Congress Gives Itself A Raise
Dec 20, 2008 Political
Technically that is not exactly correct since the Congress gets the raise automatically unless it votes to stop it. They made it that way some years ago because people complained that the deadbeats were always voting themselves raises that they did not deserve. The cowards changed it so that they had to vote to stop it and that way they would be telling the truth when they said they did not vote for a pay raise.
Looks like the Congress has done it again. They failed to vote so the raise will take place. The do nothing Congress that has ruined the economy will be getting paid more money for its failures. This is the same Congress that bullies the leaders of the Big Three auto companies for wasteful practices and running their businesses into the ground. The big difference is that Congress has run our country into the ground and can confiscate taxpayer money as a reward without all the begging the automakers must go through.
I don’t believe the auto makers should get taxpayer money and I don’t believe Congress deserves a pay raise. This Congress has spent and spent until we have a huge deficit. Congress has set the conditions and fostered the environment where people with no money can buy houses and receive credit. This caused the collapse of the housing market and led to the financial disaster on Wall Street. The ripple effect is a direct result of the actions of Congress. The members were too busy taking huge donations from those they should have been watching. They were too busy allowing a few of their friends to get very rich at the expense of others and they were too busy running this country into the ground to keep focused.
What do they all get for their failed efforts? They get a raise of nearly $5000, all paid for by the very taxpayers they put the screws to.
Members of Congress work very few days during the year. They would like you to believe that it is a hard job that involves so much effort but the reality is they keep running for office because they can get rich once they are entrenched. Look at how many wealthy people run for office and how many more got wealthy once in office. They do it because they can be part of the elite and not have to work very hard. They do it for the prestige and they do it because it is easy money (that most of them do not need).
None of these jackasses work a full year. We are lucky if they put 100 days in. They spend the rest of the time on a vacation that they label “district days.” It is time they fly off to other countries on the taxpayer dime (or on the dime of a lobbyist) and they spend little time actually working.
The Congress loves when it has leaders of business begging for money. Then it can sit there and chide them for their excesses. How dare you fly in a corporate jet or make millions of dollars a year when the economy is bad and your employees are being laid off? How hypocritical can they be? They are taking a pay raise when the economy is tanking and people are losing their jobs. It is wrong and the practice needs to end.
We need a system where taxpayers decide whether their representatives get a raise or not and how much it should be. Members of Congress and the Sainted One have stated that the CEOs of the auto companies need to go as part of a deal. They ran the business into the ground and they need to go.
The Congress has done much worse for this country than the automakers have done for their businesses.
We need to demand that they change this automatic pay raise to one that requires a vote so we can hold them accountable.
Cowards…
Source:
The Hill
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Tags: auto makers, bailout, Congress, cowards, pay raise, worthless
Congress Should be Paid for Performance
Jan 13, 2008 Political
Some parts of the Federal Government have gone to a new pay system called the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) and it is supposed to be a pay for performance program where performers are paid more and non performers are laid less or even dismissed from service. From what I have read it is nothing more than a revised old boy system where those who have connections get great ratings and those who are not so well connected get an average rating. Despite being called pay for performance, my sources tell me it is only as good as the ability of the supervisor to understand what his employees do and how their actions equate to performance. Regardless, Congress allowed NSPS to take place and I think pay for performance is a good idea as long as they don’t change the rules a million times or lie about how it works, which seems to be the way government programs take place.
Congress should be on the same kind of system. The Congress just received a $4,100 cost of living pay raise that raises the average salary to over $169,000. When one considers the dismal performance of Congress it is not hard to see why they not only do not deserve the increase in pay but they should be giving money back. The last Congress had only 180 items signed into law and most were real important items like naming buildings such as post offices. If they ever rename the Capitol they can use the name Dewey, Cheatum and Howell building of corruption and inactivity.
Congress was good at adding earmarks and loading bills with pork. They added nearly 10,000 earmarks to the omnibus spending bill to steer our money toward pet projects in their home states. They have no idea of what fiscal responsibility is and they have no concept of being prudent with our money. Couple this with the fact that they work about 100 days a year and it is not hard to see that they are grossly overpaid for what they do. They take off for weeks at a time around every holiday and they take the entire month of August off. They have extended time off during elections and there are quite a number of members who have missed nearly a year of work because they have been on the campaign trail. We are paying them a salary to campaign.
Pay for performance is a good idea. Congress has this sneaky little method of receiving increases in pay. If they do not vote to stop the increase it is automatic. Then they can say they never voted to increase their pay. I think we should tie Congressional pay to performance. My first performance indicator is the budget. Congress receives absolutely no pay increase until the budget is balanced without raising taxes at all. In any year the budget is not balanced (and that means passed on time) they would not receive a raise. They would also not receive the raise until the end of the year so we could assess their performance. If you pay these schmucks up front you will never get good work out of them.
Next year needs to be the year where we get rid of all incumbents. In primaries people need to vote for the other person to represent the party so that incumbents are knocked out early. Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland should be a casualty of the primary but if he makes it through I and hundreds of my associates will be voting for the Democrat who runs against him. Why? Because he, like all others there, has become irresponsible. We need to rid ourselves of all of them.
I think we need to start over with fresh faces and fresh ideas. Until we can make that happen we should limit their pay and ensure they are not rewarded for the dismal performance we have seen.
Sources:
Townhall 1
Townhall 2
Tags: Congress, do nothing congress, failure, pay raise