As Charles S. Clark of Government Executive  writes, three members of the House –  Reps. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Gerry Connolly of Virginia – have requested, by letter, something called a Government Accountability Office study.  They are concerned that “The pay freeze, furloughs and last October’s government shutdown have so deflated the federal workforce” that:

Assuming that this is true, it is interesting that government workers should feel themselves especially put upon when, as has been widely reported, more than half of the population, according to recent polling, believes the economy is still in a recession. And that just one in four Americans believes that the economy will be stronger next year.