Free Kittens!!!

[adruml]

A pretty little girl named Suzy was standing
on the sidewalk in front of her home. Next to
her was a basket containing a number of tiny
creatures; in her hand was a sign announcing

FREE KITTENS.

Suddenly a line of big black cars pulled up
beside her. Out of the lead car stepped a tall,
grinning man.
"Hi there, little girl, I'm President Obama.
What do you have in the basket?" he asked.
"Kittens." little Suzy said.

"How old are they?", asked Obama.
Suzy replied, "They're so young, their eyes
aren't even open yet."
"And what kind of kittens are they?"
"Democrats," answered Suzy with a smile.

Obama was delighted. As soon as he returned
to his car, he called his PR chief and told him
about the little girl and the kittens.
Recognizing the perfect photo op, the two men
agreed that the president should return the next
day, and, in front of the assembled media, have
the girl talk about her discerning kittens.

So the next day, Suzy was again standing on the
sidewalk with her basket of "FREE KITTENS"
when another motorcade pulled up, this time
followed by vans from ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN.
Cameras and audio equipment were quickly set up,
then Obama got out of his limo and walked over to
little Suzy..

"Hello, again," he said, "I'd love it if you would tell
all my friends out there what kind of kittens you're
giving away."

"Yes sir," Suzy said. "They're Republicans."
Taken by surprise, the president stammered, "But...
but.... yesterday, you told me they were
DEMOCRATS."

Little Suzy smiled and said, "I know. But today,
they have their eyes open."

[tonyreddevil]

good one.

[adruml]

good one.

...and until the last election I considered myself a Democrat.

[CarnoustieCats]

pmsl ..wonder if they will be drinking at the Tea Party tomorrow? lol

[Naturelady]

I guess you have not read this...

U.S. Congress salaries and benefits have been thesource of taxpayer unhappiness and myths over the years. Here are some factsfor your consideration.

The current salary (2010) for rank-and-file members of theHouse and Senate is $174,000 per year. A cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increase takes effect annually unless Congress votes to not accept it. Members are free to turn down pay increase and some choose to do so.

Senate Leadership
Majority Party Leader - $193,400
Minority Party Leader - $193,400

Speaker of the House - $223,500

President’s Salary
Effective January 1, 2001, the annual salary of the president George W. Bush of theUnited States was increased to $400,000 per year, including a $50,000 expense allowance.

Vice President’s Salary
The salary of the vice president is currently (for 2009) $227,300

Presidential Retirement and Maintenance
Underthe Former Presidents Act, each former president is paid a lifetime, taxable pension that is equal to the annual rate of basic pay for the head of an executive federal department -- $193,400 in 2009 – the same annual salary paid to secretaries of the Cabinet agencies.


How much are the Cabinet secretaries paid?
In January 2009, the Cabinet secretaries’ annual salary was set at $193,400 per year.

Each former president and vice president may also take advantage of funds allocated by Congress to help facilitate their transition to private life. These funds are used to provide suitable office space, staff compensation, communications services, and printing and postage associated with the transition. As an example, Congress authorized a total of $1.5 million for the transition expenses of outgoing president George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle.

The Secret Service provides lifetime protection for former presidents who entered office before January 1, 1997, and for their spouses. Surviving spouses of former presidents receive protection until remarriage. Legislation enacted in 1984 under ,Jimmy Carter, allows former Presidents or their dependents to decline Secret Service protection.

You may have read that Members of Congress do not pay into Social Security. Well, that's a myth. Under a law enacted in 1983, all members of Congress both contribute to and receive benefits from the Social Security system. Upon retirement, members receive either a combination of federal pension and Social Security benefits or Social Security alone, depending upon when their term of service started and how they configured their individual plan. As it is for all other federal employees, congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants' contributions. Members of Congress under FERS contribute 1.3 percent of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2 percent of their salary in Social Security taxes.

According to the Congressional Research Service, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or inpart on their congressional service as of Oct. 1, 2006. Of this number, 290 had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972. A total of 123 Members had retired with service under both CSRS and FERS or with service under FERS only. Their average annual pension was $35,952 in 2006.

Want a raise? Don't beg to your boss. Just vote yourself one. That's what the United States Congress just did. For the fifth year in a row, lawmakers voted not to reject their automatic "cost of living" raise that will increase the annual salary of members by $3,400 to a total of $158,103 per year.

In 1989, Congress passed an amendment allowing for the automatic raises, unless lawmakers specifically voted to reject it. Which Congress did, until 2000. Under the 1989 law, the cost-of-living increases are part of the annual pay increases recommended by the president George H. W. Bush for all federal employees.

Congress has now voted itself a total of $16,700 in raises over the last six years. Since 1990, congressional pay has increased from $98,400 to $154,700 in 2003.



Source: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscong...ongresspay.htm