But not for me.

From a German news site [via Attaturk] and AFP reporting Angela raised her salary and that of her ministers:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will soon have an extra €930 [$1,189] in her pocket each month, after the country’s cabinet decided on Wednesday to award themselves their first pay rise for over a decade.

Merkel, her ministers and their parliamentary secretaries of state will see their wages rise in three stages between now and August 2013, until they all get 5.7 percent more. It is the first pay raise that the German cabinet has taken in twelve years.

The chancellor’s total pay is set to rise from €16,152 [$20,647] per month before tax to around €17,016 [$21,751]. This does not include her €1,022 [$1,306] “special duties” allowance.

Ministers’ pay will rise by €750 euros [$959 dollars] to around €13,795 [$17,634] a month. This will amount to a bump of around €9,000 [$11,505] over a year.

Until now, ministers’ wages have been set relative to those of civil servants. And despite considerable protest about the idea of separating them, particularly over the past two years, the cabinet decided to go ahead with the change.

[I did the conversions in square brackets]

The German cabinet salaries had been tied to civil service salaries, which means that civil service hasn’t seen a pay raise in over 12 years, and still won’t [have to cut wasteful government spending], but elected politicians need to be paid more to deal with the cost of living [which apparently isn’t important for actual government workers].

So, how is she going to pay for the increased cost of the cabinet salaries? Who gets screwed to balance her personal budget? Why don’t she and her ministers learn to live within their means?

Position: 30.5N 80.1W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: South [180°] near 5 mph [ 8 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1007 mb ↑.

Currently about 160 miles [255 km] South of Charleston, South Carolina.

All Watches have been discontinued.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

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Position: 31.8N 78.5W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Southwest [235°] near 6 mph [ 9 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Wind Gusts: 65 mph [105 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 45 miles [ 75 km].
Minimum central pressure: 998 mb ↓.

Currently about 155 miles [250 km] East of Savannah, Georgia.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the coast of South Carolina from the Savannah River to South Santee River.

This is not a drill, the season is underway early. Tracking does not currently show the storm making landfall, but the East Coast needs to watch it and get ready.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]