Free Republic

The 64-year-old leader of the Supreme Court posed a question on Wednesday that some in his generation have been asking for months: Does saying “OK, boomer” count as age discrimination? If the query hadn’t been an earnest attempt to test the bounds of a lawyer’s legal argument, Chief Justice John Roberts might have followed it up with another viral expression: “Asking for a friend.” But Roberts wasn’t typing a tweet. This was a meeting of the highest court in the land, and its nine justices - older federal employees ranging from 52 to 86 years old - were hearing a...

Poor little rich Rep. Florida Democrat Representative Alcee L Hastings Out in the real world, pay increases are usually tied to performance. Do a better job, grab a better position, and make more money. It makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, Congress is not part of the real world. When you live off the largesse of the American taxpayer, the sky is the limit. No matter how terrible a job you do, you can always demand more. Enter Florida Democrat Representative Alcee L Hastings. He’s terribly concerned that the paltry $174,000.00 we currently pay our average congressmen is so low...

McDonald’s says it’s raising pay for workers at its company-owned U.S. restaurants, making it the latest employer to sweeten worker incentives in an improving economy. […] The change comes as McDonald’s faces protests over pay and labor practices at its restaurants. […] Starting in July, the company says wages will be a dollar more than the local minimum wage. …

As the U.S. economy has steadily recovered from the Great Recession, the critical missing piece has been a painful lack of pay raises for many Americans. Their pain may be easing. Friday’s jobs report signaled that raises have finally begun to flow through an economy in which, once you factor in inflation, most people earn less than when the Great Recession struck in 2007. The average hourly wage jumped 0.5 percent between December and January—the sharpest monthly gain since 2008—the government’s survey of businesses found. The average has now risen 2.2 percent over the past 12 months to $24.75, comfortably...

Report Criticizes Treasury for Allowing Pay Packages Worth at Least $1 Million a YearWASHINGTON—The Treasury Department allowed General Motors Co. GM +0.69% and Ally Financial Corp. ALLY +0.43% to give big pay raises to top executives while the firms struggled to exit their federal bailouts, a federal watchdog said Wednesday. The report criticized the Treasury for allowing Ally and GM to pay compensation packages worth at least $1 million in 2013 for all 25 top executives at each company. The companies paid those executives an average of $3 million annually, an increase of 28% from 2009, the report found. The...

The House approved legislation on Tuesday that would block a pay increase for federal workers and members of Congress scheduled to take place in March. Members voted 287-129 in favor of the bill from Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.). Just two Republicans opposed the legislation, and 55 Democrats supported it. Republicans brought the bill up under a suspension of the rules in order to allow for quicker consideration, although that move also required a two-thirds majority vote. The bill is a response to an (executive order) last Friday from President Obama that would end the two-year federal worker pay freeze, and...

At the White House Twitter Town Hall on July 6, President Obama reassured the nation that he and his staff share its pain. He said, "People who work in the White House, they've had their pay frozen since I came in, our high-wage folks. So they haven't had a raise in two and a half years, and that's appropriate, because a lot of ordinary folks out there haven't either." Unfortunately, the only thing the President was being economical with here was the truth. Most White House staffers have received substantial raises in that time. Sadly, that is symptomatic of how...

Obama pay freeze for federal workers dishonest; 1.1 million still get pay raises. Just this past week, Obama, the "One" himself, announced a supposed pay freeze on federal employees with the lip service that it would (at least symbolically) go toward the long, arduous process of cutting federal spending and bringing down the record-shattering deficits he created. However, as with all things in Obamaland, deception is afoot much of the time! According to analysis on the subject, for the next two years that Obama claimed federal workers will have their pay "frozen," a whopping $2.5 billion will still be spent...

Stop the presses! Barack Obama just announced a freeze on federal civilian salaries. From the Washington Post: "The freeze applies to all Executive Branch workers -- including civilian employees of the Defense Department, but does not apply to military personnel, government contractors, postal workers, members of Congress, Congressional staffers, or federal court judges and workers. 'Getting this deficit under control is going to require some broad sacrifices and that sacrifice must be shared by the employees of the federal government,' Obama said in a speech Monday afternoon explaining the decision. He added, 'I did not reach this decision easily, this...

