Congress folks on both sides have become kings and queens.
Wasn’t supposed to be that way.
Don’t know how you put that Genie back in the bottle.
Perhaps starting by slashing the salary to 50k a year and audits every year for members.
You are SERVING us.
The HONOR is the payment.
I know, don’t die laughing.
SOURCE https://www.ntu.org/foundation/tax-page/congress-pay-perks
Beginning in 2009, legislators serving in the US Congress have earned $174,000 annually.
Leaders of the House and Senate are paid a higher salary than other Members.
Senate Leadership
Majority Party Leader - $193,400
Minority Party Leader - $193,400
House Leadership
Speaker of the House - $223,500
Majority Leader - $193,400
Minority Leader - $193,400
A cost-of-living-adjustment increase takes effect annually unless Congress votes to not accept it.
Congressional Perks: How the Trappings of Office Trap Taxpayers NTU Foundation Policy Paper 131
By Peter J. Sepp October 23, 2000 Executive Summary
Since the founding of the Republic, Americans have had a healthy skepticism of the concentration of power. The Framers of the Constitution established a system they hoped would prevent not only the disproportionate accumulation of influence in one branch of government, but also the disproportionate accumulation of privilege. Today, Members of the United States Congress enjoy a vast web of perquisites that benefit them personally as well as professionally, including:
• Comfortable salaries that are often determined through legislative sleight-of-hand. Contrary to the arguments of many Washington “insiders,” the cost of living has rarely eroded the historical value of lawmakers’ pay, which on a constant-dollar basis is hovering near the postwar high.
• Pension benefits that are two to three times more generous than those offered in the private sector for similarly-salaried executives. Taxpayers directly cover at least 80 percent of this costly plan. Congressional pensions are also inflation-protected, a feature that fewer than 1 in 10 private plans offer.
• Health and life insurance, approximately 3/4 and 1/3 of whose costs, respectively, are subsidized by taxpayers. • Wheeled perks, including limousines for senior Members, prized parking spaces on Capitol Hill, and choice spots at Washington’s two major airports.
• Travel to far-flung destinations as well as to home states and districts. Despite recent attempts to toughen gift and travel rules, “junkets” are still readily available prerogatives for many Members.
• A wide range of smaller perks that have defied reform efforts, from cut-rate health clubs to fine furnishings. Congressional Perks: How the Trappings of Office Trap Taxpayers 2 But the very nature of public office itself demands a more comprehensive definition of a “perk” than that normally applied to corporate America. Members of Congress can also wield official powers that allow them to continue to enjoy the personal benefits outlined above, such as:
• The franking privilege, which gives lawmakers millions in tax dollars to create a favorable public image. Experts across the political spectrum have labeled the frank as an unfair electioneering tool. In past election cycles, Congressional incumbents have spent as much on franking alone as challengers have spent on their entire campaigns.
• An office staff that performs “constituent services” and doles out pork-barrel spending, providing more opportunities for “favors” that can be returned only at election time.
• Exemptions and immunities from tax, pension, and other laws that burden private citizens — all crafted by lawmakers themselves.
Congressional pay and perks directly add hundreds of millions of dollars to the yearly bill that Americans are forced to pay for the federal government — a significant cost for taxpayers, even if pundits dismiss the amount as a “drop in the bucket.” Yet, beyond the basic issue of dollars and cents, Congress’s perks have other pernicious effects.
They distort the budget process, by diminishing lawmakers’ moral authority to say “no” to special interest spending requests and benefit boosts for other government officials.
They distort the electoral process, by tilting the playing field against challengers. Most importantly, they undercut efforts for long-term economic and budget reform, by insulating Members from the real-world effects of their own policies. American taxpayers and American government would be better served by benefits for Members of Congress that look more like incentives than perks.
Enactment of proposals for a defined-contribution pension plan, a scaled-back franking privilege, a pay level tied to government efficiency, and a term-limit Constitutional amendment would help to restore balance to a system plagued by the trappings of office.
_______________
About the Author: Peter J. Sepp is Vice President for Communications with National Taxpayers Union Foundation. He conducted the first talk radio interviews of his career on the issue of Congressional pay raises in 1988.
Democrats need to get back to the job of stoking racial tensions, advancing human depravity, and taking away the God-given rights that no one wants (no one that matters, anyway).
It's been impossible to confuse Democrats with real Americans for at least the past two decades.
Possibly longer...
When did the democrats 1st sell their soul to Satan? Was it at the Wellstone funeral?
:: I just thought people might want to know in the event they might have confused Democrats with Americans. ::
Let alone, elected legislators...