Obama Announces Plan to Trim Civilian Pay Raise

Message Share Topic Printable Version Google Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Windows Live Yahoo Bookmarks reddit Facebook MySpace Newsvine Furl Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic

   Citing the economic downturn and the skyrocketing federal budget, President Obama on Aug. 31 sent Congress a letter announcing his intention to trim the Jan. 1 pay raise scheduled for most federal employees from 2.4 percent to 2 percent. In his letter, Obama cited Title 5 of the U.S. Code, which he said authorizes him to implement an alternative pay plan if he judges the pay adjustments to be inappropriate due to �national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare.� Obama claimed that such an emergency as defined in that law has existed since 9/11. Obama also noted that �few would disagree that our country is facing serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare,� and that �growth in federal requirements is straining the federal budget.� But, in the days since the announcement, several federal employees� unions have strongly disagreed with the president�s call for reducing federal pay increases. �Bringing federal pay and benefit practices more in line with the private sector would in fact require a hefty pay increase for federal workers,� William R. Dougan, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), told Federal Daily. �Federal workers do their part to keep the federal budget down every day when they accept substantially less compensation to do the same work as their counterparts in the private sector." To see more, go to: www.nteu.org or www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Letter-from-the-President-to-the-Speaker-of-the-House-8/31/09/.

Author	Message Share Topic Printable Version Google Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Windows Live Yahoo Bookmarks reddit Facebook MySpace Newsvine Furl Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic
Admin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 19 Jul 2001 Posts: 553	Post Options Post Reply Quote Admin Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Obama Announces Plan to Trim Civilian Pay Raise Posted: 08 Sep 2009 at 1:09pm
	Citing the economic downturn and the skyrocketing federal budget, President Obama on Aug. 31 sent Congress a letter announcing his intention to trim the Jan. 1 pay raise scheduled for most federal employees from 2.4 percent to 2 percent. In his letter, Obama cited Title 5 of the U.S. Code, which he said authorizes him to implement an alternative pay plan if he judges the pay adjustments to be inappropriate due to �national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare.� Obama claimed that such an emergency as defined in that law has existed since 9/11. Obama also noted that �few would disagree that our country is facing serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare,� and that �growth in federal requirements is straining the federal budget.� But, in the days since the announcement, several federal employees� unions have strongly disagreed with the president�s call for reducing federal pay increases. �Bringing federal pay and benefit practices more in line with the private sector would in fact require a hefty pay increase for federal workers,� William R. Dougan, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), told Federal Daily. �Federal workers do their part to keep the federal budget down every day when they accept substantially less compensation to do the same work as their counterparts in the private sector." To see more, go to: www.nteu.org or www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Letter-from-the-President-to-the-Speaker-of-the-House-8/31/09/.

Red223 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 26 Jun 2007 Posts: 379	Post Options Post Reply Quote Red223 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 Sep 2009 at 8:45am
	ObamaCare is actually a Flat Tax disguised as HealthCare that would have saved the Federal Government a fortune because then they wouldn't have to fund Civil Service Healthcare and GI's Tricare. We'd pay for it ourselves with an additional flat tax.

darster Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Advisor Joined: 08 Oct 2008 Posts: 151	Post Options Post Reply Quote darster Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 Sep 2009 at 11:04am
	With the government in debt $13 trillion, there no longer is a way to "spend" our way out of this mess. Unfortunately for all Americans, the only way to right this ship which has been sinking since the 60s, is to raise taxes dramatically and cut government entitlements and budgets until we are no longer sinking. However, we have no leader who has the courage to be openly honest with the American people, until our next collapse, which will be our final. For the last 40 years each party when the minority has be saying that the other will lead us to gloom and doom. Well guess what, because of both parties inabilities to reign in spending, it has arrived.

elgallo2 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 638	Post Options Post Reply Quote elgallo2 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 14 Sep 2009 at 12:02pm
	545 PEOPLE By Charlie Reese Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits? Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does... You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does. One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank. I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-pickingthing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes. Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to. It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair... If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red .. If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way. There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!