House of Representative GOP Leadership who set the calendar to work 126 days with 239 days off in 2013 while declaring this week 'Stop Government Abuse' Week is laughable. Biggest abusers in DC are House Republicans who are nothing but a group of unethical obstructionist with a penchant for lying who refuse to compromise on anything.
As a member of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) for over 30 years, found this email from the NARFE President Beaudoin very interesting as it details the legislative agenda for this week. It is absolutely disgusting how this do nothing House has acted from the beginning of the year refusing to even bring up jobs bills or sensible legislation as they continue to obstruct the President's agenda. The Republicans in Congress treat Federal Employees like 2nd class citizens and have since the Republicans took back the Congress with the Contract with America in 1994. Only for four years under a Democrat House in recent years did much get accomplished.
Last laugh to me was the article in the last NARFE magazine about Members of Congress and their staffs losing access to FEHBP on January, 2014. They will have to go with exchanges which leaves most of red state members out have to enroll in an ACA health programs:
When you read the Hotline, you can tell the disdain the Republicans in Congress hold for federal employees. The number of bills that sit there every year that could help federal employees die in the GOP House. It was really bad under President Bush during the times they had a GOP House and Senate. His Administration set in motion hiring all the contractors at even great numbers which in today's dollars costs more then federal employees as their salaries have become stagnant.
Federal employees are expected to work five days a week, 52 weeks a year with leave of 10, 15, or 26 days for vacation depending on years service. Everyone gets 13 sick days a year and nine paid holidays. Right now many Civil Service are furloughed with no pay one day every two weeks to meet sequester demands.
At the same time the House of Representatives is working 126 days with 239 days off in 2013 while declaring this week 'Stop Government Abuse' Week. Don't know about you but I think the abuse is coming from the House Republicans who have abused their oaths and what they were sent to Congress to accomplish - make Government work instead of being obstructionist refusing to compromise. Why are members of the House getting paid so much for working so little - minimum over $170,000 a year plus expenses? When do they take a pay cut like they are causing Civil Service to with with sequester?
Please support NARFE if you are active civil service or retired as they are our voice in Congress since our Reps and Senators won't list to us, their constituents. Too many people think NARFE is only for retirees but it is for anyone associated with Federal Civil Service including family members.
As a member of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) for over 30 years, found this email from the NARFE President Beaudoin very interesting as it details the legislative agenda for this week. It is absolutely disgusting how this do nothing House has acted from the beginning of the year refusing to even bring up jobs bills or sensible legislation as they continue to obstruct the President's agenda. The Republicans in Congress treat Federal Employees like 2nd class citizens and have since the Republicans took back the Congress with the Contract with America in 1994. Only for four years under a Democrat House in recent years did much get accomplished.
Last laugh to me was the article in the last NARFE magazine about Members of Congress and their staffs losing access to FEHBP on January, 2014. They will have to go with exchanges which leaves most of red state members out have to enroll in an ACA health programs:
The ACA requires that the only health plans the federal government may make available toThe big question is whether the hard right GOP in the House will try to raise our rates we pay for Federal Blue Cross and Blue Shield under FEHBP since they will no be eligible come the end of the year. No wonder the House wanted to delay implementation of ACA for another year so they could keep their old insurance.
Members of Congress and certain congressional staff as a benefit of their federal employment are health plans created under the ACA or offered through health insurance exchanges, as created by the ACA.29 The Director of OPM has resolved a lack of clarity in the law as to the effective date of this provision by concluding that this provision will not be effective until the health insurance exchanges become operational.
When you read the Hotline, you can tell the disdain the Republicans in Congress hold for federal employees. The number of bills that sit there every year that could help federal employees die in the GOP House. It was really bad under President Bush during the times they had a GOP House and Senate. His Administration set in motion hiring all the contractors at even great numbers which in today's dollars costs more then federal employees as their salaries have become stagnant.
Federal employees are expected to work five days a week, 52 weeks a year with leave of 10, 15, or 26 days for vacation depending on years service. Everyone gets 13 sick days a year and nine paid holidays. Right now many Civil Service are furloughed with no pay one day every two weeks to meet sequester demands.
At the same time the House of Representatives is working 126 days with 239 days off in 2013 while declaring this week 'Stop Government Abuse' Week. Don't know about you but I think the abuse is coming from the House Republicans who have abused their oaths and what they were sent to Congress to accomplish - make Government work instead of being obstructionist refusing to compromise. Why are members of the House getting paid so much for working so little - minimum over $170,000 a year plus expenses? When do they take a pay cut like they are causing Civil Service to with with sequester?
