Political Quotes

“Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word. It seems Republicans are incapable of legislating without exacting a toll from federal employees. Earlier this year, in order to prevent a Social Security tax increase on all Americans, House Republicans insisted that future federal employees nearly quadruple the amount they contribute to their own retirement. Without a corresponding increase in benefits, the larger contribution was simply a pay cut. After the tax extenders bill, Republicans sought a toll from federal employees on the Transportation Reauthorization bill. That bill's price for federal employees was a 1.5 percent reduction of agencies' contribution to their retirement benefit. Federal employees would have been forced to make up the difference-- again, a pay cut. The most egregious attack, unsurprisingly, came from the Budget Resolution offered by Mr. Ryan. Mr. Ryan's budget directed the House Oversight and Government Reform committee to indentify nearly $80 billion in ``savings'' from federal employee benefit programs over a ten year window. The committee recommended increasing retirement contributions by 5 percent with no corresponding increase in benefits for all current federal employees, immediately increasing retirement contributions to 5.8 percent for all new federal employees, and eliminating the Social Security supplement for all federal employees who retire before becoming eligible for their earned Social Security benefit.…”