House Votes To Hike Their Own Pay While Minimum Wage Remains the Same
EmailIf it passes, this year’s congressional pay raise would give senators and representatives a raise of over $3,000. In the last nine years, Congress has raised their own salaries by over $30,000, while the minimum wage has remained the same since 1996. "It’s abusive and unfair," said Joan Claybrook of Public Citizen, a government watchdog group. "They take $3,000 raises every year without blinking an eyelash, but they won’t give 70 cents to the poorest of our society, people that work and are below the poverty level." The House has already passed the congressional raise, and some Democrats have vowed to block the vote in the Senate unless there is an increase in the minimum wage. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has introduced legislation linking the two issues. Her bill would actually require that the minimum wage be increased by the same percentage as congressional salaries every year. The last time the minimum wage was increased was in 1996 when it was raised to $5.15 an hour. Most members of Congress currently earn $165,200.
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It’s a real win-win for congress: They get more money legally from their pay raise, AND they get a “bonus” from big employers for keeping min. wage down below poverty level.
Their justification for this? Increasing the min. wage would take away jobs?!
Posted by: Will | June 28, 2006, 10:01 am 10:01 am
Personally, I’m sick of this. Senators and Representatives are public servants elected into office. It seems as if they are getting carried away with themselves and have stopped caring for the people who voted them into office. Even as a republican, I am glad the Democrats took the iniative to vote down the pay raise until minimum wage goes up. Good luck.
Posted by: Grant Thompson | June 28, 2006, 10:47 am 10:47 am
The government has no shame. If they can’t get the money from lobbyists, they’ll take it from us. Ha.
Posted by: dj | June 28, 2006, 10:57 am 10:57 am
they will deserve a raise when they have earned it, so far they owe the people of the U.S. an awful lot, and need to start making good on their debts.
Posted by: Don | June 28, 2006, 11:01 am 11:01 am
Congress is ripping us off!! If they can raise their pay but not raise minimum wage then they are no better than the rulers of the lands that our forefathers left behind. Quit cheating us and give us a raise too!!!
Posted by: Jacqui | June 28, 2006, 12:06 pm 12:06 pm
Senator Clinton’s proposal is brilliant. If Congress cannot find the courage to raise the minimum wage each year, at least to keep pace with the rising cost of living, then give Congress its own medicine — no pay increases. At its current level the minimum wage is a national disgrace.
Posted by: Sarah | June 28, 2006, 1:13 pm 1:13 pm
This is why the welfare states have so many people on welfare.When a person on welfare can make more money that a person making minimum wage.Why would they go and work a 40 hour week?
Posted by: Justin | June 28, 2006, 1:53 pm 1:53 pm
The congressional pay raise, if approved, is disgusting and a disgrace to every member that voted to approve it. If the Congress wants to allocate a pay raise, it should be to the men and women in our armed forces that are fighting, and in some cases giving their lives, for the freedom that all of us enjoy. I am a retired militay man. I have watched the disgraceful raises that congress has approved for our military over the years. I have no idea how any man, or woman, that has been elected by the people of this country, can look at themselves with any kind of pride, as they ignore the financial plight of the poorest of our nation, and our military members, yet approve any pay raise for themselves. They should be ashamed of themselves, and the people that voted them into office, should be disgusted by their elected officials actions.
The saddest part of all of this mess, is that it will seemingly never end.
Posted by: Mike | June 28, 2006, 2:07 pm 2:07 pm
I can’t say I agree with much of what Senator Clinton has to say, but I liked that!
They are very quick to sign checks for all manner of things: the deficit is a glaring reminder of that. Why are they so tight fisted when it comes to the minimum wage?
Energy costs are about to skyrocket in this area by 72%! How insane is that? They won’t increase the minimum wage? Don’t they understand it’s not just kids on summer break or after school working those jobs?
Posted by: Straphanger | June 28, 2006, 2:38 pm 2:38 pm
I AGREE WITH THE X-MILITARY GENTLEMAN.AND ALL WE HAVE IN OFFICE IS GREEDY SELF INVOLED PEOPLE LOOKING FOR MORE AND MORE POWER. THEY MAKE ME SICK.AMERICA WE BETTER STAND UP AND GET RID OF THEM. HOW SAD IT IS THAT THEY CAN COME OUT AND FACE THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. SHAME ON YOU, ALL OF YOU.
