{"id":18704,"date":"2023-10-27T13:10:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T17:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=18704"},"modified":"2023-10-29T20:41:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T00:41:12","slug":"congresss-unconstitutional-pay-raise-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/congresss-unconstitutional-pay-raise-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress\u2019s Unconstitutional Pay Raise Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Congress\u2019s Unconstitutional Pay Raise Scandal<\/a><\/h1>\n
James Bovard\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
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\u201cA good politician is almost as rare as an honest burglar,\u201d once quipped H. L. Mencken. After the shenanigans around the latest congressional pay increase, America\u2019s burglars should file a posthumous libel suit against Mencken for that disparaging comparison.If congressmen are not going to respect the Constitution when it comes to their own paychecks, why should we expect them to give a damn about any of the constitutional rights created to protect Americans from Washington?
\n[Click to Tweet]<\/a>There is a pity party in Washington: You weren\u2019t invited, but you\u2019ll pay the bill.The Constitution\u2019s 27th Amendment, ratified in 1992, prohibits any law \u201cvarying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives\u201d from taking effect \u201cuntil an election of representatives shall have intervened.\u201d But the Constitution wasn\u2019t permitted to impede the latest insider raid on the U.S. Treasury.<\/p>\n

Thanks to a backroom deal, members of the House of Representatives can now claim automatic reimbursement of $258 a night for lodging expenses and $79 a day for meals in D.C. \u2014 even if they don\u2019t spend a dime. But though House members can pocket up to $34,000 a year in additional tax dollars, it\u2019s not a pay raise, because politicians are entitled to use false labels for everything they do.<\/p>\n

Members of Congress are whining that they receive only $174,000 a year \u2014 more than triple the average U.S. salary and higher pay than 93 percent of what other Americans pocket. And it is a part-time job: The House of Representatives will be in session just 117 days this year. The New York Times <\/i>reported, \u201cLawmakers, especially younger ones, have voiced concern about being able to afford to live in Washington, where they spend about a third of the year.\u201d Few Americans get six-figure salaries for part-time gigs.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, some new members of Congress are not too bright and maybe didn\u2019t realize the job would require spending time in Washington. The poster boy for the pay raise was newly elected Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), who complained he got turned down for an apartment in D.C. because of his \u201creally bad\u201d credit rating (in his own words). He wailed about his congressional gig: \u201cThis ain\u2019t meant for people who don\u2019t already have money.\u201d But it wasn\u2019t voters\u2019 fault that Frost didn\u2019t pay his bills. Actually, being a deadbeat is good job training for being a congressman and spending trillions of dollars the government doesn\u2019t possess.<\/p>\n

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) moaned that \u201cCongress structures itself to exclude and push out the few working-class people who do get elected.\u201d Congressional salaries are far higher than average Americans\u2019 pay in part to cover the extra cost of spending time in Washington. But House members wanted more.<\/p>\n

The origins of the raise<\/b><\/h2>\n

After Republicans captured the House majority in November, the Democrat-controlled House Administration Committee rushed through a provision in December to boost members\u2019 pay. The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress recommended \u201cadditional reimbursement\u201d to \u201cincrease the pool of people who could afford to serve on Capitol Hill,\u201d the New York Times<\/i> reported. The Times<\/i> did not reveal which planet the Select Committee resided on.<\/p>\n

The new windfall was labeled \u201creimbursements\u201d and took effect thanks to a tweak in the Members\u2019 Congressional Handbook. There was no debate or vote on the House floor; neither the Senate nor the president had a say in the matter. Former Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) denounced the \u201cclandestine secrecy\u201d of the process.<\/p>\n

In a press conference in April, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House Democratic leader, denied that any pay raise occurred: no, it was just \u201creimbursement.\u201d Jeffries used the word \u201cbipartisan\u201d five times in one minute to sanctify the new measure. Inside the Beltway, \u201cbipartisan\u201d bestows instant absolution. House Republican leaders did not oppose the windfall.<\/p>\n

If it is actually \u201creimbursement,\u201d then why do congressmen get the money without showing receipts? Are we supposed to assume that legislators would go hungry unless they got another $79 a day? And if they aren\u2019t competent at feeding themselves with their $174,000 salary for a part-time job, then maybe they shouldn\u2019t be in charge of anything more complex than a toy battleship floating in a bathtub.<\/p>\n

Politico<\/i> calls the new regime \u201camong the biggest changes to Congress\u2019 financial operation in decades.\u201d It describes the new system as \u201cbringing Congress more in line with the American workforce.\u201d But \u201cthe American workforce\u201d wasn\u2019t responsible for endless deficit spending that wrecked the value of the dollar that other Americans must use to pay for food and rent.<\/p>\n

