I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume OP's boss gave him/her either the choice of accepting the "promotion" or being fired, which is a terrible thing to do.

Unfortunately, not in 21st century economics.

It's a new trend, he's lucky

^^ That made no sense.

I don't know, but good question, Captain Obvious...

Yeah. Next OP will get charged for loitering, breathing and living.

#26 "I don't pay you to breathe. Breathe on your own time"

I swear dude, I'm watching SpongeBob right now.

#5 God Daaaaaaaaaaamn you are gorgeous! Oh wait, yeah OP, sounds like you need to start searching for a new job son!

it was probably intentional and he was trying to sugar coat it

I would be alright with being a dental assistant if that were the case.

lol I see what you did there

not necessarily.. you co yup ld get promoted from a position that pays for overtime into a position that doesn't. so that even though the new position has a higher base pay, you dont get payed for the hours you work past the company standard, so you fet less pay than you use to. happens all the time. the other thing companies do is to calculate benefits as part of your pay, so that you get more benefits than your prevoius position but less "take home"pay

also, it could be variable component of the pay is increased

Yes. Please do

That is not the case. Generally speaking, companies can cut your wages at any time, unless the cut would put you below minimum wage or your wage base was agreed as binding by the company. Most employment offers are not binding with respect to wages or even if you get to keep the job. It's called "at-will employment", and companies can cite any reason (including their own finances) for invoking it. The "due cause" or "just cause" rules many states have certainly don't prohibit wage cuts.