Man With Obama Mask Robs Banks Demands Change

VIENNA—Say, isn’t that the president with a gun in his hand? Actually, no, but it sure looks like it.Austrian authorities are searching for a bank robber who uses an unusual disguise: He wears a Barack Obama mask during his holdups.

Police say the man, nicknamed the “Obama Robber” by local media, is wanted for six heists since 2008. The most recent took place Thursday in the hamlet of Handenberg, where the Obama-resembling suspect made off with an undisclosed amount of money after threatening bank employees with a gun.

Police official Markus Mitloehner said Friday that the man is thought to be a local since he speaks the regional dialect—with nary a trace of Obama’s more professorial accent.

Read more: Veto this: Armed “Obama robber” hits Austria banks – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/watercooler/ci_17157868#ixzz1BjREbJxw

Cutting Federal Pay

President Obama walks in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010, towards the East Room for a news conference the day after the midterm elections. (AP)

President Obama is stuck between a rock and a hard place, as newly empowered House Republicans unleash a torrent of proposals to shrink the size of government and following a series of reports that show federal workers increasing in numbers and salary.

Obama may have to choose between satisfying his base or placating independents who moved overwhelming into the Republican camp in the midterm elections two weeks ago based in part on their frustration over the growth of government in the past two years. 

While slashing the government will be a top priority for Republicans in the next Congress, 60 percent of the federal workforce is represented by the labor unions that helped sweep the president into power two years ago. 

“The calculation he has to make is how much he wants to bring that swing vote back,” said Matrick Masters, a national labor expert and a professor of business and political science at Wayne State University.

via FoxNews