California's top elected officials could get pay raises when the California Citizens Compensation Committee meets today in Sacramento. The commission convenes at least once a year to consider changing salaries, which take effect in December. No raises were given last year, but in 2007 the attorney general and superintendent of public instruction received 5 percent raises while all the others got 2.75 percent raises. Other officers whose pay the panel oversees include the governor; lieutenant governor; secretary of state; controller; treasurer; insurance commissioner; Board of Equalization members and the 120 members of the Legislature. Last year, the commission considered a...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has voted to skip a pay raise for members of Congress next year, conscious of the deepening recession and 12 million of their constituents out of work. But lawmakers will keep their annual automatic pay raises after that. A huge spending bill that the Senate passed Tuesday contained a provision denying lawmakers their yearly pay raise next January. Earlier Tuesday, the Senate rejected an amendment by Louisiana Republican David Vitter that would have forced members of Congress who want to boost their own salaries to stand up and be counted. Congress' most recent pay raise...

Click on above image to see larger picI wish I could say that I am in "Shock and Awe", but it is more like "Shock and Disdain". It seems that now Obama is going to cap Federal and Milatary pay raises. Okay, I'm confused aren't our Congressional leaders "Federal Employees"? Didn't they just take a pay raise of almost 3% back in December? Now tell me this, does it make sense to cut the raises that our Military Personnell get for defending our country and putting their life on the line every day, but not to cut the raises of...

"With trillions of taxpayer dollars being poured into an outright socialist invasion of our nation's founding free market philosophy - you might think that the paltry sum of $2.5 million would be incapable of generating much outrage." "You've heard the expression "a drop in the bucket?"

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday handed out hefty pay raises to 11 of his closest advisers, including a $32,000 boost to Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy. Kennedy remains the highest paid member of the governor's inner circle, although some of his cabinet secretaries make more. With the latest raise, Kennedy's taxpayer-funded salary will be $175,000 a year. The other 10, including Deputy Chief of Staff Adam Mendelsohn and Daniel Zingale, chief of staff to first lady Maria Shriver, will see their salaries increase 11 percent to $147,900. The pay raises come a week after Schwarzenegger signed a $145.5 billion...

Governor Mitt Romney may refuse to move ahead on automatic pay raises for lawmakers unless they vote next week on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages, a top administration official said yesterday. The state's 200 House and Senate members are entitled to a raise on Jan. 1, but it is up to the governor to decide the exact amount and give final approval. Romney could act on the pay raises before he leaves office on Jan. 4, or leave the responsibility to Governor-elect Deval Patrick. Legislators have scheduled a vote on the same-sex marriage amendment for Jan. 2, but...

Today, Republican gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann highlighted the urgent need to end pay raise politics in Pennsylvania during his statewide tour to Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Scranton, Erie, Johnstown, and Pittsburgh. “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Ed Rendell’s midnight pay raise is just another example of what is wrong with Harrisburg,” said Swann. “The politics of pay raises and backroom deals are getting in the way of delivering results for hard working Pennsylvanians. This Governor squandered his bully pulpit by doing more to raise the pay of Harrisburg insiders than providing tax relief for the rest of us,” Swann continued....

SACRAMENTO – Some state firefighters will get a pay raise in June estimated to average 22 percent, and others may be able to retire with pensions higher than their final salary. That could give the firefighters, who have long complained about being underpaid, the largest one-time pay increase ever received by members of a state labor union. The big pay raise on June 30, estimated to cost the state $38.7 million next fiscal year, comes on the last day of a little-publicized union contract approved by lawmakers five years ago. The firefighter contract, which has already boosted base salaries and...

Operation Clean Sweep is aimed at one simple goal: cleaning house in the Pennsylvania General Assembly by defeating every single incumbent officeholder up for re-election in 2006. The current members of the General Assembly have slapped taxpayers in the face by awarding themselves a huge pay increase. While some members did vote "no" on the increase, it is common knowledge that all votes were pre-arranged to protect vulnerable seats. Operation Clean Sweep is not a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Constitution or Green Party issue. It's us vs. them. The governed vs. the government. The taxpayers vs. the tax spenders. Are you...

I have signed House Bill 1521. Because pay raise bills are always the subject of much debate, I want to explain my reasons for doing so. I believe that this is good legislation because once and for all it takes the power to grant all subsequent pay raises -- for the judiciary, the executive branch and the General Assembly -- away from the Legislature. This legislation, particularly the concept of linking state salaries to a percentage of those paid equivalent federal officials, emanated from an idea put forth by our fine Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Cappy. It was a...

<p>With the state deep in debt and staring at divisive choices between tax increases or service cuts, an independent commission yesterday awarded lawmakers a nearly $1,000-per-month pay raise.</p> <p>Effective in December, the 12 percent salary increase marks the first raise for California lawmakers in nearly seven years and will widen their lead over Michigan's as the nation's highest-paid legislators. Most members of the Assembly and Senate will see their pay increase from $99,000 to $110,880 a year, while those in leadership posts will receive up to $127,512.</p>