COMMENTARY | The White House is dodging the "we want your jobs" bad guy image the Republican Party has developed with its desire to slash federal budgets and jobs, by offering contract buyouts and early retirement annuities to federal workers instead of straight layoffs.
According to the Washington Post, the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments gives $25,000 to federal workers for the cessation of their services; while the Voluntary Early Retirement Agreement bribes them into an early retirement by granting them annual annuities, years before they would normally be eligible for them.
Long story made short: The White House and House Republicans are making moves to make a smaller government in part by laying off workers, but one has its program wrapped in nice, face saving euphemisms, and the other is the classic bull in the china shop. The Obama administration's clever plan will allow the president to continue his reign as the middle class hero, while preparing a defense against those who accuse President Obama of too frequently opening up the nation's purse strings.
For the 2012 fiscal year, 12 federal departments will be eligible for VSIP buyouts: Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs.
The same agencies got the go-ahead to continue employing the VERA annuities; however, even with President Obama's plan for a "leaner" military, employees at the Department of Defense will not be faced with the prodding towards an early retirement, according to AFP.
Advocates of a leaner government are not theoretically wrong in their belief the federal budget must shrink. However, many often fail to realize that slash and burn budget tactics will not only end the much-maligned social welfare budgets -- or handouts in tea party speak -- but will also cost thousands of jobs.
According to the Washington Post article, the automatic budget cuts enacted by the bipartisan deficit supercommittee have already shrunk the 15,000 federal jobs the White House expected to create for the 2012 fiscal year. Where these lost jobs are coming from reflects another factoid many who demand the federal government "tighten its belt" fail to realize: shrinking the expenditure of the federal government will not have a major impact on the nation's economic growth.
Cutting federal budgets in some areas -- especially the defense budget that is larger than the next 10 countries' combined according to the president -- is necessary for long term stability, but will not lead to a boom in job creation in the private sector, nor will it bring back jobs outsourced overseas.
While critics of spending on social welfare point to statistics claiming that fact that half of American households are on "entitlement" programs, according to Bloomberg News they ignore the 75 million-strong baby boomer generation, and disregard the fact the staggering number of outsourced manufacturing jobs.
Particularly since the situation was so dire that the President was essentially forced to bribe U.S. companies to ship jobs back to America.
Follow Phillip Warlove on Twitter: @WarloveRevolit
