It's a Raise, Not a COLA

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and the new "Fiscal Watch" team in the Senate have a plan to cut federal spending to pay for the relief and reconstruction costs of hurricanes Katrina, Rita--and I suppose Wilma, now, too. One element of the proposal:

A freeze on cost-of-living adjustments for federal employees, including members of Congress, with the exception of law enforcement and military personnel.

That would be fine, except federal employees (in general) don't get cost-of-living increases. They get annual adjustments based (partly, in theory) on the costs of labor and (mostly, in reality) on the whims of Congress. Just ask any federal worker who just saw the Senate approve a 3.1 percent average federal raise next year, shortly after the announcement that federal retirees will get a 4.1 percent cost-of-living adjustment.