Caterwauling about low pay is a venerable tradition on Capitol Hill. In 1999, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) whined that \u201cwe don\u2019t make anything near what journalists in this town make.\u201d But congressmen were far better paid than most reporters. (Daschle exited the Senate to pocket millions of dollars a year hustling his former colleagues as a quasi-lobbyist.)<\/p>\n

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) declared in 1999 that congressmen need raises because \u201cthey need to have a life.\u201d Apparently, receiving any salary less than $140,000 means that a person is legally dead. Unfortunately, the Internal Revenue Service does not accept this definition and still levies taxes on such zombies. Hastert was sentenced to prison in 2016 for financial fraud tied to his being a \u201cserial child molester,\u201d a federal judge declared.<\/p>\n

Pay raises bring out the sordid side of the nation\u2019s political elite. In 1987, congressional pay jumped from $$77,400 to $89,500 a year. After controversy erupted, the House took a voice vote which confirmed overwhelming opposition to permitting the pay raise to go through. Except that the vote occurred one day after the deadline to stop an automatic pay raise for legislators from taking effect. As the Los Angeles Times<\/i> reported, \u201cAccording to congressionally established procedures, such resolutions are effective only if they are passed within 30 days of pay raise recommendations by the President \u2014 and Wednesday was the 31st day.\u201d One congressman said the procedure allowed members to \u201cVote No and Take the Dough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did they earn it?<\/b><\/h2>\n

How much do members of Congress legitimately earn? How much would you pay a lawyer who didn\u2019t bother reading the contracts he signed on your behalf?<\/strong> Every year, Congress enacts multiple, thousand-page legislative blunderbusses without bothering to read the text. But congressmen have no liabilities for the monstrosities they create.<\/p>\n

Anyone who watches a typical House oversight hearing \u2014 and sees the empty chairs and vacant stares of the congressmen \u2014 could be excused for scoffing. Many private employees would be fired if they routinely failed to show up at important meetings \u2014 or showed up so bewildered they had to have an aide continually whisper in their ear, apparently reminding them of their own name. Congress has done a pathetic job of overseeing the most abusive federal agencies, such as the EPA, HUD, EEOC, DEA, and FBI.<\/p>\n

Congressmen rarely read the reports they command federal agencies to produce. Federal agencies routinely fail to submit reports demanded by Congress \u2014 or turn in reports 10 or 20 years after a deadline set in federal law \u2014 and suffer no retribution.<\/p>\n

Many congressmen receive huge salary increases when they first arrive in Washington; more than 90 percent of members first elected in 1994 earned more money as congressmen than they had in their previous jobs. The larger the federal government becomes, the more powerful congressmen are perceived, and the more lackeys and lobbyists flatter them every hour of the working day. Naturally, politicians come to think of themselves as great saviors \u2014 and then demand to be paid as such, regardless of their batting averages.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Salaries are only part of the benefits that legislators pocket. Members of Congress award themselves far more lavish pensions than most Americans receive. They also benefit from a 72 percent subsidy on their health insurance costs. And they are often surrounded people desperate to do them favors \u2014 in return for double-crossing the citizenry.<\/p>\n

Congress wouldn\u2019t dare openly hike its own pay, because only 20 percent approve of how Congress is handling its job (78 percent disapprove). House members are like employees who are afraid to ask the boss for a raise \u2014 and then \u201ccompensate\u201d themselves by pilfering the company\u2019s cash register.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Congressional leadership is portraying the new windfall as practically a typo on W-2 forms.<\/strong> The up-to-$34,000-a-year benefit is part of a budget boost to \u201cprovide a \u2018living wage,\u2019\u201d according to a summary from House Appropriations Committee Democrats. The new benefit system \u201cdoes not require the submission of receipts to reduce burdens and address the potential security risks,\u201d ruled the House\u2019s chief administrative officer. Congress last year bankrolled hiring 87,000 new IRS agents and employees to audit Americans\u2019 1040 forms and shake more money out of their bank accounts. The new benefits are tax-free, so House members can pocket the pretax equivalent of $50,000 in extra income based solely on unverified claims.<\/p>\n

The House report bewailed that \u201cthe personal benefits of winning a seat in Congress have \u2026 decreased.\u201d But that was because Congress\u2019 reckless deficit spending helped wreck the value of the dollar, which has fallen 40 percent since the last pay raise Congress gave itself in 2009. Do we give train captains raises after they wreck the train? Then why should we give Congressmen a reward for their economic mismanagement?<\/p>\n

