Domani Spero at Diplopundit ("Just one obsessive observer, diplomatic watcher, opinionator and noodle newsmaker monitoring the goings on at Foggy Bottom and the worldwide available universe.") explains what's stupid about this amendment.
Money quote(s):
"In case you did not see this -- Rep. Thomas Reed, R-N.Y sponsored an amendment that cut the locality pay for Foreign Service officers serving overseas. Mr. Reed's press release touts the removal of the "automatic 24 percent pay raise for foreign service officers," his third successful amendment apparently. And it passed the House over the weekend.
There is locality pay for all CONUS states. Why Congress is only targeting the 11,500 Foreign Service workforce is not clear. About 70% are not in the Senior Foreign Service and could be affected by this cut when deployed overseas. I mean really, that's about 7,600 federal employees serving overseas in over 260 posts. Mr. Reed's state is home to some 69,000 federal employees (not counting the feds working for CIA, DIA, NSA and the other "A"s who may be assigned in the state of New York). Look - that's 9 times the Foreign Service number. Imagine the savings there?"
The overseas locality increase, which is only about two-thirds implemented (it has been being phased in over a period of years since it's long-overdue approval) is being mis-cast as a payraise. And in the current economy, it's hard (politically) to make the case for payraises for diplomats. We get that.
It's why, along with all other federal employees, our salary scale is frozen. We get that too, and I've heard precious little squacking about that, even in private. We all have family and friends back home who're out-of-work or struggling and we get it.
But "getting it" shouldn't be a two-way street.
"(A)s Ed points out "the House bill as enacted has no hope of Senate passage or earning President Obama's signature, so this proposal -- while interesting and certainly controversial -- may not survive."
May not survive this time, that is not to say it won't happen ever.
All that did not preclude folks from slinging around their ignorance online --
You folks working overseas apparently do not pay the first $80K of your income overseas. Did you know that? Hah! That IRS has been cheating on FS folks again! It collected every tax penny from your salary including self-employed spouse's annual income of less than $700. If you believe everything you hear, that IRS did not have to collect anything from your $56K + $700 income? Really.
Go ahead and believe that crap, and you might end up sharing a jail cell with whatshisname actor and tax evader.
Foreign Service folks are not/not exempt from paying full federal, state, and Medicare/SS tax on salaries just because they live in Burkina Faso or whatever the name of the hellhole they're presently assigned to. They pay their taxes happily and willingly, 'cuz if they don't, they could get written up for atrocious unlawful uncivic unprofessional behavior, then they won't get promoted, then they get kick out, then they're just part of the 9% unemployment stats. The end."
Pushing back against this sort of recurring ignorance is one of the unstated purposes of this web log. Okay, it's a (former) mil blog as well as a diplo blog. And sometimes I try to bridge the cultural gap between the two, as well as the greater one with the larger public.
I don't be-grudge military members their being tax-exempt during combat deployments. We don't get that, even when deployed to the same places, because we have a different compensation system as foreign service officers. As a consular officer who's worked American Citizen Services, more than once I've encountered the expat American abroad who declares "I pay your salary."
Um. Unless you're making a lot more than you're letting on (and thus are liable for federal tax on your imcome above the $80 or $90k mark), no, you don't.
Not that it matters in terms of how helpful we can (or can't) be, but it's one of those phrases that can bring a (suppressed) smile to a consular officer's face when he hears it.
"(D)espite prevailing belief to the contrary, Uncle Sam's employees overseas are not exempt from paying taxes (unless they're civies at Gitmo). The foreign earned income does not include amounts paid by the United States or an agency thereof to an employee of the United States or an agency thereof. Congress wrote that up. It's the law of the land."
"You also -- supposedly ride around town in a $50,000 Cadillac with diplomatic license plates on the bumper like -- let me get this right -- "like you are better than the very citizens you are supposed to be serving." Ouch! Such sparkling prejudice. Really, a Cadillac? That must be the low level Qatari diplomat riding around in his regular car in DC streets. Have not seen any Cadillac at US overseas posts, not saying there's none, just haven't see any from the embassy compounds I've been to. Saw lots of armored Chevy where you can't roll down the windows. In case you think its armored for decoration, I can assure you it's not. It is armored from front to back and have bullet resistant glass because driving/riding around in a USG vehicle overseas is like driving around with a target mark on your back. What? Um, sorry, not target, they're called cross-hairs now. And in case you think this is vehicle security gone mad, it's not that either. See, the US ambassador to Lome got carjacked recently. And the ICE agents in Mexico who were recently killed/wounded in Monterrey were also using an armored SUV. If not for armored vehicles, not Cadillacs, mind you --- there would be many, many more names up on that memorial plaque on the wall."
Note to residents of and visitors to Washington, D.C., New York City, and other cities which host diplomatic and consular missions from other countries within the United States: the diplomatic and consular license plates you may notice on cars parked illegally or cutting you off in traffic? Not being driven by American diplomats.
Hard to imagine, but we don't get diplomatic plates (or immunity) when we're stationed at home.
Those annoying diplomatic luxury cars you may encounter? Driven by foreign diplomats.
"We have unarmed diplomats in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also in Pakistan where they hate/hate the USA terribly and now think all diplomats are spies. And you don't ever get a tax break for service in those posts."
It would be nice, don't get me wrong. But we don't expect that it will ever happen. And that's okay. Just don't erroneously assume and accuse us of getting what we don't receive and aren't entitled to, at least not as a pretext for denying that which we are.
"I just don't think the FS has the numbers. Even if the entire Foreign Service, and spouses and kids write to their congressfolks and senators, that may not really matter when push comes to shove. The diplomatic service needs to tell its story better. You need more than employees and family members to step up and say -- it's unfair to single out a small group of people for a pay cut."
This is a common lament. The Department of State and the U.S. Foreign Service (and its members) have no domestic political constituency of any consequence. Which is why I'm never shy, when I have a happy American customer who's thanking me profusely, about suggesting they drop their congressional representative a short note or email, if they really are that happy about the service and help they've received, and share their impressions.
They don't have to commend anyone by name, it's not about individual credit, but there are always plenty of congressional inquiries being initiated about complaints, fair is fair.
No comments:
Post a Comment