Obama signed an executive order lifting the federal worker's pay freeze. Stu, you haven't thanked him publicly yet. Just wondering why you haven't acknowledged your new found wealth. Hum?
Because it hasn't happened. And I don't expect it to. That is the way it works when you implement these kinds of populist things in the first place. They are very hard to take back. Just like 'temporary' tax cuts and 'stimulus' spending. Of course, the politicians know this when they call for them to be enacted and when they call for them to be lifted...but it makes for good politics anyway. But that is alright. I am ok with being one of the few middle class people to 'sacrifice' for the country while you rich people keep get richer from the Bush's tax cuts. I'll let you know if I ever see it in my check, though. Check back with me at the end of March/beginning of April.
Someone will have to pay for those salary increases: Obama supporters shocked, angry at new tax increases Sometimes, watching a Democrat learn something is wonderful, like seeing the family dog finally sit and stay at your command.With President Obama back in office and his life-saving “fiscal cliff” bill jammed through Congress, the new year has brought a surprising turn of events for his sycophantic supporters. “What happened that my Social Security withholding’s in my paycheck just went up?” a poster wrote on the liberal site DemocraticUnderground.com. “My paycheck just went down by an amount that I don’t feel comfortable with. I guarantee this decrease is gonna’ hurt me more than the increase in income taxes will hurt those making over 400 grand. What happened?”Shocker. Democrats who supported the president’s re-election just had NO idea that his steadfast pledge to raise taxes meant that he was really going to raise taxes. They thought he planned to just hit those filthy “1 percenters,” you know, the ones who earned fortunes through their inventiveness and hard work. They thought the free ride would continue forever. So this week, as taxes went up for millions of Americans — which Republicans predicted throughout the campaign would happen — it was fun to watch the agoggery of the left. “I know to expect between $93 and $94 less in my paycheck on the 15th,” wrote the ironically named “RomneyLies.” “My boyfriend has had a lot of expenses and is feeling squeezed right now, and having his paycheck shrink really didn’t help,” wrote “DemocratToTheEnd.” “BlueIndyBlue” added: “Many of my friends didn’t realize it, either. Our payroll department didn’t do a good job of explaining the coming changes.” So let’s explain something to our ill-informed Democratic friends. In 2009, Mr. Obama enacted a “holiday” on the payroll tax deduction from employees’ paychecks, dropping the rate from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. But like the holidays, the drop ended, and like New Year‘s, the revelers woke up the next morning with a massive hangover and a pounding head. “Bake,” who may have been trolling the site, jumped into the thread posted Friday. “My paycheck just went down. So did my wife’s. This hurts us. But everybody says it’s a good thing, so I guess we just suck it up and get used to it. I call it a tax increase on the middle class. I wonder what they call it. Somebody on this thread called it a ‘premium.’ Nope. It’s a tax, and it just went up.” Some in the thread argued that the new tax — or the end of the “holiday,” which makes it a new tax — wouldn’t really amount to much. One calculated it would cost about $86 a month for most people. “Honeycombe8,” though, said that amount is nothing to sneeze at. “$86 a month is a lot. That would pay for … Groceries for a week, as someone said. More than what I pay for parking every month, after my employer’s contribution to that. A new computer after a year. A new quality pair of shoes … every month. Months of my copay for my hormones. A new thick coat (on sale or at discount place). It would pay for what I spend on my dogs every month … food, vitamins, treats.” The Twittersphere was even funnier. “Really, how am I ever supposed to pay off my student loans if my already small paycheck keeps getting smaller? Help a sister out, Obama,” wrote “Meet Virginia.” “Nancy Thongkham” was much more furious. “F***ing Obama! F*** you! This taking out more taxes s*** better f***ing help me out!! Very upset to see my paycheck less today!” Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...hocked-angry-new-tax-increases/#ixzz2HJ1pm9yH
At some point, they will add back in Cost Of Living raises (which is what they did away with). I expect it will be another year or two. For my VA, at least, it is seeming to be tougher to keep people when their pay will not even keep up with inflation. Not too many people want to make less every year in real dollars. Good nurses already have a high turn over rate and when you can't keep people or get quality applicants, the level of care to the Veterans will go down. In my job, we are having a real hard time finding qualified candidates to apply for a new position. Is that the pay freeze and the general disregard for federal workers or something else? I don't know. I just know the level of candidates is not good. And, yes, someone will have to pay for those raises. But if you are going to keep paying to send soldiers off to war to get broken - both mentally and physically - the least you can do is pay up when it comes time to try and fix them when they get back.
