Dent, Cartwright Differ in House Vote Against Federal Pay Hike

LV Congressman Charlie Dent joined all House Republicans and 43 House Democrats in rejecting a 0.5% pay hike for federal workers, scheduled to take effect in April. The final vote was 261 in favor and 154 opposed.

Dent has consistently supported the Simpson-Bowles budget recommendations, which include a three year freeze on pay raises for federal government workers. This would lead to $11 billion in savings over ten years.

“We must address Washington’s spending problem,” said Dent. “I am shocked when some people still say things like, “Well, but that’s only a billion dollars a year, that doesn’t mean anything.’ You have to shake your head,” Dent said.

“That’s the exact attitude that has us running deficits over a trillion dollars a year. When does Washington begin to recognize how wrong it looks for legislators to increase the pay of federal government workers when wages in the private sector are stagnant?” asked Dent.

Federal workers continue to enjoy a significant pay advantage over their private sector counterparts. In 2010 the average wage for federal employees was $83,679 as compared to $51,986 for private sector workers. They are in the second year of a pay freeze/

This House vote has no impact on those serving in the military.

Though Dent said No, LV Congressman Matt Cartwright supported the wage hike. He explains why he thinks a wage hike is warranted:

“While Congress has only two weeks to prevent sequestration and take action on a comprehensive solution to our deficits, the House wasted time and taxpayer dollars this week on a bill that once again targets federal employees and does nothing to prevent automatic spending cuts set to go into effect on March 1. Federal employees are middle-class Americans who have already contributed $103 billion towards deficit reduction. These hardworking men and women, who serve our country so diligently, are the only working Americans who have been asked to contribute to deficit reduction. We cannot put the burden of our fiscal challenges on their shoulders alone.”

“Federal employees provide important services to communities across our country – they serve alongside our military personnel, keep our borders safe and secure, support our veterans and our seniors, ensure the safety of our families, conduct life-saving research, and fulfill countless other responsibilities. To single them out and continue to ask even more of them is unfair and unwise policy that undermines our ability to recruit the skilled workforce our nation expects. I oppose efforts that continue to target our public servants, and hope that Congress will get serious about a fair and balanced plan to prevent sequestration and put our country on a sound fiscal path.”

Who do you think is right? Dent or Cartwright? I side with Dent on this one. We need to address the nation's deficit, which is the biggest threat to our national security. Federal employees are being asked to wait one more year. The number one impediment to progress is that no one is willing to start anywhere. This is a start. A small one.

Pooley & Publius on Those Tax Cut Extensions & Charlie Dent

Families with incomes over $250,000 and individuals earning over $200,000 are the stumbling block for an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts, set to expire at the end of this year. LV Congressman Charlie Dent, like most Republicans, want them extended for everyone, including those with higher incomes. As he told The Reading Eagle, these are primarily small business owners - "the very businesses Americans will rely on to create jobs and lead our economic recovery."

On Friday, I posted Dent's position on this hot-button topic. I took no position myself because, quite frankly, I have no position. It is a complicated question in which flamethrowing, one of my specialties, is no help. But I later read, in Jeff Pooley's supposed "Dent Watch," that I "implicitly endorsed" a "slimy press statement." The good doctor goes on to claim that 98% of small businesses earn less than $200/250 thousand. It's actually 98% of all Americans who earn less than that figure. I am unable to find any clear and unbiased data telling me the percentage of small businesses under that threshold.

According to Moody's Analytics, denying everyone an extension will reduce the deficit significantly, but will also hurt economic growth and send the jobless rate soaring. Giving everyone a permanent tax cut will be great for economic growth and it will help the jobless rate, at least a little. But the deficit will soar by $4 trillion over the next decade.

There really is no real easy answer. But Jeff's polemnic just fans the flames of partisan rancor.

In addition to Jeff, a regular commenter here, called Publius, also disagrees with Dent's position on extending tax cuts for everyone. But instead of the usual name-calling, Publius gives the perspective of someone who happens to be a small business owner.

"Bernie,

"It is statements like this one from Mr. Dent that have led me to believe that he is a very good politician, but a very unfortunate choice as my Congressional Representative. Let me explain.

"I am a small businessperson, one of the people that Mr. Dent claims to be representing with his "no" vote. I have never worked for someone else. I started my first business after dropping out of grad school in 1992, sold that business in 2001, and after taking a break, have been in my current business since 2003.

"As a business owner I have never made a decision on capital expenditures, hiring, expanding, or anything else based on what my income tax rate would be. In fact, I am incentivized to reinvest in my business with a 15 or 20% capital gains rate. In the past year we have taken more space from our landlord to expand the business, and are actively looking to hire 4-6 people in the next twelve months.

"The more I invest in and grow my business, the greater the value of that business. That value is unlocked at the time of sale.

"By extending the tax cuts to everyone who makes $250k+/yr., we would be giving an extended tax cut professional athletes, overpaid CEOs of public corporations, hedge fund managers, etc. that would only add to the deficit and would not produce a job, or grow a small business.

"If Mr. Dent truly wants to help the small businesspeople of this country, here is what makes sense to this lifelong entrepreneur:

"1. Allow me to expense all my capital expenditures the year I make the investment, not over 5-30 years.

"2. Single-payer health insurance system. Currently the USA is the laughing-stock in every developed nation. "The Healing of America" by T.R. Reid lays out all of the reasons why we need this, as well as his experience in a number of different systems.

"3. Taxpayer funded elections. Elections are all about money and not the people who Representatives /Senators actually represent. I have a right to free speech, but my business does not. As it is now, Congresspeople are more worried about raising enough money to funds their next election than they are about the needs of the people.

"4. Back the Debt Commission's Plan. It is very reasonable and well thought out. The fact that both Dems. and Repubs. hate it makes me believe that it is the right plan to get us moving in the right direction.

"With all due respect, Mr. Dent is a professional politician who has never grown a business, taken a business risk, and receives his health insurance and pension benefits off the backs of the taxpayers. As a politician he is non-productive, yet he makes as much or more than I do, lives is a larger house, and has a better benefit package than I do. In other words, he doesn't live in the real world that I do, and his political statement and clueless reasoning deepen my beliefs.

"The reason I have what I have is a result of hard work AND the fact that I live in the USA. The taxes that I pay are the cost of keeping this system.

"Publius"