Congressional Pay Theft
The Official Blog of National Taxpayers Union Ted Stevens convicted, will still receive $122,000 taxpayer-funded pension Posted by Andrew Moylan - October 27, 2008 NATIONAL TAXPAYERS UNION (NTU) BLOG NTU BLOG Even though Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) has been convicted of a felony, he will still receive his taxpayer-funded pension of $122,000 per year. We wrote about the huge loopholes in the "no pensions for felons" law that was passed last year, but this issue illustrates it pretty darned clearly. Stevens' conviction won't revoke his pension for two reason... 1. The crimes he was convicted of happened before the bill's enactment.2. The crimes he was convicted of are NOT among the 10 specific felonies listed in the legislation. News of his conviction will certainly shake up electoral politics, but Congress ought to take this example as clear evidence that they need to strengthen prohibitions on felons receiving pensions funded by you and me. Visit: Club For Growth The Club for Growth urges members of the House to vote "NO" on the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 (H.R. 3221). Floor consideration is scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday. This vote will be included in our annual Congressional Scorecard. While the details of the bill are not yet finalized, it's clear that it will bail out irresponsible borrowers, lenders, and investors. It will also turn state and local governments into landlords, provide an unprecedented FHA loan guarantee, and put taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars by rescuing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This bill creates a moral hazard that could wreak havoc on the economy in the future. It doesn't punish bad behavior, and it expands the government's role in the private sector when the very opposite should occur. The real debate should be about how to truly privatize Freddie and Fannie and make them subject to the laws and regulations that other mortgage lenders follow. Our Congressional Scorecard for the 110th Congress provides a comprehensive rating of how well or how poorly each member of Congress supports pro-growth, free-market policies and will be distributed to our members and to the public.
 Custom Search In 1947, congressmen paid themselves $10,000. In today's dollars that would be $92,978.48. They actually pay themselves $168,000. Are they worth it? They have stolen $1.7 trillion dollars from the social security excess revenues claiming it is in a "trust fund". That trust fund has paper I O U's worth not one red cent. The federal debt is now $9.4 trillion dollars and headed toward $53 trillion unless we make drastic changes. Full article To National Taxpayers Unions (NTU) Excerpts: February 01, 2008 Stop Congress's Automatic Pay Hike Dear Representative: On behalf of the 362,000 members of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I urge you to cosponsor bipartisan legislation (H.R. 5087) that would prevent an automatic pay increase for Members of Congress in 2009. Rank-and-file Members of Congress currently make an annual salary of $169,300 (more than double the median household income of $78,978 for the Washington, D.C. metro area, including wealthy suburbs). This sum doesn't include taxpayer funds used for lavish pensions, health plans, and generous allowances for travel, staff, and office expenses. In light of mixed economic indicators, Congress should reject an automatic pay hike that would pad a sizeable Congressional compensation package. How did this auto-pilot pay raise system come about? As explained by Pete Sepp in the NTU Foundation Policy Paper "Congressional Perks: How the Trappings of Office Trap Taxpayers," it didn’t start out this way: According to Article I of the U.S. Constitution, compensation paid to Members of Congress "shall be ascertained by law." The Founding Fathers intended Congress to set its own pay through the appropriations process, on the supposition that Members would be guided by their own sense of honor. In fact, lawmakers lived without a yearly salary up until 1854, having contented themselves prior to that time with a per-diem system that paid a flat rate for each day Congress was in session. From: Townhouse.Com A Pay Raise for Poor Performance By Robert Bluey Sunday, January 13, 2008 Full article Townhall.com Excerpts: Members of Congress return to Washington this week $4,100 richer. During their three-week vacation, the annual cost-of-living adjustment kicked in, bringing the salary of a congressman to $169,300. At a time when partisan bickering has dragged congressional approval ratings to just 25 percent, Democrats and Republican can agree on one thing: a pay raise for poor performance. Any American workers who had such dismal reviews would be fired. But in the case of lawmakers in Washington, it’s business as usual. Support for the pay raise was among the most bipartisan issues Congress grappled with last year. An attempt to block the automatic cost-of-living adjustment was defeated in June on a 244-to-181 vote; 99 Republicans joined 145 Democrats to back the 2.5 percent raise. Senators Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) refer to each other as “brother.” They reward each other hansomely when getting defense earmarks/pork projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars. I'll work to get you yours-you work to get me mine, seems to be the MO of these two long, long serving senators Stevens, the longest-serving Senate Republican, obtained $194 million in earmarks, for his home district, while Inouye got $203.6 million, according to a watchdog organization Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS), which compiles such statistics. The two senators have given thousands of dollars in political contributions to each other. They seemed to have outdone past cooperative efforts, looking out for each other in the final 2008 defense appropriations bill, even though they are from opposing parties. There is very little of this kind of cooperation when it comes to confronting the most serious problems faced by the U.S. As congress receives its lowest approval rating since polling began, it is also pushing for a $4400 pay raise for itself. This would increase their salary to nearly $170,000 about 4 times more than per capita income. Congress in its infinite generosity to itself, set it up about twenty years ago so that what has to happen each year is that an automatic COLA-Cost of Living Increase kicks in unless they vote to block it. Last year, they promised that no raise would come until the minimum wage was passed. You can imagine how determined they were to get that through. It is the lone piece of major legislation it has passed this year. The vote passed the House 244-181.
