"Members of Congress are slated to receive a $4,700 pay raise beginning in January, increasing their annual salaries to $174,000. The increase for 535 House and Senate members would cost taxpayers more than $2.5 million.
That salary alone, which excludes all other outside income and spousal wages, ranks each lawmaker in the top six percent of American households.
Congress automatically gets a pay raise each year, and has to introduce legislation to prevent the increase. Although legislation to halt the Congressional raise has been introduced, the most supported bill (H.R. 5087) has just 34 co-sponsors, far short of the 218 necessary for passage."
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/sto...x?guid={02CE0BA2-256E-4D38-BC83-D2E9697D32B9}
"Companies are going out of business and others are laying off workers by the tens of thousands. Congress is doling out relief with the requirement that companies limit their salaries and dividends and cut back on expenses.
In true Washington form, Congress just gave itself a huge increase in its own expense accounts. The Member Representation Allowance for House members ranges from $1.3 million to $1.6 million per member. It's increased every year, usually by about $30,000. This year, while the rest of the country is tightening their belts, the Member Representation Allowance is going up by a whopping $90,000.
Senators receive more than twice what House members receive to cover things like office staff, travel and other expenses.
To say that Congress is spending like drunken sailors would be a gross understatement of the thriftiness of drunken sailors. The spending spree that the Federal government is in the midst of now has no equal in human history."
http://www.examiner.com/x-1087-Denver-News-Examiner~y2009m1d27-No-belt-tightening-for-Congress
That salary alone, which excludes all other outside income and spousal wages, ranks each lawmaker in the top six percent of American households.
Congress automatically gets a pay raise each year, and has to introduce legislation to prevent the increase. Although legislation to halt the Congressional raise has been introduced, the most supported bill (H.R. 5087) has just 34 co-sponsors, far short of the 218 necessary for passage."
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/sto...x?guid={02CE0BA2-256E-4D38-BC83-D2E9697D32B9}
"Companies are going out of business and others are laying off workers by the tens of thousands. Congress is doling out relief with the requirement that companies limit their salaries and dividends and cut back on expenses.
In true Washington form, Congress just gave itself a huge increase in its own expense accounts. The Member Representation Allowance for House members ranges from $1.3 million to $1.6 million per member. It's increased every year, usually by about $30,000. This year, while the rest of the country is tightening their belts, the Member Representation Allowance is going up by a whopping $90,000.
Senators receive more than twice what House members receive to cover things like office staff, travel and other expenses.
To say that Congress is spending like drunken sailors would be a gross understatement of the thriftiness of drunken sailors. The spending spree that the Federal government is in the midst of now has no equal in human history."
http://www.examiner.com/x-1087-Denver-News-Examiner~y2009m1d27-No-belt-tightening-for-Congress
