Jan 12 2009
As economy crumbles, Congress gets a pay raise
While the debate continues over whether the country is in a depression or merely a recession, lost in the shuffle is that Congress has given itself another pay raise. As more and more of their constituents lose their jobs, congress will be receiving a $4,700 pay raise. In total that amount to $2.5 million in additional taxpayer money that will go towards congressional salaires.
Interesting to note is that the system is set up to automatically give them a pay raise. In order to prevent it from going into effect, lawmakers would have to force a vote and vote down the pay raise. With congressional approval ratings hovering around 18% , should they really be getting a raise? If 82% of the people I had to answer to at my job disapproved of my work, then I probably wouldn’t have a job, let alone be getting a raise.
Efforts have been undertaken to stop the automatic pay raise, with the most recent coming from Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ). This past year the first term congressman sponsored H.R. 2934. The bill, which would have prevented the automatic raise from going into effect, attracted 34 cosponsors (including Ron Paul), but never made it out of committee.
The average lawmaker in congress earns $169,300 a year, with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) leading the way with $217,400. This is a far cry from the first Congress, who received about $6 a day, which comes out to about $75 a day in todays terms. The average salary listed above comes out to $463.83 a day.
While it is true that when you have a ten trillion dollar debt, $2.5 million isn’t that much, however, taking it when so many of their constituents are facing hard times amounts to a slap in the face. Rejecting the pay raise would send a powerful message to the people that the lawmakers actually do understand and care about those they have been elected to represent. It would be a small step in the right direction.
Source: The Hill - With economy in shambles, Congress gets a raise December 17, 2008
Co-sponsors of the Mitchell bill:
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords [D-AZ]
Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]
