http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/20/dob...e21/index.html
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Without much fanfare, the House of Representatives last week voted to give members of Congress yet another pay raise, as it has done almost every year for nearly a decade.
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http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/20/dob...e21/index.html
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Without much fanfare, the House of Representatives last week voted to give members of Congress yet another pay raise, as it has done almost every year for nearly a decade.
I heard that last week and said to myself, grrr! When was the last raise of the federal minimum wage again, 1997? Then ofcourse there is this ugly little fact I'm going to quote from the cnn link:
"The minimum wage in the 21st century is $2 lower in real dollars than it was four decades ago and now stands at its lowest level since 1955"
Well, we need to compete with all those chinese children you know.
I wonder if our congress's salary is competive with their over sea's counter part? hhhmmm lol
Outsource Congress!
Deogol have I told you lately how much I love you? lol
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unfortunately, legislators aren't the only ones who have been receiving an annual 'pay raise' regardless of the US economy's condition. Toss in most union workers, almost all gov't workers, etc.
As to the 'justification' for congressional pay raises, all I can say is that in the private sector attorneys, doctors, bankers, corporate managers etc. all earn significantly more than the $140k congressman's paycheck. Thus there is some convoluted logic for congress to keep their paychecks somewhat competitive with the private sector, in the hopes of attracting people with good skills and judgement (yeah right) ... as well as to dissuade members of congress from seeking payola from lobbyists and other 'alternate' sources of income i.e. $90k in the freezer (is something wrong with this picture ?).
http://www.evote.com/features/2001-04/congressperks.asp
For example, members enjoy inexpensive health club membership, a beauty/barber shop (which once had the distinction of being the original discount barbershop), subsidized child care, free mail, (not during election time), free airport parking on occasion, and even a small subway system. Other privileges and perks have been scaled back over the years, and are laid out in a highly detailed report written by Mr. Sepp last August -- "Congressional Perks: How The Trappings of Office Trap Taxpayers." Among these discarded privileges are car washes, ice delivery (made infamous during the Contract With America days), free long distance lines, free prints and framing from the National Gallery of Art, and subsidized meals, which are now being phased out from the congressional restaurants.
If you can survive the constant bickering and begging for money that takes up so much time on Capitol Hill, there's an added bonus in it for you at the end -- a pension system that's the envy of the private sector. The formula used for pensions is even more arcane than the one used to figure office expenses, taking either 2.5 or 1.7% (lawmakers elected before 1984 get the higher rate) of the average of one's three highest salary years, multiplying it by the lawmaker's years of service. Some veteran lawmakers have been able to retire with six figure pension funds in recent years, much to the chagrin of reform advocates. On the other hand though, the House Clerk's Office maintains that much criticism of the pension system has been exaggerated over the years. Ultimately though, a closer look at the setup on Capitol Hill can make it much easier to understand why many members can be so reluctant to leave it.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/....ap/index.html
Tuesday, June 13, 2006; Posted: 7:53 p.m. EDT (23:53 GMT)
The 2 percent cost-of-living raise would be the seventh straight for members of the House and Senate.
Lawmakers easily squelched a bid by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to get a direct vote to block the COLA, which is automatically awarded unless lawmakers vote to block it.
In the early days of GOP control of Congress, lawmakers routinely denied themselves the annual COLA. Last year, the Senate voted 92-6 to deny the raise but quietly surrendered the position in House-Senate talks.
As part of an ethics reform bill in 1989, Congress gave up their ability to accept pay for speeches and made annual cost-of-living pay increases automatic unless the lawmakers voted otherwise.
Considering all the scandals of CEOs and executives who have manipulated stocks to increase their own stock options; annual salary doesn't matter when it comes to ethics. One is either ethical or unethical no matter what your salary is.
It is a humorous thought that employees are being paid based on their over seas counter part should also apply to congress. Makes one wonder if their legislation would change if that was the case.
ironically, this would not work out in the way that you think. In most countries where 'average' workers are earning a few dollars per day, the governing elite are incredibly rich - although much of their income probably comes from 'alternate' sources rather than official paychecks.Quote:
It is a humorous thought that employees are being paid based on their over seas counter part should also apply to congress. Makes one wonder if their legislation would change if that was the case.
It might not happen after all:
Quote:
A week after the GOP-led Senate rejected an increase to the minimum wage, Senate Democrats on Tuesday vowed to block pay raises for members of Congress until the minimum wage is increased.
"We're going to do anything it takes to stop the congressional pay raise this year, and we're not going to settle for this year alone," Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said at a Capitol news conference.
"They can play all the games the want," Reid said derisively of the Republicans who control the chamber. "They can deal with gay marriage, estate tax, flag burning, all these issues and avoid issues like the prices of gasoline, sending your kid to college. But we're going to do everything to stop the congressional pay raise."
The minimum wage is $5.15 an hour. Democrats want to raise it to $7.25. During the past nine years, as Democrats have tried unsuccessfully to increase the minimum wage, members of Congress have voted to give themselves pay raises -- technically "cost of living increases" -- totaling $31,600, or more than $15 an hour for a 40-hour week, 52 weeks a year, according to the Congressional Research Service.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/...age/index.html