So Congress gets its raise, the Judges get a raise, the Union Workers get paid the same even though their over priced contracts are causing the Auto companies to lose tens of billions of dollars.
And you, the American Taxpayer what do you get? Well, the bill of course. Merry Christmas!
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ~ Abraham Lincoln
Pay raise for judges tucked into bailout plan
If the $14 billion bailout plan for U.S. automakers passes, it will help more than just Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. Federal judges would get a pay raise, as well.
The raise — labeled a cost of living adjustment — would bring U.S. District court judges up to par with members of Congress, who will receive an almost $5,000 boost on Jan. 1. District judges and lawmakers now earn $169,300 a year but are expected to be awarded a 2.8 percent raise next year, said Dick Carelli, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., insisted that the judicial pay raise go into the automaker loan measure, which is the only item of business on Congress’ lame-duck agenda.
Under ethics legislation enacted almost two decades ago, members of Congress get a cost of living raise automatically, but they have to vote to give judges an identical raise. Because the spending bill covering U.S. courts has not passed, the step is necessary if judges are going to get their raise.
Even with the raise, judge earn far less than lawyers at big firms, just as members of Congress make less than most lobbyists.
