by Frank James
Take any group of workers in the nation–doctors, car technicians, Wall Street money managers, miners, teachers, journalists, software programmers—and it’s a near certainty that the workers in the group would just about unanimously agree on a pay raise for themselves. That’s virtually a given.
So perhaps it’s a sign of just how truly disjointed Congress is that lawmakers can’t even reach consensus on whether they should get a raise.
As Rob Hotakainen reports for the McClatchy’s Washington bureau, some members of Congress would like a raise while others, for ostensibly high-minded reasons, say they’d prefer to vote against raising their pay $4,400 to nearly $170,000 from the current $165,200.Lawmakers opposed to the pay raise seem to be against it out of solidarity with the people in their districts whose pay has been falling or because they fear a voter backlash, especially since Congress hasn’t been particularly productive in passing enacted legislation.
Those are legitimate concerns certainly, especially for politicians wanting to keep their populist street cred.
On the other hand, the pay raises can be readily defended. Washington is one of the nation’s priciest metropolitan areas, lawmakers work incredibly long hours, often must maintain two homes, travel to and from their districts weekly and, importantly, are expected to become knowledgeable on a range of complicated issues.
The pay raise issue doesn’t break along partisan lines, with Democrats and Republicans who are both opposed to the increase and in favor of it.
Again, what’s remarkable is that on an issue as American as wanting to get paid more for one’s labors, Congress can’t agree. And if they can’t agree on something as elemental as this, what can they agree on?