I really don't get why people are eager to justify cutting pay at every turn just because someone else had their pay cut. It seems like a vicious downward cycle to me. Where will it end? When we are all working for Chinese wages? I thought America was all about increasing the standard of living for the middle class. We were sold out by short sighted greed when our manufacturing base was sent to countries with cheap labor. It worked well for a few to make fortunes but now the middle class is paying dearly for it. This is the root cause of state budget problems. Can you imagine what the federal budget situation would look like if it had to be balanced? Seems like people are myopic on the state budget and completely ignore the big picture.