Cost Of Living Adjustments
My cost of living adjustment is leaving more and more regular items on the supermarket shelves each shopping day, what with a static income and prices constantly rising. Back 12 - 18 months ago I could fill a shopping trolley for AUD $200, now I can fill it to just over half for $240.
The other cost of living adjustment is turning off everything not essential/in use off at the wall to save on electricity costs, what with the power bill going up 45% - 50% over the last 3 years... yet all I get is an extra $8.50 on my disability pension. The thing that really stinks is that a soon as a pension rise is announced, many of the essentials (food, elecricity, gas, etc) go up straight away, so our increase is often spent before we actually receive it.
The Government still needs money to run the country, just not as much as they think.
Ain't that the truth, particularly when pollies get all sorts of allowances and perks on top of already more than generous salaries, then abuse those priveleges by spending on travel, etc, for family members from gov't coffers. When politicians gouge more from the public purse than they actually produce/perform, they are no longer public servants, but rather, public liabilities. It's not cost of living adjustments they need, but rather a reality check and a dose of having to live on the meagre salaries (without the lurks and perks) they expect the majority to survive on.
Being a politician (most of whom are already independently wealthy) should not mean having an open cheque book and a licence to drain the public purse.
