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Obama, Romney Campaigns Clash Over Federal Pay Issue

By: Matt Laslo // July 28, 2012
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The Obama campaign says Romney is seeking to cut pay for federal employees.
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The Obama campaign says Romney is seeking to cut pay for federal employees.

The Obama campaign is accusing its Republican opponent of supporting policies to drastically slash the salaries of federal employees.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has said he wants federal workers to get paid prevailing private sector wages. The Obama campaign says that would mean a 30 to 40 percent pay cut for many government workers in the region.

Ben Labolt, the national press secretary for the Obama campaign, denies they're unfairly attacking Romney, and merely highlighting his own plan.

"This is verbatim from Mitt Romney's spending proposal, which says that federal compensation exceeds private sector levels by as much as 30 to 40 percent, and that it must be corrected," he says.

Romney's economic plan claims it can save $47 billion from aligning federal compensation with that of the private sector, which takes into account not only take home pay, but also benefit packages.

The Romney Campaign didn't respond to numerous interview requests by WAMU 88.5.

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