A Paltry Pay Raise For Federal employees

About 1.8 million federal employees would receive a 1.7 percent increase in their basic pay and a 0.5 percent average increase in their locality pay next year under a plan that President Bush sent to Congress yesterday, administration officials said.

    This would be the smallest pay raise that the federal employees have had in 18 years!  Of course, the percentage that they get will depend on where they happen to be living. New York  area employees would get the highest increase at 3.02 percent while  Washington-Baltimore area would get 2.64. the rest would get 1.81 percent.

    That is par for the course is it not? The Senators and the rest of the dopes have gotten much more in their raises every year and we all know that other than  kissing Bush's ass, they have done nothing worth mentioning. Yet the real workers in our government are reduced to the scrapes. there's a surprise!

      Here is the story from WaPo

 

The Dump and Run Congress

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CONGRESS
The Dump and Run Congress

Next week, the 109th Congress returns for a final lame-duck session. With the election over, lawmakers "don't seem inclined to do any work." "In a blend of pique and laziness," members of the House and Senate "intend to show up and pass a continuing resolution to keep the government running at a basic level for a few more weeks." They plan to "dump everything else onto" the 110th Congress and leave Washington "one week earlier than previously anticipated." The current leadership is "preparing to walk away from their most basic constitutional responsibility - passing a budget," to allow themselves to "run out early." After being dumped by the American people, the 109th Congress is now dumping its remaining responsibilities.
PUNTING APPROPRIATIONS: "Conservative congressional leaders are expected to punt the issue of completing spending bills to next year's Congress rather than take the time to piece together the legislation, potentially the final act of the Do-Nothing Congress." The leadership has "decided to punt their annual spending bills until next year," a step that will push "almost a half-trillion dollars of spending bills" on incoming lawmakers. The move would leave the new Congress "with the responsibility of passing the nine remaining spending bills, totaling almost $500 billion for government programs ranging from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to the national parks." Passing the remaining bills should not be this difficult. "In 1994," GovExec.com reports, "when Republicans swept back to power in the House after four decades, there was no spending mess to clean up - all appropriations bills had been enacted by the Democrats before the end of the fiscal year." Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has said he will try to accomplish "what is feasible and achievable," but the delay is a calculated move. "I know a lot of folks just as soon not to see [the spending bills] done this year" to let the next Congress "struggle here next year," Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said.