Breaking Pension Promises to Fund Transportation Bill is Wrong
Washington, D.C. –The leader of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said today she is appalled that the House Republican leadership would break pension promises made to federal workers years ago to fund a transportation bill.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday voted to increase pension contributions of federal employees, eliminate a supplement promised to workers with decades of service and change the way pensions are calculated for new employees, decreasing the value of federal pensions by nearly 40 percent.What is particularly egregious, said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley, is that bill sponsors rationalized cutting the pay and retirement of middle-class federal workers, saying such moves were necessary to reduce the deficit. “This most recent action removes the pretense of deficit reduction and is clearly a gratuitous attack on the public servants who protect our borders, safeguard our air and food supply and look after our life savings.”
She was reacting to yesterday’s approval by the House committee of H.R. 3813, a measure that would increase pension contributions for federal workers and slash their pensions, and plans by House Republican leaders to use the savings to offset costs for a transportation bill.
“Why look to highway trust funds and gas taxes to fix crumbling roads and bridges when you can find the funding by reneging on federal pension commitments and cut federal pay?” the NTEU leaders said.
H.R. 3813 was introduced by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.); among other steps, it would require all federal employees to pay an additional 1.5 percent toward their retirement, a move President Kelley described as “a steep pay cut.”
Such a change would increase the contribution of a federal worker earning $50,000 a year from $400 annually to $1,150, and for a potentially much smaller pension, Kelley said.
“I find it outrageous that the Oversight Committee would seek to impose this regressive legislation on federal employees who already are contributing $60 billion to deficit reduction through the current two-year pay freeze,” Kelley said. “It is especially discouraging when you consider that the House simply refuses to address the pressing need for shared sacrifice, particularly from the wealthiest Americans.” She further noted that the pension cut provisions in the Ross bill are also included in H.R. 3630 to offset a payroll tax cut extension.
Kelley added: “How many other spending increases and tax cuts will the Republican leadership call on federal employees to bear the full cost of? I guess the Republicans’ idea of shared sacrifice is that they have lots of ways to share the money they take away from the only group actually sacrificing —middle class federal workers.”
In a news briefing earlier this week, the NTEU leader stressed the need for shared sacrifice and said NTEU will continue to oppose efforts aimed at further cuts in federal pay or retirement programs while there are no other groups contributing to deficit reduction.
She was especially critical of the Ross legislation for its provision eliminating, at the end of this year, the Social Security supplement of the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), a payment that accounts for about one-third of the value of the pension for those who meet age and service requirements to retire before age 62.
Kelley called it “unconscionable” to consider eliminating the Social Security supplement when so many federal employees have based their retirement plans on receiving it—as promised by Congress when they joined the federal workforce.
Two NTEU members, both long-time employees of the Internal Revenue Service, told the press briefing of the impact of such a development on them.
One said she would have to rethink her retirement plans, which are based in large part on spending more time with her husband, a retired federal employee himself, who is in poor health. Loss of the FERS supplement, she said, would make that virtually impossible.
The other told his story and said he considers payment of the supplement to be a promise made by Congress in exchange for his career commitment to federal service. “A promise made is a promise that should be kept,” he told the press.
source: National Treasury Employees Union
I wonder if Issa gets the same rush ripping off the middle class as he did ripping off cars back in the day.
F*** you Ross.
I thought the ISSA BIill wanted to cut 200,000 postal workers. If they do away with the supplement benifit then most of 200,000 couldn’t afford to retire. Bend over here i come again.
Looks like sasha is another nut job. Go occupy another city you asshole.
F*** the republicans,tea party,and all that voted for them.F*** you.
I’m glad someone thinks 911 was an inside job.
Go to Wellaware1.com
Our entire Government is all fake
This is what you get with a RADICAL RIGHT AGENDA folks! You all happy?
And TalkNRoll you keep on watchin’ “Faux News” will ya. You know the difference between MSNBC and “Faux News” is, you know what you’re getting at MSNBC, is says right at the top, “A Place for Politics”. “Faux News” lies to you right up front….1) It claims to be news and 2) claims to be”Fair and Balanced” ,bull*&t! and 3) Its a direct media arm of the Republican Party, founded by a (you should find this appauling) A FOREIGNER, Rupert Murdoch. There should be more strigent laws limiting the amount of media FOREIGNERS should be allowed to own in this country. That my friend is a National Security issue…..BIG TIME!
