Just when House Republicans started to regain the trust of conservatives on fiscal restraint, they decided to team up with Democrats to vote themselves a $4,400 pay raise. It’s almost laughable, but in Washington it’s business as usual.
For starters, the notion that members of Congress deserve a pay raise is just remarkable in itself. Just 19% of Americans think Congress doing a good or excellent job, a pretty clear sign that the average Joe wouldn’t support boosting congressional pay to nearly $170,000. Do a better job, and then you can get a raise.
Yet when the vote came up yesterday, 99 Republicans joined 145 Democrats to approve the pay hike. Nearly the entire House Republican leadership was complicit.
Supporters of the pay increase argue that it’s a cost-of-living adjustment that’s no different from what other government workers get each year. They also argue that some members aren’t wealthy and are forced to sleep in their office or make other personal sacrifices.
I’m not buying it. One of those members we’re supposed to feel sorry for is freshman Rep. Tim Walberg (R.-Mich.), a true fiscal conservative. Walberg actually sleeps in his office, and based on his vote against the pay raise yesterday, doesn’t appear to have a problem with it. “Michigan is in an economic recession and its leaders need to be making sacrifices to bring the Wolverine state back to prosperity,” said spokesman Matt Lahr. “The Congressman has been outspoken about making tax relief permanent and felt it would be inconsistent to vote to increase his own pay.”
Another critic of the pay raise, Rep. Jeff Flake (R.-Ariz.), doesn‚Äôt believe it’s appropriate for members of Congress to receive pay raises while the federal government is running deficits, according to his spokesman.
The issue is a contentious one for both parties. After attacking Republicans in several campaigns last year, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D.-Ill.) wasn’t eager to have a showdown over the pay raise. John Bresnahan of the Politico thinks the GOP now has an issue to use against Democrats. I don’t see why it would be. Republicans had just as much of a role in this as their counterparts. Shame on them.
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