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Obama Orders Raise for Biden, Members of Congress, Federal W

cutterone

Well-known member
Obama Orders Raise for Biden, Members of Congress, Federal Workers
12:50 PM, Dec 28, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER
President Barack Obama issued an executive order to end the pay freeze on federal employees, in effect giving some federal workers a raise. One federal worker now to receive a pay increase is Vice President Joe Biden.

According to disclosure forms, Biden made a cool $225,521 last year. After the pay increase, he'll now make $231,900 per year.

Members of Congress, from the House and Senate, also will receive a little bump, as their annual salary will go from $174,000 to 174,900. Leadership in Congress, including the speaker of the House, will likewise get an increase.

Here's the list of new wages, as attached to President Obama's executive order:



"A new executive order has been issued providing for a new pay schedule beginning 'on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning after March 27, 2013,'" reports FedSmith.com. "The pay raise will generally be about 1/2 of 1%."


"Not much of an increase, but an increase all the same," Bier notes.

And the timing isn't great either: Just as President Obama and Congress try to avert going over the "fiscal cliff," he doles out pay increases to federal workers

www.weeklystandard.com
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
This is WRONG!!


If anything Congress should either freeze their pay at it's current level OR take (a percentage equal to the amt that would be their raise) a cut in their pay.

With this I do not agree
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
FACT: The raise is for ALL federal workers, of which Congress happens to be only one part of that.


I know that the word FACT is confusing to many here......but look'r up you'll be surprised that it's NOT an evil word.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Yeah-- I'm kind of split on this one too... While Congress hasn't earned their wage for the last few years- I do agree that you have to give raises to the other federal employees or you start losing good employees (and losing hundreds of thousands of $ worth of training costs)....

I'm really seeing this in our area now- where the state has frozen raises for years- and they are having folks jump ship to the higher paying private and local wages... We just had a District Brand Inspector (with about 10 years experience and training) jump ship and go to the Sheriff's Dept (which has had to raise salaries 9% this year to keep people from going to the private jobs (Bakken)... Williston really had to raise salaries... And the initial training cost for this B.I. is over $100,000...The only thing keeping many is their longtime investment into the state retirement system...

Another issue that some may know better than me- is that I've had several tell me that in some areas of the country ( NYC/D.C. ) that a $200,000 salary is almost starvation/foodstamp wage-- as the cost of living there is so high...That if you are not already a millionaire- its tough for Congressmen to live in the D.C. area on the salary they get...
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
Pretty well shot to he77 the extention of the freeze on federal wages he himself signed in August but I guess "executive order" gives him power to step all over LAW.

President extends federal pay freeze
By Lisa Rein,August 21, 2012
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President Obama told congressional leaders Tuesday that he is extending a two-year pay freeze for federal employees until at least next spring because Congress has not agreed on a budget for the next fiscal year.

The freeze will stay in effect until a spending plan is passed, but the presidential election makes it unlikely that will happen before the start of fiscal 2013 on Oct. 1. As a result, the president is required by the end of August to come up with an “alternative pay plan” to avoid a legal trigger that would automatically raise federal pay in line with private-sector salaries. The alternative pay plan is usually a routine event signaling that Congress and the White House have agreed on a salary increase for federal workers.

With no budget, the freeze will stay in place until at least April, when a short-term spending deal that congressional leaders reached before their August recess to fund the government for six months runs out. The short-term agreement keeps spending at current levels and is silent on the federal pay freeze.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders, the president reiterated his support for ending the pay freeze with a 0.5 percent raise, to take effect Jan. 1, 2013, that he proposed early this year.

“Civilian federal employees have already made significant sacrifices as a result of a two-year pay freeze,” Obama wrote. “As our country continues to recover from serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare, however, we must maintain efforts to keep our nation on a sustainable fiscal course. This is an effort that continues to require tough choices and each of us to do our fair share.”

Union leaders were furious, calling the decision to extend an already drawn-out pay freeze unjustified.

“The well is dry, Mr. President,” J. David Cox Sr., the newly elected president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in an interview.


“This is a president who has said he wants to end the freeze,” Cox said. “It’s unconscionable.” AFGE is the largest federal employee union.

The temporary spending agreement does not resolve an election-year debate between Democrats and Republicans on the scope and cost of government and how much federal employees should sacrifice during an economic downturn.

Under a law passed in 2010, salary rates are frozen for 2011 and 2012, although employees still can get raises upon promotion, as a performance reward or as they advance up the steps of their pay grades.

Cox said he and other union leaders had hoped the president would end the freeze by imposing the 0.5 percent raise, although the additional cost under the current budget would have required federal agencies to rein in their spending to compensate.

Cox called on the administration to negotiate a freeze in health-care premiums that would otherwise increase in January 2013.

“Federal employees cannot afford another four months or even another day of frozen wages,” Cox said. “The Veterans Administration nursing assistant struggling on less than $30,000 per year has already lost almost $2,000 during the last two years, while still facing rising health insurance premiums and annual increases in rent, child care and grocery prices.”


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gmacbeef

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Yeah-- I'm kind of split on this one too... While Congress hasn't earned their wage for the last few years- I do agree that you have to give raises to the other federal employees or you start losing good employees (and losing hundreds of thousands of $ worth of training costs)....

I'm really seeing this in our area now- where the state has frozen raises for years- and they are having folks jump ship to the higher paying private and local wages... We just had a District Brand Inspector (with about 10 years experience and training) jump ship and go to the Sheriff's Dept (which has had to raise salaries 9% this year to keep people from going to the private jobs (Bakken)... Williston really had to raise salaries... And the initial training cost for this B.I. is over $100,000...The only thing keeping many is their longtime investment into the state retirement system...

Another issue that some may know better than me- is that I've had several tell me that in some areas of the country ( NYC/D.C. ) that a $200,000 salary is almost starvation/foodstamp wage-- as the cost of living there is so high...That if you are not already a millionaire- its tough for Congressmen to live in the D.C. area on the salary they get...

O.T. You are much more ignorant than I thought. Name for me 10 "GOOD" people in Washington, that we couldn't find a replacement for . That's the same B.S. excuse they try to use over here when they let people do the "double dip " or retire /rehire. You let them leave & hire someone capable for less money. There are only so many high paying Private sector jobs.
 

Steve

Well-known member
Another issue that some may know better than me- is that I've had several tell me that in some areas of the country ( NYC/D.C. ) that a $200,000 salary is almost starvation/foodstamp wage-- as the cost of living there is so high...That if you are not already a millionaire- its tough for Congressmen to live in the D.C. area on the salary they get...

for the new congressman who has a family at home and needs to support himself in DC it is often difficult to live in two locations.. but for most the salary is not their only source of income.. and the allowances (perks) make up for the trouble..

as for federal workers.. even $200,000 is plenty to live well in a high cost area.. for those not making that get a COLA or cost of living allowance.. besides most can easily commute from a lower cost nearby area.

while the economy may be good in eastern Montana.. it is not in most of the country and for every open job there are often hundreds of qualified applications.. so let them quit..

a friend who does hiring for the federal government in the Northeast says his most difficult task is separating the well qualified from the grossly over qualified.. as he is flooded with applications for every job..
 
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