The report claimed that permitting reimbursement would \u201cmodernize\u201d the pay system. Was the goal to have congressional compensation harmonize with the nationwide epidemic of shoplifting?\u00a0 The covert pay raise is akin to hiring a store clerk who then announces he is entitled to pilfer cash registers to get his lunch money.<\/p>\n

Raises for millionaires<\/b><\/h2>\n

Most members of Congress are millionaires. Most members are also landlords, and there is no limit to the rent they pocket on top of their salary. Nor is there any limit to the illicit profits they snare from insider stock trading \u2014 despite congressional leaders\u2019 endless promises to end that crime spree.<\/p>\n

The House report laments that \u201cthe decision to retire from Congress is sometimes driven by financial concerns.\u201d It didn\u2019t mention representatives rushing to get rich by selling out America. Almost 100 former members of Congress have registered as foreign agents. That notorious revolving door inspired a Politico<\/i> headline: \u201cWant to be a \u2018foreign agent\u2019? Serve in Congress first.\u201d<\/p>\n

The House report justified the compensation boost: \u201cMore candidates are willing to run for office if they see public service as an economically viable career.\u201d But the Founding Fathers didn\u2019t intend for citizens to make \u201cviable careers\u201d by endlessly seeking coercive power over other Americans.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want my name on an FBI terrorist watch list for inciting \u201ccontempt of Congress,\u201d so here\u2019s my compromise proposal. Raise congressional salaries to $250,000 a year, thereby ending the risk of legislators needing food stamps. Tie the higher salaries to strict liability for all wasted tax dollars. If congressmen end all the boondoggles, foreign and domestic, let them keep their higher pay. B<\/strong>ut hold members of Congress personally liable for any reckless, wasteful outlays (not to exceed $2 billion per congressmen). If legislators continue squandering vast swaths of tax dollars, then it may be time to revive a hallowed institution from colonial America \u2014 debtors\u2019 prisons.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actually, if congressmen are not going to respect the Constitution when it comes to their own paychecks, why should we expect them to give a damn about any of the constitutional rights created to protect Americans from Washington? The highest life achievement for many congressmen was persuading a plurality of voters that they were less reprehensible than opposing candidates. T<\/strong>his is no qualification for managing a $7 trillion budget.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published in the October 2023 edition of<\/em> Future of Freedom<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Congress\u2019s Unconstitutional Pay Raise Scandal James Bovard byOctober 27, 2023 \u201cA good politician is almost as rare as an honest burglar,\u201d once quipped H. L. Mencken. After the shenanigans around the latest congressional pay increase, America\u2019s burglars should file a posthumous libel suit against Mencken for that disparaging comparison.If congressmen are not going to respect […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2686,15,451,3886,3719,3718,1097],"class_list":["post-18704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aoc","tag-congress","tag-constitution","tag-daschle","tag-jeffries","tag-pay-raise","tag-weasels"],"yoast_head":"\nCongress\u2019s Unconstitutional Pay Raise Scandal - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/congresss-unconstitutional-pay-raise-scandal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Congress\u2019s Unconstitutional Pay Raise Scandal - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Congress\u2019s Unconstitutional Pay Raise Scandal James Bovard byOctober 27, 2023 \u201cA good politician is almost as rare as an honest burglar,\u201d once quipped H. 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After the shenanigans around the latest congressional pay increase, America\u2019s burglars should file a posthumous libel suit against Mencken for that disparaging comparison.If congressmen are not going to respect […]","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/congresss-unconstitutional-pay-raise-scandal\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2023-10-27T17:10:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-30T00:41:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":899,"height":598,"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/capitol-TWITTER-SIZED-barbed-wire-looks-better-than-printed-version-DSC_0845_edited-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/congresss-unconstitutional-pay-raise-scandal\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/congresss-unconstitutional-pay-raise-scandal\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"Congress\u2019s Unconstitutional Pay Raise Scandal","datePublished":"2023-10-27T17:10:48+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-30T00:41:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/congresss-unconstitutional-pay-raise-scandal\/"},"wordCount":1952,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/congresss-unconstitutional-pay-raise-scandal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/capitol-TWITTER-SIZED-barbed-wire-looks-better-than-printed-version-DSC_0845_edited-1.jpg","keywords":["AOC","Congress","Constitution","Daschle","Jeffries","pay raise","weasels"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/congresss-unconstitutional-pay-raise-scandal\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/congresss-unconstitutional-pay-raise-scandal\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/congresss-unconstitutional-pay-raise-scandal\/","name":"Congress\u2019s Unconstitutional Pay Raise Scandal - 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The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18704"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18708,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18704\/revisions\/18708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}