Don’t feel sorry for Congress for again forgoing a pay hike

Before sympathizing with mem- bers of the U.S. Congress who will not receive an increase in their $174,000 annual salary in 2011, consider this eye-opening fact: 44 percent of the senators and representatives are millionaires. In other words, what they earn in yearly compensation for doing the people’s work is pocket change.

To put that fact in perspective, only 1 percent of all Americans are considered millionaires. Even more stunning is the revelation that 50 members of Congress have wealth topping $10 million.

Thus, the recent passage of legislation by the Senate and the House of Representatives that puts a hold on the automatic cost-of-living increase on Jan.1 should not be viewed as a great act of sacrifice on the part of our federal lawmakers. President Barack Obama will be hard-pressed not to sign the measure into law.

Private-sector workers have not only had to go without pay raises of any kind for several years; in many instances they have had to make concessions to keep their jobs.

The cost-of-living adjustment would have put about $1,600 more a year in the pockets of the members of Congress. Next year will be the third in a row that the COLA increase has not been accepted by Congress. Truth be told, it would have been political suicide for the folks in Washington to bolster their salaries, paid for by the taxpayers, while the unemployment rate remains close to 10 percent.

The national economic recession has played havoc with the lives of common Americans, which is why governments at all levels are being told by the public to not only tighten their belts, but to do more with less. That is standard operating procedure in the private sector.

The $174,000 that members of Congress earn is the base. In the Senate, the majority and minority party leaders earn $193,400. In the House, the speaker earns $223,5000, while the majority and minority leaders pull in $193,400.

A long-time opponent of the pay raise, Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, echoed the sentiments of a growing number of Americans when he said, “In almost every profession, salary increases are dependent on performance, experience, tenure or any number of factors other than really showing up to work every day.”

The COLA rejection will save taxpayers $850,000 next year.

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who led the charge against pay raises for members of Congress, had this to say:

“We should not be padding our pocketbooks when our constituents are still tightening their belts and losing their jobs. As well, we could continue with this symbolic first step and stop increasing taxes, expanding the federal budget, and spreading our military so thin. These additional measures would do much to begin our economic recovery.”

No praise

The action by members of Congress to freeze their salaries should be acknowledged, but not praised. And, the federal lawmakers certainly don’t deserve our sympathy for having to settle for $174,000 a year.

They could curry favor with the electorate by revising the 1989 law that uses a formula tied to private-sector employment costs to determine their annual salaries. The salaries are adjusted automatically unless Congress bars or revises the change.

The automatic-adjustment provision should be removed from the law.