[JoesBro]

You should vote that Bush guy out and give the Democrats a chance.

[Jambjanatan]

Any link to Congress giving themselves a payraise? Or is it general COLA increases?

[LillyPlay]

yes, Imran,

it is (COLA) which occurs automatically unless the House explicitly votes to eliminate it for that year

they get their raises every year regardless of the state of the economy.

Our leadership appears to believe that cost-of-living adjustments make sense for Congressmen, but that cost-of-living adjustments do not make sense for working people making the minimum wage.

[MortgFinsJohnQ]

Originally posted by MikeH
You should vote that Bush guy out and give the Democrats a chance.
hey i think we did that

[Idorsearogele]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
Re: judges. My understanding is that Congress has voted to block any such raises for judges numerous times since 1993, so their pay really is behind the curve. I've no objections to increasing their pay, as I'd rather we attract qualified people to being judges instead of lowballing them on salary. There's no problem attracting judges to the federal bench. My state judges I know would give anything to have lifetime tenure and the status of being a federal judge.

[Trotoleterm]

Hey Boann

I Agree in general

JM

[Serttyfd]

cost of living raises in general are ok...
its just not right.. for right now.
they expect everyone else to tighten their belts...
well what about their own belts?

[BariGrootrego]

Isn't there a trend towards deflation? Commodity prices are down, gas is going for about 40% of what it was earlier in the year, only food is still up.

No sense in COLA.

[Fluivelip]

Let me ask this, if the government can afford stimulus packages, why did they take it in the first place?

[Jorcelirl]

Originally posted by boann
yes, Imran,

it is (COLA) which occurs automatically unless the House explicitly votes to eliminate it for that year

they get their raises every year regardless of the state of the economy.

Our leadership appears to believe that cost-of-living adjustments make sense for Congressmen, but that cost-of-living adjustments do not make sense for working people making the minimum wage. Over 1.8 million civilians work for the federal government (not including postmen). Only 535 of them are congressmen. Most of the rest are working stiffs just like you -- the vast majority of federal workers are not fat cats in pinstripe suits but ordinary secretaries, clerks, and cubicle-dwellers, living paycheck to paycheck and worrying about retirement just like anyone else. That's who'll get the COLA -- which, if it's like the past few years, won't even keep pace with inflation.

Complain about the bailouts; complain about the stimulus package. But spare us the faux-populist indignation over a tiny bit of extra money for working stiffs.

[RerRoktoido]

Rufus is on his was to Kabul. He needs the extra money for kevlar.

[Gogogo]

Yeah, no one better get between me and my Pepsi.

ACK!

[dayclaccikere]

good grief, can't a girl just have a good rant without getting between someone and their pepsi
hey, if you were running the country and doing a piss poor job of it, then i would get between you and your CODA.

average... umm i meant everyday.. the common man, the general worker... certainly nothing average about most of our financial situations.

[WeestDype]

Joe the Common Man

[vladekad]

Originally posted by boann
rufus, it's only congress that i am talking about anyway.

congress .. the ones we voted into their jobs and who are supposed to represent us and pass legislation. the ones who hold the government purse strings. Fine, but the only elaboration you provided when Imran asked was to mention the annual federal COLA adjustment. The COLA adjustment is not "Congress voting itself a raise"; it's an annual, frankly insufficient salary adjustment for all federal workers.

So, if you really are going to write your congressman and senators about this, be clear. Demand that they exempt themselves from this year's COLA adjustment. But demanding that there be no COLA adjustment at all does little harm to Congress while harming exactly the kind of "little guy" you seem to care about.

[Tibaveriafark]

congress tied their raises to the annual COLA raises.

They are federal employees... they didn't tie their raises to it.

[LoohornePharp]

boann is an idiot

[Opislossy]

http://www.ntu.org/main/letters_deta...?letter_id=562


February 01, 2008
Stop Congress's Automatic Pay Hike

Dear Representative:

On behalf of the 362,000 members of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I urge you to cosponsor bipartisan legislation (H.R. 5087) that would prevent an automatic pay increase for Members of Congress in 2009. Rank-and-file Members of Congress currently make an annual salary of $169,300 (more than double the median household income of $78,978 for the Washington, D.C. metro area, including wealthy suburbs). This sum doesn't include taxpayer funds used for lavish pensions, health plans, and generous allowances for travel, staff, and office expenses. In light of mixed economic indicators, Congress should reject an automatic pay hike that would pad a sizeable Congressional compensation package.

How did this auto-pilot pay raise system come about? As explained by Pete Sepp in the NTU Foundation Policy Paper "Congressional Perks: How the Trappings of Office Trap Taxpayers," it didn’t start out this way:

According to Article I of the U.S. Constitution, compensation paid to Members of Congress "shall be ascertained by law." The Founding Fathers intended Congress to set its own pay through the appropriations process, on the supposition that Members would be guided by their own sense of honor. In fact, lawmakers lived without a yearly salary up until 1854, having contented themselves prior to that time with a per-diem system that paid a flat rate for each day Congress was in session.

But thanks to a series of post-war measures, culminating in a 1989 "ethics" law, Members of Congress have sought to avoid accountability for salary hikes. Annual pay raises are now tied to the Labor Department’s Employment Cost Index:

COLAs [Cost of Living Adjustments] now take effect once the TTHUD bill becomes law, although taxpayers would never be able to identify any language in the bill that appears to authorize these pay grabs. Members of Congress would need to specifically vote on, or insert, language blocking the raise if they do not want the increase to occur.

Taxpayers are thus condemned to fight a bizarre annual battle over a COLA whose existence is only recognized when Congress opts to block it.

Even though Members of Congress received automatic pay increases each year between 2000 and 2006, taxpayers were enthused to see the House reject a pay hike for 2007. Our members strongly believe this action should be repeated in 2008. We're counting on you to make a stand against automatic Congressional pay increases by cosponsoring H.R. 5087 and directing the resulting savings toward reducing the deficit.

Sincerely,

Kristina Rasmussen
Director of Government Affairs

[AblemTee]

We're counting on you to make a stand against automatic Congressional pay increases by cosponsoring H.R. 5087 and directing the resulting savings toward reducing the deficit.

By 5 million dollars or so?

Yeah, I'm sure that ~0.0001 % of the federal budget will really help.

[ibupronec]

Eat me.