Obama Gives Biden, Congress a Raise

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jilly4ski said:
Except that most other people are not getting raises. In times of plenty yes. But we are not in times of plenty. I know many private sector employees (with unions) who have not received a raise in a few years. More that have lost their jobs due to lay offs/budget cuts. Many are still experiencing furloughs day and weeks. In fact in the private sector payroll (and benefits) are a companies largest liquid liability. (You can’t do much about your fixtures, overhead, and prices of goods, but you can reduce your payroll).
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Exactly. But, federal workers are different. They have an endless supply of money. :cool:
 
Its easy to be generous with other peoples money. Heck that’s the guiding philosophy of the Democratic party.
 
SVP said:
Better in this case to have had an unproductive congress than the utterly over-legislative and destructive congress that gave us Obama care and a ONE TRILLION $ tax hike coming in two days. The fiscal cliff is simple distraction style political theatre from what is really happening, the largest TAX INCREASE in U.S. history.
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I agree and actually breathe a big sigh of relief when I know Congress is in recess when they can temporarily do no more harm!! 😉
 
Once they reach the debt limit, don’t the lawmakers have to work without pay?
 
BlueEyedLady said:
:rolleyes:

It won’t make a difference in the budget and these federal workers are taxpayers too. They also do very difficult and sometimes dangerous jobs. Do you want to be a federal prison guard or work in boarder patrol for example?
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I know these guys. One boarder patrol is a very dear friend… He makes bank. They all do. Not sure if the Fed employees can do the shift trading like they do in state prisons and firehouse. But talk about increasing their wage all by themselves. It’s out of control. Racking up over time, double time because they trade out vaction and days off with each other. It’s crazy… But then that’s state.

Perhaps Obama should have written something with regard to what he wants to happen to the whole of America.

Every gov’t official making more than a certain amount, doesn’t get a raise, while those below get it. It’s as though the gov’t made it so they won’t be impacted by their “rich only pay” tax idea. They pay themselves more, so when they get taxed they notice nothing.

And NO, not everyone gets a pay raise to match inflation. In fact in the last 15 years I have not seen pay raises (as a former HR professional) EVER match inflation.

And when Obama took office I watched many employer either fire, or drop the wages of all employees to keep people employed. My personal experience. In the last 4 years we have not recouped the pay cuts… let alone kept up with inflation. We just happen to be lucky that we weren’t swimming in debt.
 
it seems like biden and congress already make enough money and shouldn’t get a raise right now when so many people are unemployed or working at jobs they are overqualified for and not earning what they could be earning in a healthy economy.
i am surprised obama didn’t give himself a raise, but he seems to be doing okay at the taxpayer’s expense as it is.
 
BlueEyedLady said:
Because inflation is going up and most other people get raises. In not giving the people who do very hard jobs small raises to keep up with inflation or the rest of the country we are doing a disservice to those who work hard to keep our country going. It really isn’t right to do that.

If you want to make meaningful changes on the budget start with the military. But don’t make middle class workers your starting point.
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I don’t have a problem with federal workers getting raises, and I’m fairly sure most people don’t either. They should get raises that match the private sector (which don’t always match inflation, as you’ve claimed). Yet, for Congress to raise their own pay and then to talk to their constituents about the fiscal cliff is just poor timing and frankly, it looks bad. “Yes, we’re about to go off this fiscal cliff where everyone will start to pay more taxes, but we’ll just give ourselves a raise.”
 
SalesianSDB said:
newsmax.com/Newsfront/obama-gives-raises-biden/2012/12/28/id/469363

This picture describes my reaction perfectly
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/307193_393453914076005_84398506_n.png
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You Party people out there…
Are you ready to open your eyes yet?
Does Obama have to actually say it out loud?
Actions speak louder than words.
There is no difference between the political parties.
It is political theater.
Hulk Hogan and the old WWF was more credible.
:cool:
 
Disgusting considering the state of the economy, how many people are out of work and how many have taken huge pay cuts in the last 5 years. :mad:
 
The military is also getting a pay raise…anyone want to tell them they don’t deserve it because we’re facing a fiscal cliff?
 
BlueEyedLady said:
Most people get a yearly raise to at least keep up with inflation, if not reward them for their work in the last year. The thousands of contractors who work with the military, in prisons, on infrastructure, etc deserve the same. Their pay should not be frozen indefinitely because the government is blowing money primarily on our outrageous military spending. Our federal workers are by and large middle class people who deserve to support their families too.

