Tax cuts for those who earn $250K/yr or less

[Uben]

How did they come up with that number?

Hmmm?

The current salary for all Senators and Members is $174,000. The salary for the Speaker is $223,500 and the salary for the Majority and Minority Leaders is $193,400.

Coincidence?

Had the number been $173K/yr or less, would the vote have been different?



Duh!

[Angry Dragon]

1. You have not added in their speaking fees, book deals

investments, pensions from other sources, spouse salary,
bribes,

[RC]

2. Those are counted as income?

Do they know?

[Angry Dragon]

4. If you are talking about bribes ..... yes

The Supreme Court ruled that bribes are legal as long as you report them as income

[zipplewrath]

3. It was a political and fiscal calculation

There is a political calculation about how many voters it will affect. There is a fiscal calculation of the total impact on the budget. This has the added effect of influencing what rules can be used to pass it in the senate. And there is the rhetorical usefulness of being able to say "a quarter of a million dollars".

[rucky]

5. The tax cuts would be for everybody - on their first 250K of income.

Sorry if this sounds nitpicky, but it drives me nuts that we never ever frame it that way.

[JVS]

6. Agreed. Every penny of tax cut I get is matched by tax cuts to people richer than me

[Occam Bandage]

7. The congressional salary is scarcely an afterthought for most members.

You don't get into Congress without spending tens of millions of dollars, and once you're out of Congress you've got tens of millions of dollars in lobbying fees and speaking fees ahead of you.