I bring you tidings of great joy! At last our Congress critters have done
something to lift people up from the economic doldrums we’re in. They’ve raised
wages in America!
You’re not silly enough to think for a moment that Congress would raise your wages, are you? No, no, Nanette — for the past several years they’ve kept the minimum wage in our country stuck at $5.15 an hour. It’s their wages that they’ve just raised.
Again. By “again” I mean that this is the sixth pay hike our lawmakers have bestowed upon themselves in the past six years. This time, the members will pocket an extra $4,000 each, raising their gross pay to about $162,000 a year.
Of course, congressional leaders don’t do such dirty work directly. Instead, these steady increases (now totaling some $25,000 over the six years) have come surreptitiously. Each year, an automatic congressional increase is tucked deep inside the mammoth appropriations bill for the Treasury Department — a bill that always passes. So members always get a raise . . . unless they choose to deny themselves by specifically voting to remove the automatic hike. Thus far, they’ve shown remarkable restraint in this regard.
One member who keeps trying to say no to this help-yourself dip into the taxpayers’ gravy is U.S. Jim Matheson, D-Utah. Again this year, Matheson called for a vote on the $4,000 increase. By a tally of 235 to 170, his colleagues rejected his procedural motion and avoided having to cast a direct vote on their latest money grab.
At a time when the wages of average Americans have fallen in terms of buying
power, it’s good to know whose side your Congress critter is on. To learn how
your representative voted, call Taxpayers for Common Sense at 800-TAXPAYER (800-829-7293)
or check this Web site: congress.org/congressorg/issues/votes/?votenum=451&chamber=
H&congress=1082&tally=1.
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2004.
