Congressional Pay increases WHOA there big fella

Drudgereport | 24 jan 04 | edcoil

[edcoil]

FLASH: Congressional officials have raised the maximum basic annual pay rate available to House staffers to $156,848, nearly as much as Vice President Cheney's salary of $181,400...

[edcoil]

It is getting hard to continue supporting all this spending and the Republicans.

[bahblahbah]

I think its time we demand a free market in politics. Political parties should be abolished and made illegal.

[Military family member]

Does this mean it would be all right if it were Democrats getting this money? Which, of course, they will.

[ellery]

Oh, no worries -- they'll just raise elected officials' salaries to correct the imbalance. I can't wait until the Republicans control government so we can rein in all this insane spending of OUR MONEY.

[winner3000]

There's nothing like playing with an almost unlimited supply of money. Congress day by day sounds more and more like a monarchy. As a citizen I want to know the justification for those salaries and what criteria were used to come up with them. As Republicans, if we don't scream bloody murder when we see abuse of power by Republicans, our party will become as corrupt as the Democrat party. Just look at what happened to the GOP in Illinois for a preview.

[yellowdoghunter]

Inhofe's office cannot confirm this. How do we find out if this is true?

[SittinYonder]

I can't wait until the Republicans control government so we can rein in all this insane spending

I'm with you, if the Republicans controlled the House, Senate and White House surely we could do something about federal spending. But what are the chances we could ever have a majority in the House and Senate at the same time we have the White House?

[Military family member]

But that makes it an issue of government spending, not necessarily one unique to the GOP.

Frankly, I'm for Pay-for-Attendence." Congress members only get paid for the time they spend in chambers or committee meetings. Simply pro rate the pay accordingly.

Then, if Sen. Kerry wants to go to Paris for two weeks, he collects no pay.

[Ginifer]

Congress: Rank-and-File Members' Salary
The current salary for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $158,100 per year.

• Members are free to turn down pay increase and some choose to do so.

• In a complex system of calculations, administered by the Office of Personnel Management, congressional pay rates also affect the salaries for federal judges and other senior government officials.

• During the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin considered proposing that elected government officials not be paid for their service. Other Founding Fathers, however, decided otherwise.

• From 1789 to 1815, members of Congress received only a per diem (daily payment) of $6.00 while in session. Members began receiving an annual salary in 1815, when they were paid $1,500 per year.

Congress: Leadership Members' Salary (108th Congress)
Leaders of the House and Senate are paid a higher salary than rank-and-file members.

Senate Leadership
Majority Leader - $175,600
Minority Leader - $175,600

House Leadership
Speaker of the House - $203,000
Majority Leader - $175,600
Minority Leader - $175,600

• A cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increase takes effect annually unless Congress votes to not accept it.

Congress: Benefits
Members of Congress receive retirement and health benefits under the same plans available to other federal employees. They become vested after five years of full participation.

• Members elected since 1984 are covered by the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). Those elected prior to 1984 were covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). In 1984 all members were given the option of remaining with CSRS or switching to FERS.

• As it is for all other federal employees, congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants' contributions. Members of Congress under FERS contribute 1.3 percent of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2 percent of their salary in Social Security taxes.

Members of Congress are not eligible for a pension until they reach the age of 50, but only if they've completed 20 years of service. Members are eligible at any age after completing 25 years of service or after they reach the age of 62. Please also note that Member's of Congress have to serve at least 5 years to even receive a pension.

The amount of a Congressperson's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of his or her salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.

Data compiled in 20034 showed 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service. The average age of those retiring under CSRS was 75.5 and had at least 20 years of federal service. Those who retired under FERS had an average age of 68.3 years and 21.6 years of federal service. Their average retirement payment was $3,909 a month.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa031200a.htm

[coconutt2000]

Frankly, I'm for Pay-for-Attendence." Congress members only get paid for the time they spend in chambers or committee meetings. Simply pro rate the pay accordingly.

Are you sure you want them to spend more time thinking up new ways to spend our money? ;-)

[Military family member]

If my tax dollars are going to pay their salaries, then I'd rather have them working than flying around the world.

[k2blader]

Pay raises for themselves is the only thing the Congresscritters are guaranteed to "accomplish" every year.

[newgeezer]

I think its time we demand a free market in politics. Political parties should be abolished and made illegal.

Since such action by the government would be anything but 'free market,' I'm guessing you intended that to be sarcastic.

[newfrpr04]

That does not include all the additional Perks, Trips (fact finding missions) etc...right? who pays for their staff,operating office(s)expense,limo,police escorts,etc,etc,etc.

[ikka]

Frankly, I'm for Pay-for-Attendence.

I would gladly pay Congressmen about $200K per year, BUT for each bill they pass (or voted on that passes), they lose $1 per page. So a 50-page bill docks them $50. A monstrous bill running to 950 pages docks them $950, etc., with no limit (if they pass bills which combined total more than 200K pages, they have to pay money in)

That way, it has to be a matter of strong personal or national interest to get passed, which was the original idea.

[Eepsy]

Who matches their 6.2% SocSec contribution?

[newfrpr04]

How about Kerry's salary? he's rarely in. Try taking that much time off at work .

[Military family member]

Exactly my point.

[bahblahbah]

It would be a free market of ideas without absolute labels and trench warfare politics. Read Washington's farewell address.

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/washing.htm

[RetiredArmy]

You know how important those congressional staffers think they are. Is that a chance we could get the belt way with a daisy cutter and just start all over from scratch? How could we possibly do any worse than what is up there now?