more fierce) attack on members of the federal family. Both the House and Senate have come after feds earlier, and with more proposed cuts, than at any time in memory.

Money-saving changes are well known to many feds. Many have been proposed before. Some are brand-new. What is different this time, maybe, is how quickly Congress is moving. Proposed changes include:

• Calculate future retirement benefits on the basis of the employees highest five-year average salary (instead of the high-three).
• Eliminate the defined benefit (FERS) component of the current retirement system. Employees would finance their future retirement via contributions to the TSP and Social Security.
• Require workers and retirees to pay a bigger chunk of their health premiums, and force workers to kick in more for their retirement benefits.

If the past is prologue, most of these threats will fall by the wayside. But many pro-fed lobbyists say this year things may be different. So, do a headcount in your area and let your elected leaders (even if you don’t like them) know you are out there. Can’t hurt!

Nearly Useless Factoid by Michael O’Connell

The phrase, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you,” comes from the novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

(Source: Good Reads)

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