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Trump Eliminates Pay Raises for Federal Employees Despite Cutting Taxes for Wealthy & Claiming Economy is Great
Trump said he's eliminating a pay raise for civilian federal employees slated for 2019 in order to "put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course." He and Republicans fell all over themselves to give trillions of dollars of tax cuts to the wealthy and to big businesses, and they want to give them even more. But when it comes to working people, retirees, and the disabled, suddenly deficits matter again.
Trump said Thursday [8/30/18] he would invoke his emergency authority to freeze pay for more than two million civilian federal workers next year, citing the need to restrain the growth of federal spending.
Under current law, federal civilian employees are set to receive a 2.1% across-the-board pay increase beginning on Jan. 1, 2019, but Trump said he is eliminating those raises. He also said he would scrap additional raises, which vary by location, aimed at bringing federal pay in line with private-sector salaries.
Trump’s move means federal pay rates will remain flat unless Congress passes — and the president signs — a bill that includes a raise by the end of the year.
OUTRAGEOUS. Republicans gave corporations a trillion dollar tax cut and are now cutting pay raises for social workers, janitors, painters, clerical workers....
Democrats and federal workers’ unions decried the Republican president’s move, coming at a time of vigorous economic growth and after Congress passed a sweeping tax cut that congressional scorekeepers estimate will increase the budget deficit by $1 trillion over a decade.
Officials from federal unions also argued that the decision was the latest of a string of shots by the Trump administration against the federal workforce, which recently have included directives — since blocked by a court — to restrict bargaining with federal unions and make it easier to fire poor performers.
People who work for FEMA, for our shipyards, for NOAA, for our parks, in law enforcement are getting screwed while they found a way to shovel hundreds of billions of dollars to Wall Street banks and pharmaceutical companies.
Trump’s announcement came a day after new government data showed the U.S. economy grew at a 4.2% annual rate in the second quarter—the fastest pace in nearly four years—powered by strong exports, robust consumer spending and healthy business investment. Trump talked up the data on Twitter, saying, “Our country is doing great!”
So corporations and wealthy get trillions of dollars in tax cuts and Trump says everything is great, but the people who do the work to keep our country functioning all across the nation can't have a raise because it would crush our government spending? WHAT?
“Trump has the nerve to eliminate pay raises for federal employees to ‘put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course,’ ” said a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, pointing to the GOP tax law. He called the move “yet another slap in the face to American workers.”
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal workers, urged Congress on Thursday to adopt the Senate’s plan for a “modest” pay raise.
“Federal workers truly are America’s workforce – more than 2 million dedicated and committed federal workers who care for our veterans, support our military, protect our environment, and help working families make ends meet. More than one-third are veterans themselves, while many more work to support spouses or children who are actively serving,” said American Federation of Government Employees president J. David Cox. Sr.
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