Posted by: DONNA | June 28, 2006, 3:17 pm 3:17 pm
Nothing like stomp on our military as they search garbage dumps in Iraq for metal to patch up their flimsy vehicles, expect the poor to pay their taxes, create wealth with the money and don’t employ anybody in businesses to avoid taxes on them, line the pockets of military contractors while your body armor is missing, pay for worldwide propaganda campaigns that right wing idiots like Cal Thomas and Thomas Sowell suck on and distribute, out CIA agents(cheney), and then fail to do your duty to remove bush and cheney in easy impeachments. How smart is Rangel when he says the draft will jerk this country into shape again?
Posted by: frodaddy | June 28, 2006, 3:38 pm 3:38 pm
“congressional pay raise would give senators and representatives a raise of over $3,000.”
They sure can drag their tail on debating on whether the least important minimum wage should get an increase. They sure can act really fast on giving themselves a hefty raise.
Tells me how bad this Congress really is.
Posted by: Leimomi | June 28, 2006, 7:23 pm 7:23 pm
A Senator suggested taxing the pimps. Yes, we should tax the senators more. They gave themselves a raise AGAIN? I know that we the middle-lower economic wage-earners are the ones who pay for that raise…right? So in the same period that the Congress has given itself a RAISE of $30,000, equal to the average teacher’s entire pay; they didn’t raise the minimum wage. Don’t you see that it goes back into your greedy pocket anyway? You are ridiculous and heartless at the same time. You are squeezing Americans into desperate times while I never see but a handful of you working on C-Span. I pray the American people fire you from your job. A raise is for people who have done a good job. With the hell that you have allowed this administration to get away with, you deserve a cut-back, or a pink-slip.
Posted by: Pam | June 28, 2006, 8:17 pm 8:17 pm
There is only one thing I can say and I’ll give credit where credit is due.
“I’m so sick of Congress I could vomit!”
Thank you, Josh Lyman. Fiction or not, it properly fills most any occasion these days.
Posted by: Me | June 28, 2006, 10:48 pm 10:48 pm
next april every taxpayer should file for an extension since these folks have betrayed the left the right and the constitution. that would get a bit of attention
since every one is above the law except us peasants there is less and less reason to obey obvious inequity. we should all go to signing statements. no reason to do what might be inconvient
Posted by: jim | June 28, 2006, 11:13 pm 11:13 pm
They had a record breaking year of corruption and scandals. Come on, they deserve some recognition in the form of a monetary raise.
Posted by: dj | June 28, 2006, 11:37 pm 11:37 pm
I am so sick and tired of our goverment taking and taking, but not giving back. every year they want our money but when we need money as a society, they take their time or deny it. when will this end. america is suppose to be the land of the free, but our goverment has turned into the land of the greedy. i totally support our troops and our country, but i do not support our govermental system.
Posted by: sherri | June 29, 2006, 1:33 pm 1:33 pm
It’s time to boot all the laggards out! What do they know of the hardships of those who earn minimun wage? Without exception they are all a bunch of crooks.
Posted by: anna marie | June 29, 2006, 6:10 pm 6:10 pm
Hey everybody, we can solve this mess with our elected officials. When its time to vote, don’t vote for anyone who is in office now. Lets try someone new. It sure can’t hurt us
Posted by: susie | June 30, 2006, 9:29 am 9:29 am
Fire them all. Unless every one stands-together the day will come when people get tired of the way goverment is doing BUT the goverment is going to have such control it would take a war to bring the powers back into the hands of the people. The reason for all the big goverment is to maintain our way of life and liberty(so MR Bush says)It has changed to a kind of dictatiorship for the powerful. And it’s trying to break the very thing that it exspouts Freedom, Liberty,and justice. And don’t forget there is a Walmart coming to your area as soon as we get the little old ladys moved out of their house under the domain law and that is only written for the poweful ,elite,
and down right criminal.
Posted by: J Parks | June 30, 2006, 12:25 pm 12:25 pm
What happened to “a government FOR THE PEOPLE”? I bet that if ALL government workers from the president on down had to live on what the average american has to live on the excess money would eradicate the national deficit and the national debt.
Posted by: Deuce | July 2, 2006, 9:45 am 9:45 am