When did Congressional Pay Theft originate? In 1989 Congress showed what a magnanimous bunch it is. It voted itself an automatic, yearly, raise in pay, unless there is a specific vote (by its own members) to cancel that raise. Fat Chance! So this past Wednesday, June 14th, each member got a $3300 increase, to take effect next session, up to a mere $168,500. Surprise!! They couldn’t get enough votes to cancel that raise. Congressional pay is nearly five times higher than per capita income.** In addition to the hefty pay, pensions for congressmen are generous beyond practically anything in the nation. Many Americans do not get automatic pay raises, so, we simply must tighten our belts in lean years. Congress, despite a debt of $8.4 trillion dollars, just merrily takes care of itself now and with future treasure. A fine example for the rest of us. The Founding Fathers originally designed the system for congressmen to serve, as a sacrifice, for a short period, with little pay, then return home to make a better living. Today, most congressmen fight to make it a lifetime job with obscene pay and a fantastic retirement. **U.S. Per Capita Income in 2005 was $34,586. Taxpayers should be aware of Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona, who has been working very hard at controlling all congressional spending by highlighting the practice of earmarking. Earmarking will be covered soon in a separate article. largest return, on the Internet-Learn More-Click Photo End Congressional Pay Theft ### Congressional Pay Theft To Congress Link Congressional Pay Theft Congressional Pay Theft Congressional Pay Theft
Republican Controlled Congress (2003-2006) vs Democrat Controlled Congress (2007-2010) ___________Unemployment Rate____________ Final Full Month Dec. 2006 Republican Congress 4.5% Most Recent Month June 2010 Democrat Congress 9.5% _________Net Jobs Gained or Lost_________ Republican Congress 2003 Through 2006---Gained (plus) +6.3 million Democrat Congress 2007 Through June 2010--- Lost (minus) -7.0 Million Excluding temporary Census Bureau Workers (586,000 hired, 225,000 laid off) net losses since 2007 have been 7.3 million Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) U.S. Dept. of Labor 16 Month Comparison: Black Unemployment Final Full Month Dec. 2006 Republican Congress 8.4% Most Recent Month June 2010 Democrat Congress 15.4% Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) U.S. Dept. of Labor 2009 Obama Stimulus--- Lost (minus) -2.5 Million Excluding Temporary Census Bureau Workers Hired in 2009-2010, net jobs lost under The Obama stimulus has actually been 2.9 Million Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) U.S. Dept. of Labor _____Hispanic or Latino Unemployment _____ Final Full Month Dec. 2006 Republican Congress 4.9% Most Recent Month June 2010 Democrat Congress 12.4% Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) U.S. Dept. of Labor Boasting About The Slight Gains That All Post-Recession Economies Do On Their Own The average recession since WW2, lasted 10 months, this one has lasted 31 months. Some growth always takes place on its own after a recession, as the economy sorts things out. Seventeen months of this recession, have taken place under President Obama, with no end in sight So now, after all the promises of the $862 billion behemoth, and despite all the downside data in the most important areas, we get bragging for some sluggish GDP gains, that are under performing, past, post-recession numbers, by wide margins. This amid more and more talk of a double-dip recession, from economists and even among many of the nation's highest profile businessmen, many of whom were at one time the president's most ardent supporters. Many of those same businessmen are also calling the president anti-business, as he continues his deceptive statements to the contrary. ___________16 Month Comparison: Unemployment Rate____________ Democrat Congress 2007 To Present Month 9.5% Republican Congress Final Month 4.5% Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) U.S. Dept. of Labor Fed receipts Repub's 2601.1 Receipts Dems 2327.4 Gross Domestic Private Sector Investment Repubs 2166.0 Dems 1683.2 Disposable Income 2006 4th quarter $32,606 Disposable Income 1st Quarter 2010 Most Recent Final Data $32,469 Black Unemployment Dec. 2006--8.4 Hispanic Unemployment 2006--4.9 Teen Unemployment 2006--15.2 The other bragging point is that we were losing X jobs, when we did such and such, now we are doing such and such. Past, post-recession numbers have been far better than these, much sooner than these, without taking 1 penny of taxpayers' hard earned dollars. This proves one of two things. Either the administration didn't know what it was doing then, or it was intent on grabbing every dollar it could for redistribution along with the enormous power it gives to government, and the votes it can buy. _______________Hispanic or Latino Unemployment _______________ THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: DECEMBER 2006 Nonfarm employment increased by 167,000 in December, and the unemploymentrate was unchanged at 4.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.Department of Labor reported today. Job gains occurred in several service-providing industries, including professional and business services, health care,and food services. Average hourly earnings rose by 8 cents, or 0.5 percent, inDecember. Unemployment (Household Survey Data) The number of unemployed persons (6.8 million) was about unchanged in December, and the unemployment rate held at 4.5 percent. Over the year, these measures declined from 7.3 million and 4.9 percent, respectively. In December, unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (3.9 percent), teenagers (15.2 percent), whites (4.0 percent), blacks (8.4 percent), and Hispanics (4.9 percent)--showed little or no change. The unemployment rate for Asians was 2.4 percent not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
|
