The real pay scandal - Washington Times »
Posted By gunnyreef 1 month ago in News
Could it be that one reason Congress has performed so poorly is because, for 100 years, its members' compensation has been totally unrelated to their performance?
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gunnyreef
I am a true conservative, i believe in limited government, low taxes, personal responsibility,states rights and personal freedom! I tow no party lines and ...
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stephen-johnson1 month ago
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"American salaried workers, on average, make about three times as much in real (inflation-adjusted) dollars as they did a century ago ($12,537 versus $38,376 in current dollars). However, one group of salaried workers has not had a "real" pay increase since 1907 - members of Congress.
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In 1909, members of Congress were paid $7,500 per year, which translates into about $172,000 in current dollars. The current pay of members of Congress is $169,300 per year, which means they have suffered a small pay cut from what they were paid a century ago.
If members of Congress had maintained the relative value of their 1907 salary (the year they increased their salary to $7,500) to the growth in wages in the private sector, they would be paying themselves approximately $510,000 per year."
If you did away with the perks and slush funds and paid Congress a straight $510,000, the taxpayer would wind up saving money on those bozos.
Congress has become a club for wealthy lawyers-
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Tasine4 weeks, 1 day ago
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"The current pay of members of Congress is $169,300 per year, which means they have suffered a small pay cut from what they were paid a century ago."
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Problem is they don't even EARN what they were paid in 1909, let alone what they are paid today. If any doctor did his job as poorly as these people in Congress, he'd lose his license. Congress only gets done those things that are beneficial to them, even if it hurts the people. Truth be known, they should be paying us for allowing them to mess in our sandbox!
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jaspersneed1 month ago
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Barring the possibility that it's actually written tongue-in-cheek, this article is an absolute heap of garbage, and authored by a Globalist from Cato, no less.
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FTA:
>>>Personally, I would be very pleased to pay members of Congress, top executives in the administration and members of the Federal Reserve a half-million dollars each per year if they would deliver economic growth of 4 percent or more each year. (This would have the additional benefit of their not calling every small-business person who makes $250,000 per year "rich.")
That would be a much better deal for the taxpayers and all other citizens than paying members of Congress less (with no incentives for better results) and having economic growth range only from zero to 3 percent per year.<<<
Where in the hell does this clown get the idea that congress, the fed or the executive branch has any ability whatsoever to manage, let alone guarantee a particular figure for, the growth of this country's capitalist economy? Is he out of his mind? With some notable and specific exceptions -- albeit largely unreported at the time -- NO ONE from any branch of government or from the fed foresaw what just happened to our economy, despite the obviousness to the truly knowledgeable of the path we were on. How could we possibly expect these same feckless buffoons manage to a "T" something they don't understand to begin with? By offering to pay them more??
Give me a break. The more I think about it, the more I believe the author has to be joking. Nobody can be that stupid. -
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merrimarie1 month ago
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Public opinion polls show the performance rating of Congress at record low levels. Given that Congress and top administration officials are requiring pay cuts for those in the private sector whose companies have performed poorly, should not the same standard apply to those in government who have had a major responsibility for running the economy into the ground? (Note: Presidents and members of Congress always claim credit when the economy is performing well, so isn't it fair to blame them when the economy is in a mess?)
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And likewise, those in the private sector whose performance is
sub-standard and incompetent are fired, which is what should happen to the 111th Congress -
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Wolfie20074 weeks, 1 day ago
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I think in the beginning they made about $2.00 a year. How does that work out in todays dollars? Years ago I remember an argument put forth at a time when Congress was trying to raise their pay and one wit postulated that maybe if they made more money they wouldn't become involved in fraud and graft. What a hoot.
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Tasine4 weeks, 1 day ago
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P.S.
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"Could it be that one reason Congress has performed so poorly is because, for 100 years, its members' compensation has been totally unrelated to their performance?"
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The reason for that may be that there is no pay scale low enough to pay them what they are worth.-
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Wolfie20074 weeks, 1 day ago
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Tasine
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Good point and maybe we should start clawing back some of that money until they're performance is better? I also think a good look at their health care and retirement plans is in order. They're way beyond the Peter Principle in my opinion.
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goodkidn4 weeks, 1 day ago
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Bill Nelson (congressman for Florida) sent me an email stating that there will be no COLA increase for Social Security recipients because "gasoline prices went down". I reported that prices for food, for instance, had risen due to high gas costs and the decrease was never reflected in food prices, and reminded him SS is the only income many people have, including children with death benefits.
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May I remind Mr. Nelson and his cohorts that they face reelection soon. If Congress doesn't take their pay raises, they can rest assured they will NOT be reelected. They can start packing. -
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jesh1 week ago
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they should not be the ones deciding if they get a pay raise . this idea to have it tied to preformance of the country and the debt is an great one . if we ever want to get our country back on track we have to motivate everyone to do our best by attaching it to their preformance - in school , work . reward those that do well no matter who they are and we will see growth
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