Under 1 Trillion before next Debt Limit Reached

Well we shall see how fast the government reaches the next dept ceiling limit at 16.394 Trillion.  Based on Friday's report we only have 960 billion to go until its reached so we shall see if it's reached by election time.

Weekend Stock Market Analysis for February 18, 2012

The latest Stock Market Analysis is at
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New Federal Workers Sacrificed

The Payroll Tax Extension which keeps the Social Security Tax at 4.2% for the rest of the year vs 6.2% has been ironed out by making new Federal Employees hired in 2013 pay 3.1% towards their retirement versus the current number of 0.8%.   At this time it appears current Federal Employees  will be grandfathered and remain at 0.8%.  Keep in mind Obama proposed a 1.2% increase for all Federal Employees in his 2013 budget.  At this point it's hard to say whether this includes his plan or not however don't be surprised if current Federal Employees eventually have their contributions raised by 1.2% in the future.  

FERS Pension

Obama what's to raise the FERS contribution from 0.8% to 2.0% over the next 3 years beginning in 2013.  My gut tells me this will get passed along with no pay raise in 2013.

Pension bill would save government billions

And here we go again.  Let's nail the Federal Employees because it's their fault the government will have accrued over 16 Trillion Dollars in debt before 2012 ends.  The CBO claims raising the pension contribution by FERS employees will save 44 billion over a 10 year stretch.  By the time 2023 rolls around the national debt will likely exceed 20 Trillion (and that's being conservative) so saving 44 billion is really a small drop in the bucket. 

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Changes to FERS to Pay for Highway Projects

This is really unbelievable.  However as a Federal Employee since 1989 does it really surprise anyone.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2012/02/08/2648716/gop-proposes-changing-federal.html 

Social Security Tax

The 2% discount which carried over from 2011 will expire at the end of February.  There was a big fight in Congress as to who was going to make up the difference for the reduced rate so they only agreed to a 2 month extension.  Previously the Republicans wanted the "Federal Workers" to make up the difference by freezing pay through 2013.  I'm sure this issue is going to heat up again soon as the deadline approaches.  Once again I'm sure a deal will be cut but the question is who will end up paying for it?  

Congress Approval Rating

Latest from Gallup shows approval rating for Congress at at 10%.  It's amazing these people keep getting reelected but that just shows how most of the US could care less about politics.  

Salaries of Congress

Meanwhile as Congress wants to Freeze our Pay along with Step Increases here is how much they make.  Keep in mind they get a lot more perks that add up to far more than these salaries suggest.

House of Representatives
Job Title	Annual Salary
Speaker of the House	$223,500
Majority and Minority Leaders	$193,400
Chief Administrative Officer	$172,500
Clerk of the House	$172,500
Sergeant at Arms	$172,500
Legislative Counsel	$172,500
Law Revision Counsel	$172,500
Parliamentarian	$172,500
Inspector General	$172,500
Director, Interparliamentary Affairs	$172,500
General Counsel to House	$172,500
Chaplain	$172,500
Senate
President pro tempore $230,700 per year if the Vice President position is vacant	$193,400
Majority and Minority Leaders	$193,400
Secretary of the Senate	$172,500
Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper	$172,500
Legislative Counsel	$172,500
Senate Legal Counsel	$172,500
Parliamentarian	$171,315
Chaplain	$155,500

Now they want to Freeze step Increases

Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) has introduced legislation that would prohibit step increases for federal employees through the end of 2012.  Gee I got a better idea why don't we just work for "FREE" as we don't need any money to pay the bills.   Oh and by the way to those in Congress "the cost of living continues to go up if you care to look at the data provided by your own government".

This was taken from the BLS that was issued on January 24th, 2012.   Weekly earnings of the nation's 101.5 million full-time wage and salary workers were $764 in the fourth quarter of 2011 (not seasonally adjusted), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.  This was 1.6 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 3.3 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the same period. 

Latest Stock market Analysis

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Quote from Rep. Jason Chaffet "Be grateful you have a job."

Hey Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah),  "Be Grateful You got Elected".  I suppose I have made no sacrifices as I came in as a GS-5 with a freaking Masters Degree in 1989 while I did the same work as my cohorts who were GS-11's with no degree.