LETTER: Pay for politicians is outrageous
We should all seek a job as a U.S. senator or member of the House of Representatives. If there is a better-paying, more secure job out there with virtually no consequences regarding job performance, I want to know what it is.
Annual pay for senators and House members is $174,000. Those holding leadership positions (speaker of the House, Senate majority leader, etc.) are paid well more than $200,000 a year. Each member also enjoys a paid staff, office space in D.C., franking privileges, free transportation and other perks.
It was reported that Nancy Pelosi, while speaker of the House, had a Gulfstream Jet available to her for flights from D.C. to her home in San Francisco. Heaven forbid she should fly commercial.
The statistics above are one thing, but here is the catch: The approval rating of these elected officials is less than 20 percent, according to media sources. They take so many vacations (called “recesses”) that it is virtually impossible to track their whereabouts. There are no term limits and — coupled with districting dynamics — it is virtually impossible to fire any of them.
They get up to 80 percent of their pay as a retirement benefit depending on age and time in service. They have removed the term “compromise” from their vocabulary. As a result, they are virtually dysfunctional. More than 70 percent of their insurance premiums are subsidized by the taxpayer, according to internet sources.
If the private sector were involved here, a vast majority of the residents of the Capitol would be given a pink slip. But for whatever reason, we continue to give them “green slips” that have pictures of the presidents prominently displayed on the front.
Bottom line: How many members of our government can you name who left Washington, D.C. in worse financial shape than when they arrived? Anybody?
