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Congress gets an automatic cost of living pay increase every year unless they vote to decline it. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) who has never accepted the pay raise led the effort to decline the increase in the Senate. The Senate passed the bill to decline the increase, it now goes on to the House.
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The Senate on Thursday passed legislation to scrap its $1600 cost-of-living pay raise for 2011. Lawmakers automatically receive the pay hike unless they vote each year to stop it.
The bill was introduced by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, who has adamantly protested the the annual pay raise since his election in 1992. Legislators did not take a pay raise in 2010 either - a suspension of the pay raise was included in the omnibus appropriations bill.
"Not many Americans have the power to give themselves a raise whenever they want, no matter how they are performing," Feingold said in a press release. "Yet Congress has set up a system whereby every year members automatically get a pay increase without having to lift a finger. I refuse to be a part of that system, and I will continue to work to permanently end it."
Awww, how sweet. Democrats make a token effort to capitalize on the anti-government, anti-spending conservative movement taking place. It would be funny if it weren't so bombastically obvious that they're scared sh*tless of the upcoming elections.
Congress gets an automatic cost of living pay increase every year unless they vote to decline it. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) who has never accepted the pay raise led the effort to decline the increase in the Senate. The Senate passed the bill to decline the increase, it now goes on to the House.
Does anyone know the history of the bills in the Senate and House that gave Congress these automatic raises? And how the vote went along partisan lines? Does anyone know which members of Congress have declined the automatic pay increase every year? I read many years ago that Ron Paul had never accepted any of the pay raises. There are probably others who have also declined. Would be nice if someone could find a list of the members of Congress who took the pay raises and those who declined.
Does anyone know the history of the bills in the Senate and House that gave Congress these automatic raises? And how the vote went along partisan lines? Does anyone know which members of Congress have declined the automatic pay increase every year? I read many years ago that Ron Paul had never accepted any of the pay raises. There are probably others who have also declined. Would be nice if someone could find a list of the members of Congress who took the pay raises and those who declined.
I know Feingold has never accepted the raises, not sure about the others. The annual pay raises was passed in 1989 as part of an Ethics Reform Bill. The bill outlawed members of Congress from accepting $$$ for speeches, and replaced it with an annual cost of living increase. I will see if I can dig up the votes on the bill.
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The Senate passed the measure unanimously without a roll call vote. The House has yet to act on it, but probably will go along given election-year pressures.
Lawmakers receive an automatic cost-of-living pay hike unless they pass legislation to block it — as they did last year. The last time they opted to take the pay hike was in 2008, which meant they received a $5,000 raise last January.
Automatic pay raises were part of an ethics reform bill in 1989, and Congress at that time gave up its ability to accept pay for speeches and made annual cost-of-living pay increases happen unless the lawmakers specifically voted to stop them.
Thanks for the research. Looks like it was a bipartisan effort to assure themselves an automatic pay raise without having to actually vote themselves one every few years. The perks and retirement benefits are also far above and beyond what the average Joe and Jane ever see.
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