A roundup of this morning’s must-read budget and economic stories.

“According to a new CBS poll, 33 percent of Americans say they won’t have enough money to cover their holiday spending. I believe these people are called Congress.” – Friday Funnies: 5 jokes about the economyLeno

Last week, taxpayers spent roughly $107 million on Congress.

Last week, taxpayers spent roughly $107 million on Congress.

Today, the President announced a freeze on civilian federal employee salaries for two years, 2011 and 2012. This is evidence of the tough choices that have to be made to control our bloated federal spending.

More than half of Americans say they think that federal workers are overpaid for the work they do, and more than a third think they are less qualified than those working in the private sector, according to a Washington Post poll.

In Fortune magazine, Nina Easton highlights the growing problem of overly generous government pension programs compounding state budget problems.

What you paid
Last week, taxpayers spent roughly $107 million on Congress.

For those who believe higher government spending is the best way to “stimulate” the economy in times of recession, the reasoning goes like this: spending money to put people to work (no matter what the job) will lead to those people to buy more stuff, which in turn will create a larger “demand” for goods, and thereby increase business. This view is based on the theory of John Maynard Keynes, and is held by proponents of Keynesian Economics.

In an op-ed published in The Tampa Tribune on Labor Day, Public Notice’s Executive Director, Gretchen Hamel, argues that the boom in government jobs is not the way to economic recovery.