NARFE Legislative Hotline – July 26, 2013
Message from NARFE President Joseph A. Beaudoin
“During the week of July 29, the House of Representatives plans to unveil and vote on a series of bills targeting the federal government and federal employees as part of a ‘Stop Government Abuse’ week. The bills are designed more to take cheap rhetorical shots at the federal government and its workforce than to solve real policy problems. It is disappointing that the House will be wasting its time voting on bills with little chance of passage by the full Congress when serious budget issues, such as avoiding the continuation of sequestration, remain unresolved. Worse yet, it’s a bad sign for the country that the House views attacks on our nation’s public servants as a political win.”
#1 House ‘Stop Government Abuse’ Week
Although the official schedule has not been released, NARFE expects the House to vote next week on a number of bills, such as the “Keep Federal Bureaucrats from Ruining the Economy and Lowering Wages Act,” and the “Common Sense in Compensation Act,” neither of which safeguard the economy or employ common sense. If passed, Senate consideration of the bills is unlikely. Nonetheless, NARFE opposes the entire premise of the effort. Every day, millions of federal employees do important work on behalf of the United States. We should be applauding their efforts, not demeaning them.
#2 House Committee Holds Markup on Postal Overhaul Legislation
On July 24, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform approved H.R. 2748, the Postal Reform Act of 2013, by a party-line vote, with 22 Republican members voting in favor and 17 Democratic members voting against. The bill, introduced by Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-CA, “places the burdens of cost-cutting on the backs of the postal workforce while undermining the mission of universal mail service provided by the United States Postal Service,” NARFE President Joseph A. Beaudoin said in a letter to the committee. (Also access the letter on NARFE’s Home Page at www.narfe.org by selecting “Postal Reform.”)
#3 NARFE’s Testimony on FECA
NARFE submitted testimony to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Subcommittee on Workforce Protections as part of a hearing, “Examining the Labor Department’s Proposed Reforms to the FECA Program.” President Beaudoin’s testimony makes clear NARFE’s strong support of the income security provided by the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act to federal employees who suffered work-related injuries or illnesses. The testimony is available on our website. (On the Home Page, www.narfe.org, select “FECA Reform.”)
#4 Offer to Share the Workload, Contact Your Federation or Chapter President
NARFE has 1,319 chapters and 54 federations. Each has a president listed on our website. These leaders are planning meetings with representatives and senators during the congressional summer recess, August 3 through September 8. These five weeks are designated as “NARFE Grass-Roots Advocacy Month,” when leaders will need the help of every member. This is our opportunity to inform the many new members of Congress, remind many second-termers and re-educate long-time incumbents. In the August issue of narfe magazine, President Beaudoin’s column, “Silence Is Not Golden” (page 4), and Sarah Weissmann’s article, “Grass-Roots Advocacy Month” (page 6), call on each NARFE member to defend their earned benefits.
Federation presidents are listed at http://www.narfe.org/pressroom/articles.cfm?ID=2276.
The gateway to finding chapter presidents by state or ZIP code is http://www.narfe.org/departments/chapterlocator/search.cfm.
Congressional gridlock and looming deadlines may produce the perfect storm. Appropriations are set only through the end of the fiscal year, September 30. A short-term continuing resolution could serve as a temporary reprieve from a government shutdown. However, the debt limit will be reached before year’s end, and a fresh round of brinksmanship has already begun. The Chained CPI could become an even more tempting piece of a “grand bargain” to pay for ending Defense Department furloughs. In any case, the stakes are high, and now is the time to let Congress know how you feel.If you want to help out Federal Employees against this group of anti-Government hard right GOP in Congress, please feel free to listen to the Hotline and and then make your voices heard in Congress. Calling or writing my Reps from Oklahoma is a total waste of time but in some states you can make a difference. Will never write Sen Inhofe (R-OK) again after his condescending reply to me earlier this year.
Obtaining the Hotline: Thank you for using the Hotline. This weekly legislative message is available to telephone callers (703-838-7780 and toll-free at 877-217-8234); posted on the NARFE website, www.narfe.org; made available to requesting NARFE leaders; and sent to over 80,000 GEMS email addresses. Each delivery channel is a service of NARFE, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. Should you have any questions regarding the information provided in the Hotline, please email NARFE’s Legislative Department at leg@narfe.org or call 703-838-7760.
Please support NARFE if you are active civil service or retired as they are our voice in Congress since our Reps and Senators won't list to us, their constituents. Too many people think NARFE is only for retirees but it is for anyone associated with Federal Civil Service including family members.
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