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President Barack Obama issued an executive order to end the pay freeze on federal employees, in effect giving some federal workers a raise. One federal worker now to receive a pay increase is Vice President Joe Biden.

Playing the presidential card has paid off for Donald Trump. The real-estate mogul and reality-TV host -- who kept viewers and the NBC network guessing until the last minute whether he would make a serious run at the Oval Office -- got a sizeable pay raise to renew his contract to host "The Celebrity Apprentice" for another two years. NBC Universal, which was acquired by cable-TV giant Comcast this year, agreed to pay Trump and co-producer Mark Burnett an estimated $160 million over two years, according to sources familiar with the contract. Trump, who was in Scotland yesterday touting his...

Guess who is getting a pay raise? Who least deserves a pay raise? Obama is proposing that those who deserve it the least, federal employees should get a 1.4% pay increase while millions of Americans are out of work and struggling to pay taxes. Taxes that Obama is trying to increase. To further salt the wound for taxpayers, the Census Bureau reports that in 2009 Federal Employees earned on average 21% more than workers in the private sector, (ibid). The

America Needs a Take-Home Pay Raise by Newt Gingrich (more by this author) Posted 07/29/2009 ET It’s a frustration I hear all the time. With the mainstream media, Washington insiders and the so-called “experts” in elite universities all singing off the same leftwing song sheet, there is a desperate need for the facts and the arguments that support time honored American values and principles that lead to safety, prosperity and freedom. The Left can rely on the mainstream media to put out the spin it needs. Meanwhile, Americans are exposed to far fewer voices that explain why America has been...

GRANTS PASS, Or. -- Even though the raises are in the budget, a group of Grants Pass city employees says higher salaries would be unseemly. Members of the Grants Pass Employee Association have told city officials they'll forgo 2.5 percent cost of living adjustments due with the new year. Association leaders say the members looked at the overall economy and the layoffs among major local employers and decided they didn't want their friends and neighbors to see them as grabbing money. The decision is expected to save the city at least $87,000. Assistant City Manager Laurel Samson said nearly 100...

San Francisco - In a statement given today to the SF Chronicle, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress deserves a bailout because of inordinate personal expenses involved with running the country. "Anyone who has spent any time in the Washington, D.C. area knows how expensive it is to live there. Most of us have to maintain two homes, one in our home district and one there. Why sometimes, as outrageous as it sounds, we have to be away from our families up to 8 hours a day. Compensation is required for this inconvenience. We feel honored to request a bailout...

From the "You've got to be (expleteive) idding me" file ...The Congress of the United States of America, which (if you weren't aware) is controlled by Democrats, did precisely what any responsibly conscientious legislative body should do in the midst of a sweeping economic crisis ... they gave themselves a pay raise.Jordy Yager from The Hill writes: A crumbling economy, more than 2 million constituents who have lost their jobs this year, and congressional demands of CEOs to work for free did not convince lawmakers to freeze their own pay.Instead, they will get a $4,700 pay increase, amounting to an...

In the past, whenever I heard that Congress had voted itself a raise (Shh! Don’t spread the news around, Comrade!), I shrugged it off. “Nice work if you can get,” was my basic reaction. I did not think highly of members of Congress as a group–a preening bunch of socialistically-inclined bureaucrats, most of them, I thought–but they were necessary, as in a “necessary evil.” Somebody had to mind the wheels of gummint, and better they than I. Somehow it was different this time. The sotto voce announcement that Congress, after wagging their collective head over executive pay and perks, decided...

Leading The News With economy in shambles, Congress gets a raise By Jordy Yager Posted: 12/17/08 05:41 PM [ET] A crumbling economy, more than 2 million constituents who have lost their jobs this year, and congressional demands of CEOs to work for free did not convince lawmakers to freeze their own pay. Instead, they will get a $4,700 pay increase, amounting to an additional $2.5 million that taxpayers will spend on congressional salaries, and watchdog groups are not happy about it. "As lawmakers make a big show of forcing auto executives to accept just $1 a year in salary, they...

A crumbling economy, more than 2 million constituents who have lost their jobs this year, and congressional demands of CEOs to work for free did not convince lawmakers to freeze their own pay. Instead, they will get a $4,700 pay increase, amounting to an additional $2.5 million that taxpayers will spend on congressional salaries, and watchdog groups are not happy about it. “As lawmakers make a big show of forcing auto executives to accept just $1 a year in salary, they are quietly raiding the vault for their own personal gain,” said Daniel O’Connell, chairman of The Senior Citizens League...

