Debt debate puts federal workers on edge: Employees concerned about pension, health benefits

The Baltimore Sun reports:

As the pitched battle over the nation’s debt crisis shifts to the White House, federal employees in Maryland are bracing for a series of benefit cuts they say would have a devastating effect on the state’s economy.

Months after more than 200,000 federal workers in Maryland were hit with a two-year pay freeze to help reduce a $1.3 trillion budget deficit, many say they now are worried lawmakers are eying government retirement plans and health benefits for cuts in the scramble to strike a deal to raise the debt ceiling.

200,000 federal workers in Maryland. Got that? That's one big voting block for higher taxes and more government spending.