Pay Freeze to Extend Payroll Tax Reduction

[MakeMe$$$$]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/69423.html#ixzz1fDqBK4Uz

A couple thoughts to toss out if I have this figured out correctly. In the comparison of this plan vs. a pay freeze and loss of the reduced payroll tax I see

1. FERS...not such a hit since ya'll pay SS Tax. Still a freeze of pay but not the double whammy of also having the extra payroll tax taken out. Status Quo. HOWEVER...if the payroll tax was also returned to previous levels...a bit of a pay cut.

2. CSRS...total freeze since ya'll don't pay SS TAx. Status Quo

Further more, plays towards a de facto "high 5" giving time to enact it for real.

Am I missing something?

[BigMike]

I have a real problem with the idea of paying for the SS Tax cuts for everyone in the country solely on the backs of the Federal workers by freezing our pay.

Congress is the one that failed to do their job and cut the deficit. Therefore the consequence they set up of the automatic triggers should go into effect. Period.

If that brings enough pain then they will reap what they sow and suffer the consequences of their actions. I suspect that would get them all ran out of town (rightly so). The country will be better off in the long run.

If Congress now wants to renege on the deal and find a bill payer just for extending the SS Tax cuts for everyone I would be ok with that as long as they find someplace reasonable to cut at least that much spending. Putting it all on the backs of Federal workers seems awfully expedient as opposed to reasonable.

How about each one of them taking a 10% pay cut to help pay for the SS tax cuts. That would at least show that they accepted some responsibility and penalty for not doing their job.

My other ideas which everyone can decide whether or not they agree with would be to stop any and all Federal entitlements to illegal aliens, a moratorium on sending foreign aid to some of our enemies, slashing the budget of the useless ineffective Energy Department, etc., etc. Don't like my list fine. I am sure you could make your own list. The point is cut x dollars worth out of the budget!

Whoops. Finding ways of cutting spending was what they were supposed to do to start with wasn't it? Guess that is just too tough. The "Let's have Federal workers pay the bill" mantra is getting old.

The whole creation of the so called Super Committee to get the debt ceiling raised while kicking the can down the road on finding spending cuts was always just a ruse. They knew it and we should have too.

I know that with as many Federal employees as there are on this site we could make a list of hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars that are wasted each year by the Federal Government. What about all of the rush by every agency to spend each and every remaining dollar at the end of each physical year on just literally anything (because if you don't spend it you won't get funded as much next year). Waste-Waste-Waste!!!

Enough ranting from me.

I wouldn't actually mind a freeze on my pay or even a small pay cut if (and this is a big if) I knew they would cut their spending and reduce the deficit a commensurate amount. It goes back to the old willing to sacrifice for the greater good. Spread the pain around and all that...

But I know they won't do it! So I say "Leave my pay and benefits alone." Make everyone pay equally for the lousy representatives we elected!

[sludg]

My views are freeze the pay of congress until they come up with a solution for our debt. Don't give them a single penny until they do. When they start to feel what they impose on us maybe they can finally put the party rivalry aside and come up with a plan to help the country instead of their election spot for another term. The fighting between Democrats and Republicans is what is hindering us the most from stabalizing our debt situation. I'm not for either side as they both tend to piss me off on different areas but i'm not looking to debate politics with anyone... Both sides have presented decent bills for reducing our debt and when it comes to a vote if their party didn't suggest it they won't accept it.

The president (i know everyone thinks he's worthless) but he has proposed multiple bills to reduce our debt which gets shot down every single time it is presented. If Obama were to be elected at a different time I think he would have gone down as a really good president but due to the fact he walked into a mess left by Bush and a country in shambles, I think he has done not that bad of a job.

We need to dismantle political parties and allow people to think for themselves and make decisions based on the information presented instead of what the "conservative" or "liberal" should think. Of all the candidates for 2012 so far the only logical one is Ron Paul (no i'm not on the RP bandwagon) he just seems to be the only one with a logical plan to help our country.

[flight23]

Congressional pay should be capped at some reasonable multiple of average worker pay for the prior year. That would force them to look out for the average person.

[Pocono13]

Frankly, I don't understand why Congress does not take a pay cut. It would make them look like they are sacrificing. They can always make it up with a little insider trading.

[Jahbulon]

A little insider trading!? They were probably fully invested at the close of business Friday night!

[BU53R]

The project has been retired but if you go through the list, most congressmen wouldnt care about a pay cut, they made their money before going after power.

http://sunlightfoundation.com/projects/ ... 5/I000056/

[MakeMe$$$$]

Well...not this time? Wasn't even a close vote.

http://federaldaily.com/articles/2011/12/02/bill-to-fund-payroll-tax-cut-by-extending-pay-freeze-fails-in-senate.aspx?s=FD_021211

Well Fed employees take more freezes?

http://federaldaily.com/blogs/management-matters/2011/12/have-feds-had-enough.aspx?s=FD_021211

[BigMike]

Reminds me of the end of a mortar attack. It gets real quiet, until the attack starts up again!

[m.eddy]

AFGE or NTEU get involved. NTEU has TEPAC. You have to make your voice heard!!!

[MakeMe$$$$]

Still "not off the table"

http://www.fedsmith.com/article/3209/pay-freeze-federal-employees-not-off.html

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/69795.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/05/obama-to-urge-republicans-to-pass-payroll-tax-cut/

[MakeMe$$$$]

Freeze defeated but will probably keep coming back in different pieces.

http://fcw.com/articles/2011/12/05/extended-pay-freeze-still-likely.aspx

[flight23]

Thanks for the updates

[BigMike]

Thanks for the info. I think this article's projection of continued attacks against Federal worker's benefits is accurate. It is politics pure and simple and since we are in an election year I do not see any "withering fire" on the horizon.

Personally I would trade an extended pay freeze for a little bit of that Congressional insider trading info. I am hoping that in the next bill that has a Federal worker pay freeze in it someone puts an amendment against it that says that the Congressional rules that allow Congressional Members to act freely on insider information will be extended to cover all Federal workers. That would be a nice trade off.

The problem with pay freezes is that the cumulative effect of them is a major contributing factor that exacerbates the divide between the haves, the middle-class and the have-nots.

Percentages are fascinating. If you make 100K and someone else makes 50K as long as both incomes always increase at the same percentage the relative difference will remain the same. If you hold the lower income static but apply your percentage (cost of living/inflation factor) to the higher income the relative relationship and value associated is immediately skewed. It is amazing how if this is repeated the compounding that occurs will rapidly create a situation that we are experiencing now where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Goes along with the age old adage that it takes money to make money!

We aren't talking here about fighting for Federal employees to get bonuses or raises here we are only talking about getting a small cost of living increase that keeps them caught up with inflation. By denying them a cost of living raise it is in reality a pay cut!

[MakeMe$$$$]

Some of the positions being put out there to pay for the tax holiday.



BigMike...for you, the latest on STOCK (without trying to drift off topic too much)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-12-06/insider-trading-bill-congress/51683824/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomWashington-TopStories+%28News+-+Washington+-+Top+Stories%29