Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A typical Congressman would work 14-hour days, six or seven days a week. They get the month of August off, two weeks of which they will end up working. Some may get the week of Christmas and New Year's off. Most need to maintain two homes, one in DC and one in their home district. The cost-of-living in DC is about 30% higher than the US average. Most are smarter that the smartest person you ever met. They get to send you mail for free. They get a travel allowance. Nobody in the Senate, but about a third of the House has a company car. They are in essence allowed to earn no outside income while they are in office. They have the same health benefits system as the lowliest government file clerk. They have the same retirement system as well.
I firmly believe they're salaries should be based on the financial condition of the people they represent. In the past two years wages have shrunk by 12% and that should be applied to every politician's salary.
Sounds good if half of Americans would read what they're voting for on just on election day. Most of them vote and don't even know what the heck they are voting for.
A Congressperson does not represent the voters. He represents the voters' interests. The majority of voters is de facto clueless on any given issue. A politician's job is to listen to the people in order to discern what they need, not what they want.
A typical Congressman would work 14-hour days, six or seven days a week. They get the month of August off, two weeks of which they will end up working. Some may get the week of Christmas and New Year's off. Most need to maintain two homes, one in DC and one in their home district. The cost-of-living in DC is about 30% higher than the US average. Most are smarter that the smartest person you ever met. They get to send you mail for free. They get a travel allowance. Nobody in the Senate, but about a third of the House has a company car. They are in essence allowed to earn no outside income while they are in office. They have the same health benefits system as the lowliest government file clerk. They have the same retirement system as well.
Being as smart as they are as you so claim then they should know about the sacrifices of being paupers of the public prior to running for office. There is a reason they were once known as "public servants" as they served the public's interest. However we are bombarded daily by constant corruption at all levels of our society and government has one of the worse records are far as corrupt people go.
I even bet that many in government started out with noble ideas, lofty goals and a true desire to make a difference and some still do. Problem is that hell is paved with those with good intentions.
As to being some of the smartest folks we could ever meet, I'm sure many of them are, but then again so was Ted Bundy. George Bush ring a bell? Now he may be intelligent enough to finish Yale but it has come apparently that intelligence isn't everything and that leadership is something not all of our leaders have.
I will at least, as I often do, place a good bit of blame on we the people as after all it is we who elected those in office. We can whine and complain all we wish, about how rotten these folks are but we are also responsible for their very being there in the first place. Who is more the fool, the fool or the fool who follows him?
Quote:
Originally Posted by saganista
A Congressperson does not represent the voters. He represents the voters' interests. The majority of voters is de facto clueless on any given issue. A politician's job is to listen to the people in order to discern what they need, not what they want.
Congresspersons are supposed to represent the voters interest but that does not mean that they do. After all it is a judgment call and not every politician has good judgment as indicated by how numerous the corruption scandals are that take place in Washington.
By your own statement to which I agree, the general masses of voters are de facto clueless, but then that would suggest that the voters might not have made wise choices when picking who to vote for. So thus, those in office are merely a reflection of those de facto idiots.
How can a government be all wise and good and righteous when the very people electing them are clueless? In our Republic as in any Democratic society, the government is a reflection of its base, or is that the other way around?
How many threads about this should there be? Meanwhile, these are the 535 most undrpaid executives in the country. They and the federal judges whose salaries are tied to those of Congress all deserve at least a COLA raise. Hard to begrudge them the crummy 2.8% when everyday other federal employees in the DC area will be getting 4.78%...
What is the condition of our country? If these were corporate execs they would be fired. What have they done over the past 2 years? 8 years? Allowed our economy to crash.... Set record highs in pork/earmark spending. Found ever greater yet lame excuses for failing. No they do not deserve a raise in fact most deserve to be fired. Its GWB's fault is as lame as it gets. Barney Frank? Dodd? Pelosi? Reid? Kanjorski? Spector? To name just a few villans.
Border security is still a joke. Illegal immigration ignored far too long. And yet these great american execs continue to hesitate to take action.
No sir they do not deserve to get a pay raise.
This is a tricky issue, mainly because Congress is one of the few entities out there whose members are able to give themselves a raise with virtually no oversight. I will say that I believe Congressmen and Senators should be well compensated; legislating is a full-time job that is much harder and more important than many people give it credit for. Thus, I don't really have a problem with the current income drawn by our legislators. However, getting a raise every year is ridiculous, especially in times of economic hardship. I believe that the raises should be halted for the time being. As a long-term solution to this problem, I believe that a certain income should be decided upon for congressmen and that rate should be pegged to inflation. No more raises should be given after that, the income which was deemed adequate at the time would adjust for inflation and that would be that.
how about a list of other benefits they receive that we aren't aware of like health insurance for life etc.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
