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Opinion Congress should stop automatic pay raises
Congress should stop automatic pay raises
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You wouldn’t know the economy was in the toilet by watching the high
rollers on Capitol Hill. Once again, members of Congress have papered
their already fat pockets with a hefty pay raise. While many management
teams grimly face the gut-wrenching realities of downsizing and
mandatory days off without pay, or pay freezes, while millions of
Americans hunker in unemployment lines, while companies drop like
iron-poor flies, Congress has accepted yet another automatic pay raise. To do so, of course, is not news. No matter what their performance, Congress invariably gives itself a big raise. And it’s not like they’re hurting for money or benefits. Their latest pay raise of $4,700 took effect in January. Now congressional salaries are $174,000 a year — and that doesn’t count some of the best perks this side of Mars. Congress of course wrote the law so they would get automatic pay raises. The chickens are running the chicken house. They would have to vote to change the law to rescind the automatic raises, and that seems about as likely as spitting into the Grand Canyon and hearing a splash. For many workers, annual raises are a distant memory. For Congress, however, inside the ever fatter beltway, it’s still business as usual. Every year, however, a few blowhards get up and knock the automatic raises, knowing when it comes time to go to the trough the money will be there. Enough with the blame passing and endless yammering on Sunday morning TV talkfests and in the formerly hallowed halls of Congress. Until the country gets past these times of economic distress, members of Congress should freeze their own pay. Congress should abolish automatic pay hikes and take the painful step of voting each year for whether they deserve the cost-of-living increase. Because the three branches of government — executive, legislative and judicial — carry equal weight, the president cannot give Congress reviews each year and decide what they are worth. The Congress is in charge of reviewing itself, and invariably, no matter if Rome, Ga., is burning, it — surprise, surprise — gives itself glowing reviews. Instead of just pretending they don’t want raises and grandstanding on the issue, the Congresspeople who truly don’t want their raises can put their money where their mouth is and return that money to the U.S. Treasury. We’ll be looking for a list of the members of Congress who can smell this skunk for just what it is — stinky. The bottom line is, there should be no raises during a recession. |
