1) It’s still just a proposal. Congress has to act on it.
2) It only freezes the annual cost of living increase, would be about 1.4% this January.
3) It does not freeze step increases (regular increases within a pay grade), performance bonuses, or higher salary due to a promotion.
In other words, it’s kind of a non-event, even if Obama did his by now-classic ploy of ceding ground and giving in before negotiations had begun.
Except that these workers might be forced to make this sacrifice, while the rich might very well get their tax cuts and by Obama’s orders we’re spending billions upon billions more dollars in Afghanistan than there is any reason to (not to mention the countless other ways in which spending is shifted toward the rich, corrupt, and murderous).