The U.S. Congress
 
 
In 1989, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that authorizes automatic pay increases each year. An annual pay increase can only be stopped if legislation to eliminate a given year’s pay raise is introduced and and passed by the Congress (FAT CHANCE). The automatic pay increase is a great way of avoiding having to vote themselves a pay raise each year and suffer the disapproval of the taxpayers. Each member of the Congress will receive $174,000 this year. The Speaker of the House and the Majority and Minority leaders will get considerably higher pay. What a great job this must be. Unlike the real world where performance counts, each lawmaker gets a raise whether they contribute anything meaningful to the legislative process or not; whether they work for their constituents or for the lobbyists that provide them with large sums of money. Try negotiating that kind of employment clause with your employer (if you a lucky enough to still be employed). The United States is in the worst financial condition since the depression of the 1930s. The Bush Administration, and the Congresses that have sat these last eight (8) years, are directly responsible for the conditions that exist both here in the U.S. and abroad. Both the actions and the inactions of the Bush Administration and the Congress have resulted in perhaps the most inept (and in some cases maybe criminal ) governance of the U.S. ever. It is hard to understand how the voters re-elected 398 incumbents back into the House of Representatives. (What were they thinking?) The new Congress will be sworn in on January 6th. Many of the freshmen congressmen who have not yet been sworn in have already accepted money from the lobbyists. It looks like “business as usual” for the next two (2) years Read about the automatic annual congressional pay increases at the following websites. http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/with-economy-in-shambles-congress-gets-a-raise-2008-12-17.html http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=41002 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/20/pay-raises-lawmakers-angers-watchdog-groups/ http://thevirtuousrepublic.com/?p=2303http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/with-economy-in-shambles-congress-gets-a-raise-2008-12-17.htmlhttp://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=41002http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/20/pay-raises-lawmakers-angers-watchdog-groups/http://thevirtuousrepublic.com/?p=2303shapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3
$4,700.00
Congressional
Pay Increase.
Your Congressional
Representatives
will make at least
$174,000.00
in 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
The Automatic Congressional Pay Increase