In response to a May 11, 2012, vote in the House of Representatives to impose a 5 percent payroll tax on middle-class federal workers, President of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) issued the following statement:
“It is unconscionable that nearly 30 percent of these savings is coming out of the pockets of federal workers, who individually have already sacrificed thousands of dollars to get our country’s finances back on track. Under this bill, a federal nurse who takes care of our veterans and earns $45,000 a year will have $200 less each month to buy groceries and pay the mortgage. If the House majority is opposed to taxing America’s middle class, they have a funny way of showing it.
“Although the immediate burden of this bill is on the federal worker, in the end it could have dire consequences for our entire country. This barrage of anti-federal workforce policies is making it more difficult to attract and retain the best workers. As a result, America could be left with a second-rate federal workforce tasked with developing defense systems for our soldiers, detecting diseases in the food we eat and enabling trade with the rest of the world.
“No other country or company can hold a candle to the achievements of America’s federal workforce. Let’s keep it that way. We’ll be working with our allies in the Senate to defeat this latest affront to federal workers.”