[rabscuttle385]

The bastards aren't even required to participate in Social Security, and they're whining that they won't get pay increases and tax rate cuts.

[mrmeyer]

They can all piss up a rope.

[RobbyS]

Well, I am covered by CSRS, and I have no problem with this. We have done quite well under CSRS. It was a remarkably generous retirement program.

[muawiyah]

You have to remember that CSRS was discontinued in 1987 ~ these are the folks who were hired in BEFORE that date ~ 23 years ago ~ and many are ready for retirement.

FERS covers the overwhelming majority of federal employees. They pay Social Security.

[Marie Antoinette]

I’m not positive, but I believe most federal employees are now under the FERS retirement system (since the 1980s?). The CSRS is the old system, and I would guess it was defined benefit, and covers people hired before the system change. FERS people *do* contribute to SS (and have a defined contribution plan like a 401k).

Just trying to clarify a little info here, we know how accurate the press aims to be. ;)

[In Maryland]

Just to keep this in perspective - every Federal Worker hired since January 1, 1984 has had to participate in the Social Security System. The CSRS participants they are talking about therefore all have at least 26 years of service - at this point in time the feds who don't pay into social security are a very small minority of the federal workforce.

At the same time, I am a Fed and even I get sick and tired of the whining. Some of these folks see their jobs as an entitlement and whine like children when anyone gets anything more than they do. So we had a pay freeze - boo, effin' hoo! I consider myself damn lucky to have a job and am GLAD I didn't get a raise. I'm doing fine - there are people out there - good people who have worked hard - who don't know if they can pay next month's rent. Some of these folks need to get a life!

[AnotherUnixGeek]

The result: About 426,000 federal workers covered by CSRS would pay more in taxes next year, while most Americans pay less.

That doesn't sound fair to Joseph A. Beaudoin, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. "Offering relief to all workers - both retirees of the private or public sectors - is a matter of equity," he said in a letter to senators.

This is a step in the right direction. Stop making employment by the government so attractive. Start starving the beast.

[Hoffer Rand]

It’s not fair. WAH!!! I didn’t get the tax break for the child tax credit, because my children are over 17. I’m being discriminated against. Where do I sign up to whine, complain, sue, and generally make a nuisance of myself? Where’s my union rep for people whose kids got older? There should be legislation. I’m calling my congresscritter. Everyone who has kids should get the tax credit, regardless of their age. /s

[FreedomNotSafety]

Is your SS payment a tax that is used to fund current spending or a contribution into some sort of pension plan? If you believe it is contribution then you should side with the gov workers since the gov workers are seeing their pension contribution increase while yours is going down.

However if you see SS as a tax that does not invest you in a pension then you should tell the gov workers to shut up since they are funding a real pension and real pension contributions do not present a reduction in income.

[Islander7]

GOVERNMENT WORKERS DO NOT PAY TAXES!

Their pay is made with taxes collected from the private sector. Any deduction from their pay is simply government taking back taxpayer moneys to create the illusion of taxes.

[napscoordinator]

Oh yeah real funny. Just less money going into the economy. This is not conservative behavior cheerleading for people to pay more taxes. How tragic people on here have become.

[Liberty Ship]

Government workers don’t PAY taxes, anyway. They GET taxes.

[concerned about politics]

"Offering relief to all workers - both retirees of the private or public sectors - is a matter of equity," he said in a letter to senators.

Uh...only federal workers are "allowed" to have privatized SS. We low life tax slaves can only do as we're told.
Why is it so bad if we get thrown an extra piece of bread this year? We've been working very, very hard. Has this man no compassion for the poor?

[Hoodat]

The most interesting thing about the FICA tax relief is the silence of the Democrats on it. It was only a few years ago that President George W. Bush suggested taking that same 2-percentage point slice out of payroll taxes and allowing workers to put that money into an IRA or their 401(k) instead. The Democrats howled bloody murder. They accused Bush of trying to destroy Social Security by allowing workers to invest elsewhere instead (and actually accrue a retirement fund - something that Social Security does not do). Yet now, these same Democrats are perfectly content with taking those same 2-percentage points of income and allowing workers to spend it on things that have nothing to do with retirement.

If this does become law, this worker here will be bumping up his 401(k) contribution by 2½ percent - the two percent on the payroll deduction, plus another half percent from the tax deduction savings on the first 2 percent. People should realize that there isn't going to be any social security 30 years from now.

[2harddrive]

These PANSIES don’t pay the tax, so why should they get a cut? At least THEIR retirement systems is solvent, not a Ponzi scheme. The “Civil Service” system should be rolled into our Social Security system, to help fund it. Cry babies all!

[CharlesWayneCT]

i’ll defend him.

The payroll tax break isn’t about the payroll tax, or social security in general. It was simply a MECHANISM to give every worker a “stimulus”, like previous $800 checks, or Obama’s $800 payment that showed up as $4 a week less withholding.

If the goal was to give every worker some stimulus money, why should people who don’t pay social security be left out?

[GailA]

Their retirement plan is a caddy plan.

While most of us were stuck with SS and maybe a company pension if we were lucky...many of those pension health plans are tied to Medicare for the health ins part.

We didn’t see a SS COLA raise this year, won’t see one next year, Medicare A/B premium is up for 2011 (only fair), some seniors will pay an additional $12 fee to Medicare for Part D, which they DON’T have, but those that do have part D will not see that fee hike. Retired Military had no COLA last year and will see none in 2011.

Military who are UNDER PAID will see a cheesy 1.9% pay raise, because their health care cost TO MUCH.

Many private sector workers haven’t see pay raises in 2 years, many have seen pay CUTS just to keep a job.

These are whiny cry babies.