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Dinner and a movie is nice before.

Even a 1% COLA would help!! Some of these people are STILL paying out of pocket for medications that aren't covered!

A 0% increase would be better in these economic times for gov. officials. I doubt any of them are hurting too much. They should do without "wants" while the rest of us are dealing without "needs." Do you know where the information was originally obtained? I would like to check out the source. I like to check out the truths of forwards and where they received their information. To much heresy out there.

And they talk about corporate greed.....

I Googled this and found several articles. I googled "pay increases for federal employees." You will find a myriad of articles. Obama had to make a determination of the raise by August 31st. While yes, he approved the 2% increase, you were not told that it was a 3.9% increase last year under the Bush administration. In 2004, it was a 4.1% increase. Check out for yourself and find out what it was other years. From what I have read so far, the feds have had more generous wage increases over the last few years through normal pay parity increases. Obama has been fighting this.You can't blame Obama for the increases that was almost twice as much last year. A year ago when Bush approved 3.9 % our state of the union was in every bit as much jeapordy as it is now. In some ways, even worse. Obama fought them down to 2%. So far I haven't found anything that said he is happy with 2% increase. In the articles, he has actually warned that the state of our nation can not handle these increases and that we can not continue in this course. One article said that fed workers are upset that he lowered it to 2% rather than giving them a larger increase. Yes, I agree, there should be a freeze, but please take a look at the history here. The decrease he fought for will save the country 20 billion dollars. I'm not saying I like everything he is doing, but at least he is trying. I have to give him credit for that. Doing nothing doesn't make the problem go away. We've been playing "Peekaboo" way to long.

Here are some sites.

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Please do not believe forwards that get dropped in inboxes or take the word of what people says or letters to the editor of papers on subjects that have significant importance. Check it out for yourself. Then make a determination. As I said in another post, heresy is truth twisted. I think this is a good case of that.

Different times call for different measures. Captjoe's message is 2010. Other branches of government here in Wisconsin are having wages frozen for 2009 and 2010 and are furloughing many employees for days without pay. Some are facing layoffs. Lots of people have lost jobs in the past year in the private sector, and many companies have DECREASED wages lately. The comparison should be what is going on NOW, not what Bush did in 2004.

this came from a reliable source. I knew that COLA was frozen two weeks ago. He brought it down to 2% and should get kudos? I don't think so. My earnings were down at least 60% from last year. yes, I researched that fact - want to see my bookkeeping? I am working two part time jobs and one seasonal job just to make ends meet. 2% for Federal workers isn't that much, but some of my friends gave up multi-thousands of dollars to keep their jobs.

The one that really pisses me off is the auto increase for legislative, judicial, and executive. To think that Keagan gets a raise for voting party line and not full-filling his campaign promises.
Sorry Maggie, I'm not screaming at you. You are right, you should investigate things that you see on the internet, read in the paper, even hear from the pulpit, but you and I both know this is going to happen when 10% are unemployed, a health care plan will be endorsed that is going to cost each of us a lot of money and we have already poured trillions into a bail out plan that at best fizzled.

Mercer, 3.9% was for year 2009 determined by Bush last year in 2008. We were in this mess in 2008. That's when the determination was made for that increase. Yes, 2% is for 2010. Yes, desperate times were last year too and Bush did nothing. Obama cut it in half. At least he did something.

I'm the last one to tell about lost jobs, wages and no pay, too. Believe me. You don't know what my family has been through.

Ok, I took a look at all the links, nothing in there contradicts anything Captjoe said, in fact it supported what he said. The fed employees are getting raises, social security will not get a COLA increase, and medicare premiums are going up -- so I see nothing incorrect or misleading about his post.

Obama didn't cut anything in half, he shave 0.4% from the recommendation by Congress. Why would anyone say that Obama cut it in half? He just plain did not do that! Talk about incorrect information.