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Tie the minimum wage & SS to the percentage raise US Congress gets every YEAR! (Original Post) Omaha Steve Nov 2013 OP
I love it. Only problem with that is they get enough money from lobbyists that they could easily liberal_at_heart Nov 2013 #1
You may want to reconsider that... PoliticAverse Nov 2013 #2
It's a fact-free post. Igel Nov 2013 #4
Republicans would happily accept that offer. tritsofme Nov 2013 #3
I knew there was an automatic clause Omaha Steve Nov 2013 #5

liberal_at_heart

(12,081 posts)
1. I love it. Only problem with that is they get enough money from lobbyists that they could easily
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 07:13 PM
Nov 2013

stop giving themselves raises in order to keep from giving the minimum wage and SS raises. Did you see how many politicians were willing to donate their paychecks to charity during the shutdown? Like that meant anything. They are already millionaires and donating their paychecks for a couple of weeks didn't hurt them at all.

PoliticAverse

(26,366 posts)
2. You may want to reconsider that...
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 07:15 PM
Nov 2013

"One group on which the measure is not neutral is members of Congress themselves: It denies them a raise in 2014. That will be the fifth straight year, and sixth out of the last eight, in which congressional pay has been frozen."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/10/21/pay-raise-would-be-wide-reaching-but-exclude-members-of-congress/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/08/15/congress-pay-salaries/2660545/





Igel

(35,197 posts)
4. It's a fact-free post.
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 08:06 PM
Nov 2013

There are those, rooted more in belief than knowledge. Even if the information about the "percentage" increase Congress gets "each year" is just a Google search away.

tritsofme

(17,325 posts)
3. Republicans would happily accept that offer.
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 07:25 PM
Nov 2013

They have suspended raises for the past several years already while getting nothing in return.

All of these "punish congressmen" schemes are foolhardy.

Whether it's something like this, or denying them health benefits contingent on something or another.

The vast majority of congressmen are millionaires to whom these serve as moderate annoyances at worst, it only punishes the few of more modest means who actually rely on their government salary and benefits. It makes serving in Congress unaffordable to them.


Omaha Steve

(99,073 posts)
5. I knew there was an automatic clause
Sun Nov 10, 2013, 08:27 PM
Nov 2013

I didn't think to fact check. I learned that from Fox.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/08/15/congress-pay-salaries/2660545/

By law, Congress obtains an annual automatic pay adjustment, equivalent to the prior year's average private sector wage change. However, the raise can't be a higher percentage than for other federal employees.

Congress can vote to delay or deny this raise and has done so five times since the last increase in 2009, most recently in January of this year. If each of those increases had gone into effect, congressional pay would today be 5.5% higher, still less than inflation.

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