Will you be getting a pay raise next year? No, I didn’t think so. Well, guess who will be getting a little something extra in their direct deposits in a couple of weeks? The U.S. Congress - all 535 of those sticky-fingered windbags.

A crumbling economy, more than 2 million constituents who have lost their jobs this year, and congressional demands of CEOs to work for free did not convince lawmakers to freeze their own pay. Instead, they will get a $4,700 pay increase, amounting to an additional $2.5 million that taxpayers will spend on congressional salaries, and watchdog groups are not happy about it. “As lawmakers make a big show of forcing auto executives to accept just $1 a year in salary, they are quietly raiding the vault for their own personal gain,” said Daniel O’Connell, chairman of The Senior Citizens League...

Politicians in Louisiana are suddenly discovering a sudden, hitherto unnoticed, urge to retire from public life and become private citizens once again. This eureka moment for about 140 (and growing by the hour!) politicians just “happens” to coincide with the approach of the date when Louisiana’s new ethics laws will come into effect. Perhaps the politicians are nervous—and for good cause. A 1996-2007 study of all states with a population greater-than 2 million found Louisiana to be the most corrupt state, based on public official convictions. The average between the 35 states surveyed was just under 3 convictions per 100,000...

Gov. Bobby Jindal will have to repair his credibility after reneging on his promise to lawmakers not to veto a pay raise doubling their salaries, some of his key legislative leaders said Tuesday. Senate President Joel Chaisson II, D-Destrehan, and House Speaker Pro Tem Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, said Jindal's sudden about-face on the pay raise will make it hard for some lawmakers to believe him in the future. "He needs to rebuild trust and do a better job of articulating his position," said Chaisson, who promised he will continue to work with the governor on key issues for...

Area lawmakers who opposed raising their pay praised Gov. Bobby Jindal’s veto of the volatile increase on Monday. But two Democratic lawmakers interviewed said Jindal broke his word and others said the veto may jeopardize his proposals in the Louisiana Legislature. “When someone gives you his word and takes it back, you lose a lot of respect,” said state Rep. Damon Baldone, D-Houma and a supporter of the increase. The legislation, Senate Bill 672, would have raised the pay package of rank-and-file lawmakers from about $38,000 per year to nearly $60,000. It was set to take effect today. But Jindal...

Breaking News from Louisiana: BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Bobby Jindal announced today that he has vetoed the legislative pay raise. After days of saying he would not reject the unpopular measure, Jindal said this morning that he had rejected the measure. Lawmakers in the most recent session voted to raise their annual base salary from $16,800 to $37,500. Jindal has been criticized for his inability to stop the raise before it was passed and his refusal since then to veto the pay raise bill. He pledged during his gubernatorial campaign last year to prohibit an immediate legislative pay raise. The...

Yes, Mr. Jindal did make a blunder — and a big one — an unforgettable one. And then to say he could veto it, but he will not. To the general public, this is a slap in the face! When we see all the needs out there — Department of Social Services, the group homes, nursing homes — they are understaffed and underpaid. There is no money for the nursing-home workers, and they are working for a pittance. We wonder why there is such a large number of complaints. How are you going to get trained workers for the pay...

Gov. Bobby Jindal's legislative director has resigned after serving fewer than six months with the new administration, which is embroiled in a controversy over the Legislature's large pay raise. Tommy Williams, 65, said Sunday the decision to leave was his and that he left on good terms. He did not offer reasons for his departure, but said he plans to return to his career as a professional lobbyist. "I cannot tell you how much I've learned and what a great opportunity I had," Williams said. Williams' resignation comes at a moment of intensely strained relations between Jindal and the Legislature,...

Of this, there can be no dispute: Gov. Bobby Jindal's honeymoon is over. The consensus at home is that Jindal lost his luster by declining to veto the Legislature's lavish pay raise. But Jindal is also playing to a national audience these days, and on that front, he's taking a different sort of hit. While Louisiana voters are up in arms over the revelation that Jindal is not above cutting political deals, the deal killer elsewhere in the country could be an unrelated bill that he signed last week, state Sen. Ben Nevers' "Louisiana Science Education Act." snip

BATON ROUGE -- In a sign that the public frustration about the legislative pay raise has spread to Gov. Bobby Jindal's base, a political novice and former Jindal supporter from Jefferson Parish has filed a recall petition against him. Ryan and Kourtney Fournier of Jefferson submitted paperwork to the secretary of state's office that allows them to attempt to collect the nearly 1 million signatures needed during the next 180 days to force a recall election of the governor. The papers were mailed Thursday and arrived Friday. Ryan Fournier, 32, said he is a registered Republican and was "a huge...