stephanie
01-04-2009, 12:36 PM
what a country..
By Hillary Chabot
Sunday, January 4, 2009 - Updated 41m ago
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As Bay State residents grapple with layoffs and salary cuts, Massachusetts’ 12-member congressional delegation is digging into a whopping $4,700 salary boost that went into effect Thursday.
Six of the 12 delegation members told the Herald they’d accepted the automatic increase, which will hike their pay to $174,000, a roughly 2.8 percent raise, when Congress convenes Tuesday.
The other six did not respond to repeated inquiries by phone over the past week, but none has announced any plan to forgo the hike.
“Right now the vast majority of the public is just happy to have a job,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of fiscal watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense. “One of the first actions Congress should take is show some shared sacrifice and put off a pay raise until the unemployment numbers are better.”
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Newton) admitted to feeling guilty about the raise at a time when many Massachusetts residents are struggling to make ends meet.
“In the current situation we’re in we shouldn’t be doing this. We should vote not to do one next year,” said Frank. He said he plans to put forward a resolution this year to block the 2010 raise but declined to offer details.
The unemployment rate in Massachusetts jumped up to 5.9 percent in November, the highest it’s been since 2003. The rate is still better than the national rate, which was 6.7 percent in November.
Nearly 20 years ago, Congress made an annual cost-of-living pay increase automatic unless lawmakers voted to do otherwise.
Frank joined two other legislators who told the Herald they would give their pay hike to charity. Both Sen. John F. Kerry and Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) said they will donate their increases, and Tsongas said she’d vote against the hike.
“It is unclear whether the House will have the opportunity to vote to suspend this year’s scheduled increase; however, during these very challenging economic times, I will vote against a pay increase given the opportunity,” Tsongas said in a statement.
“If the scheduled increase does go through, I will not take it, and I plan to donate the pay raise to a scholarship fund administered by the Greater Lowell Community Foundation.”
While the gesture is noble, the charity donation still boosts lawmakers’ pensions in the long run and ensures further percentage-based raises are calculated on the higher salary, said Ellis.
“It’s a win-win-win,” said Ellis. “They get a tax benefit, they get a public relations boost for giving money to charity and they still get the benefit to their pension.”
read it all and comments..
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1142990&srvc=news&position=0
By Hillary Chabot
Sunday, January 4, 2009 - Updated 41m ago
+ Recent Articles + Email
E-mail Printable (18) Comments Text size Share (5) Rate
As Bay State residents grapple with layoffs and salary cuts, Massachusetts’ 12-member congressional delegation is digging into a whopping $4,700 salary boost that went into effect Thursday.
Six of the 12 delegation members told the Herald they’d accepted the automatic increase, which will hike their pay to $174,000, a roughly 2.8 percent raise, when Congress convenes Tuesday.
The other six did not respond to repeated inquiries by phone over the past week, but none has announced any plan to forgo the hike.
“Right now the vast majority of the public is just happy to have a job,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of fiscal watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense. “One of the first actions Congress should take is show some shared sacrifice and put off a pay raise until the unemployment numbers are better.”
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Newton) admitted to feeling guilty about the raise at a time when many Massachusetts residents are struggling to make ends meet.
“In the current situation we’re in we shouldn’t be doing this. We should vote not to do one next year,” said Frank. He said he plans to put forward a resolution this year to block the 2010 raise but declined to offer details.
The unemployment rate in Massachusetts jumped up to 5.9 percent in November, the highest it’s been since 2003. The rate is still better than the national rate, which was 6.7 percent in November.
Nearly 20 years ago, Congress made an annual cost-of-living pay increase automatic unless lawmakers voted to do otherwise.
Frank joined two other legislators who told the Herald they would give their pay hike to charity. Both Sen. John F. Kerry and Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) said they will donate their increases, and Tsongas said she’d vote against the hike.
“It is unclear whether the House will have the opportunity to vote to suspend this year’s scheduled increase; however, during these very challenging economic times, I will vote against a pay increase given the opportunity,” Tsongas said in a statement.
“If the scheduled increase does go through, I will not take it, and I plan to donate the pay raise to a scholarship fund administered by the Greater Lowell Community Foundation.”
While the gesture is noble, the charity donation still boosts lawmakers’ pensions in the long run and ensures further percentage-based raises are calculated on the higher salary, said Ellis.
“It’s a win-win-win,” said Ellis. “They get a tax benefit, they get a public relations boost for giving money to charity and they still get the benefit to their pension.”
read it all and comments..
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1142990&srvc=news&position=0