What Is Money, Pop?

Wartime variation on the saddest words of tongue or pen, as reported by Washington Post Columnist Jerry Kluttz:

A Government employe finally won a raise from $2,300 to $2,400 a year, celebrated, then discovered she had been duped by a mirage. The raise put her in a higher withholding-tax bracket, added $96 a year in tax deductions, $5 a year to her retirement-fund payments. Her semimonthly paycheck before the raise: $78.24. After: $78.20. By March the thrill will be gone.

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