This is just one more attack on Federal workers by the republican run house. It’s
always the same old song…. let’s stick it to the federal workers, why you ask? because we can! Heaven forbid these millionaires sacrifice anything themselves. When you can sit on capital Hill creating bill after bill to erode federal workers livelihoods without blinking an eye something is terribly wrong with our system. The private sector worker is becoming increasingly more appreciative that he or she is not a federal worker. This type of blatant bleeding of fed workers pensions will create many vacancies and non skilled individual workers to be hired which could have devastating effects. People need to realize and better understand who they vote for because as we all know the candidate will say anything you need to hear to win the position. Once elected that individual takes quite a different perspective then yours. We have no balance in the house and senate, they can’t seem to shake gridlock in any matter which has effected all of us. This is a perfect example of it where the dominant republican house has ingested their typical bill to cripple federal workers again. We now have so many bills that want to take from our pensions in one form or another it’s become an all out assault. Mr. Issa, who by the way is a millionaire and to my chagrin when looking at his bio on wikipedia it read like a police blotter! It is beyond belief that this individual could possibly become a senator. Please read his bio and it is realized that any creditibility to this man making decisions on your future is absolutely insanity at best. I would like to thank every member of congress republican or democrat, union leaders, and all others that have the purpose to work for all people and base sound judgment on those fundamentals. Standing up in protest against such ludicrous one sided inept attempts to dismantle the federal worker by attacking our pensions that are committed to public service well done all over the world but are now subject to change. A total lack of character, in that once people felt priveleged to work for the government but now have retracted that opinion because of promises not kept, the feeling of being stabbed in the back by one of your own could only happen in a bad dream right? Unfortunately it’s no dream people and it’s to late now to join the private sector
which looks like the better option now. A possible third year pay freeze, FERS supplement elimination before the age of 62, paying more into your pension and getting less out, health care adjustments to pay more, the windfall deduction on if you have social security at retirement , the Government Pension Offset that all but wipes out any social security you would receive from a spouse at death, your pension paid to your wife in full is 55% of it not 100%. Get my drift?
Jimd is a complete asshole. Where do you come up with these ideas? You must be blowing Michael Moore. You are probably another non serving postal fag.
This is Classic Crony Capitalism at work. Nobody complains, except mildly, until it hits their doorstep and then are outraged.
Lets all get it over with and look it squarely in the face, we live in a very different Country than the rich do.
Hey, jimd,
always love to see left wing moonbats like yourself rail on with racist rants about christains, Israel and how 9-11 was an inside job. apparantly, you didn’t watch the 60 minute PBS show debunking your lunatic theory. keep watching MSNBC. that’s the network that helps to mold moronic nitwits like you.
Sirs, Is Congress cutting their own retirement and benefits? Millionaires and billionaires receive Social Security, Wealthy people like Romney bribe Congress to get tax cuts and now pay less to support their country than poor people, birbery and insider trading based on confidential information(see Congressman Polis) run rampant.
Then these people have the nerve to tell us what a great country we have and how much they love it.
They are all a bunch of liars and phonies.
VOTE THEM ALL OUT ! ! !
I know how to solve the money problem if congress is really serious.
$500 to punch a congressman in the face.
Issa and Ross would fetch at least half a trillion.
Funny the right wing Christian fanatics are more absurd than the trumped up Muslims that Israel run Fox News tries to portray to all of us. 9/11 was an inside job so we would fight another war for the survival of Israel. Watch building 7 go down 20 minutes after BBC announced it had already collapsed. How many of rich right wing repukes kids are in Afghanistan?
I tell you what….take away the FERS Social Security supplemental pay, and “HEADS WILL ROLL”…..and the first two heads rolling will be the assholes ISSA & ROSS……count on it!
These 2 S.O.B.s are not going to get away with this;f***ing liars.F*** them and anyone that voted for them.Only a f***ing jacka** would vote for these 2 a**holes.
“…and said he consideres payment of the supplement to be a promise made by Congress in exchange for his career commitment to federal service…”!
I coudn’t have said it better myself!
Had I known our Government was going to consider reneging on the deal agreed to when I was hired, I would have stayed in the private sector myself. I loved my previous job, but I was persuaded to enter a government job solely based on the better retirement plan offered by the Government job. If this is how are Government operates, Then I will implore my children, grandchildren, etcetera, to never accept a Government job.
Every idiot that votes for any of these right wing morons should feel pretty stupid now.
He stole a masarati and now he is stealing our pension. How many workers in his district are losing their retirement and why are you not recalling him or voting him out?
I think it ironic that such a wealthy man as Darrell Issa is so worried about our $12,000.00 average annual pension and calling it excessive. Maybe he should curve his traveling on taxpayer money and use that to cut the deficit.