In one of his most popular Far Side cartoons, Gary Larson drew two deer standing (on two hooves) side by side. One of them had a bull’s eye on his chest. His fellow deer said ” Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.”

So, do you ever feel like Hal in hunting season? That is, do you feel like the perfect target for congressional hunters, both those who genuinely want to trim costs, or those who are simply out to bag a bureaucrat?

The House Republican budget plan came out yesterday one day after a congressman from Illinois resigned for, uh, alleged ethics violations. In addition to fiddling with his government mileage allowance, he also had an interior decorator donate her services to redo his office to look like a drawing room in Masterpiece’s Downton Abbey. If you haven’t followed it, trust me. The furniture and paintings are a lot nicer than anything in your home or office. Members of Congress, though, aren’t allowed to accept gifts or services valued more than $50.

The new budget proposal again calls for feds under the FERS retirement to pay more toward their retirement benefits. In the past, Congress has asked future feds to contribute a larger percentage of their salary to the federal retirement fund. For example, anyone hired before 2013 continues to contribute only 0.8 percent of salary to the fund. People hired in 2013 are required to contribute 3.1 percent, and those hired in 2014 and thereafter contribute 4.4 percent. That will save the government big bucks over the long haul. But the real target — where the real savings are — is the bulk of the workforce, people hired prior to 2013.

Under the House GOP budget plan, ALL workers (whether you are a short timer or a grizzled vet) would contribute 6.6 percent. That would reduce take-home pay, and be especially tough for lower paid workers who, like other feds, have had a 2 percent raise over the last 5 years.

So what are the odds it will happen? Long, but not out of the question. Like Downton Abbey, we don’t know who, if anyone, Lady Mary Crawley will marry or if the Dowager Countess of Grantham will pursue that Russian dude.

Stay tuned.

Meantime, try to keep that unfortunate I-am-a-fed birthmark covered up. Just in case.

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID:

By Michael O’Connell

The first series to appear on Masterpiece Theatre when it premiered in 1971 was “The First Churchills” a BBC production from 1969.

Source: Wikipedia

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