Their pay is just a drop in the ocean, and freezing it is the wrong way to save. (And let’s face it, the money that would be saved is like a family living on 60k a year being excited about finding a nickel in the couch.)
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Most people get a yearly raise to at least keep up with inflation? Rather laughable! Most people I know haven’t gotten any sort of inflation adjusted annual raise. A bonus check perhaps that might translate as equaling a raise that isn’t really a raise in one’s hourly worth. Currently the inflation rate is 1.8%

The raise that is posted in the executive order is around 0.5%
 
Seeker1961 said:
Crystal. It’s “your” money and not even the military that defends your rights have any claim on it.
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No. It’s “our” money, and the federal government has spent more than it has, so it’s also “our” debt. Our country is ruled by We the People, and We the People have a right to expect it not to be overextended and hand out raises when there is no money to give.
 
rlg94086 said:
No. It’s “our” money, and the federal government has spent more than it has, so it’s also “our” debt. Our country is ruled by We the People, and We the People have a right to expect it not to be overextended and hand out raises when there is no money to give.
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Well, since I don’t mind “my” share of “our” money going to give the military and federal workers raises you don’t speak for me. I want working and middle class people to get raises, because we live in a consumer based economy that functions better when the largest number of people have money to spend. When the working and middle class folks get more $$, they buy goods and services, which creates more jobs for other working and middle class folks, which leads to more people paying taxes and being productive members of society and then they buy goods and services and on it goes.

And…I’m not going to tell a soldier that he/she doesn’t deserve a raise-not now, not ever. Or a prison guard. Or the guy who makes sure my food is safe, or that there isn’t anything in the water I drink that’s going to kill me…and so on.

If we could separate Congress from other federal workers who actually do something, you might have me.
 
Seeker1961 said:
Well, since I don’t mind “my” share of “our” money going to give the military and federal workers raises you don’t speak for me. I want working and middle class people to get raises, because we live in a consumer based economy that functions better when the largest number of people have money to spend. When the working and middle class folks get more $$, they buy goods and services, which creates more jobs for other working and middle class folks, which leads to more people paying taxes and being productive members of society and then they buy goods and services and on it goes.

And…I’m not going to tell a soldier that he/she doesn’t deserve a raise-not now, not ever. Or a prison guard. Or the guy who makes sure my food is safe, or that there isn’t anything in the water I drink that’s going to kill me…and so on.

If we could separate Congress from other federal workers who actually do something, you might have me.
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Well, since you are okay with that, perhaps you should donate an additional 10% of your money to the Federal Government, that way you can help cover our growing deficit. 🤷

Meanwhile, our Federal Government is spending even more money, as we go even further into debt. I don’t understand how folks like you are okay with that.
 
rlg94086 said:
Well, since you are okay with that, perhaps you should donate an additional 10% of your money to the Federal Government, that way you can help cover our growing deficit. 🤷

Meanwhile, our Federal Government is spending even more money, as we go even further into debt. I don’t understand how folks like you are okay with that.
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And I don’t understand why the people who are asked to make all the sacrifices are the poor, and the middle class and how everyone is just ok with that. I don’t understand how anyone can fail to understand that as the working and middle class (the majority of the country) loses spending power, there is less demand for goods and services, leading to fewer jobs and fewer people paying taxes and providing revenue into the government.

And that whole “just send more of YOUR money to the government” thing sounds really smart when posted on a message board but it’s been debunked thoroughly by economics experts on those pesky non-opinion factual sites.
 
Seeker1961 said:
And I don’t understand why the people who are asked to make all the sacrifices are the poor, and the middle class and how everyone is just ok with that. I don’t understand how anyone can fail to understand that as the working and middle class (the majority of the country) loses spending power, there is less demand for goods and services, leading to fewer jobs and fewer people paying taxes and providing revenue into the government.

And that whole “just send more of YOUR money to the government” thing sounds really smart when posted on a message board but it’s been debunked thoroughly by economics experts on those pesky non-opinion factual sites.
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Okay…but “your tax money” that you are okay with going to these raises doesn’t exist. It’s already been spent. There is no money. What you are okay with is more and more debt. And, yes, there are sacrifices that have to be made when we have no money. Perhaps, you’ve never been in that situation. I’ve lived it and am living it.
 
Well of course with the tax increases for those making over $250k coming soon, Obama wanted to make sure that the “connected” people didn’t suffer any. The Soviet Union was less corrupt than this guy.
 
Seeker1961 said:
And I don’t understand why the people who are asked to make all the sacrifices are the poor, and the middle class and how everyone is just ok with that. I don’t understand how anyone can fail to understand that as the working and middle class (the majority of the country) loses spending power, there is less demand for goods and services, leading to fewer jobs and fewer people paying taxes and providing revenue into the government.
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Btw…that is just silly. We are talking about federal employees who are paid from taxes, and you are arguing that by not paying them more, we will have less revenue coming in to the government. You may want to look at the math in that equation.

Or, perhaps your solution is to have everyone work for the government? That way, we all get raises, revenue increases, everyone has job security, etc. Yay! 😛
 
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