[Ronin]

I say the opposite. Cut their perks and privileges to the bone. Get rid of the gym, the restaurant, the gov’t-backed AMEX card, and reduce their pay to (at most) the national average.

The problem with Congresscritters and Senatebores is they get so addicted to the pomp and circumstance, not to mention assorted goodies, that come with their job that they forget what they were hired to do.

The Founding Fathers were adamantly against the idea of a professional political class and tried to arrange things so that service in government would be view, at best, as a noble but unpleasant duty — one to be fulfilled faithfully and diligently, but something that would be put aside with good cheer and relief when the time had finished.

[tsowellfan]

I say the opposite. Cut their perks and privileges to the bone. Get rid of the gym, the restaurant, the gov’t-backed AMEX card, and reduce their pay to (at most) the national average.

That makes much more sense.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Founding Fathers were adamantly...

Breaking news! The USGS revealed today that the epicenter of the VA earthquake was determined to be in a graveyard south of Washington DC. It was caused by the Founding Fathers rolling over in their graves!

[boop]

That's the dirty little secret. They don't just get their salary. They get housing allowances, travel expenses, meals, re-imbursement for all kinds of things that WE pay out of our salaries. If I didn't have to worry about food, clothing, transportation, entertainment and housing myself, I could live very comfortably on 174K/yr.

The boo-hooing about how low the salaries are makes me wonder how often congresspeople start out from modest backgrounds, but somehow are millionaires when they retire or are voted out.