If your boss gave you a 20% job approval rating, would you get a raise? If the people that hired you thought you were only doing a good job 1/5 of the time, would you make more money?
While most of us would be fired after such a dismal performance, Congress actually thinks they deserve a raise.
They even have it worked out where they get a 2% pay raise every year, unless they vote otherwise. So despite their record low approval numbers, they successfully increased their salaries $3,300 to $168,500.
I am not sure of his motivations, but I want to publically commend a Democratic representative. Thank you Rep. Jim Matheson for being a voice of reason.
He worked to force the House to vote directly on their pay raise, but it was defeated. Here is the specific bill: HR 4494.
In addition to that, we have Republican Representatives fighting any real effort at spending control … by members of their own party.
Appropriations members have already vowed to fight any move to strip spending from the bill. “I’m not going to take their crap,” Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) said last week. The Illinois appropriator said he included several projects for his district and would fight to keep them all.
“They think they’ve gotten a little steam building, and we’re going to have to shoot them down,” LaHood said. He ripped RSC members this year on the House floor for successfully stripping $507 million in construction projects from a military spending bill.
The majority of those fighting government spending are conservative Republicans. But I will say this, if a Democrat like Matheson ran against a Republican like LaHood I may very well pull the lever for Matheson, as long as he was not a complete loon on other issues.
Republicans have got to learn that they are not immune for a backlash of conservative voters. We are not entirely stupid. Throwing us a feigned attempt at a Constitutional amendment not all of us wanted, is not enough to make up for the myriad of mistakes you have made since Republicans gained control of Congress and the White House.
The Democrats could make huge inroads if they wised up and ran more people like Matheson, who, while he has his problems in my conservative opinion, is a lot better than a RINO claiming to be with me during the election, but spending as bad or worse than a liberal Democrat.
Fortunately for the Republicans, unfortunately for the American people, too often our choices in politics are between horrible and worse. Hopefully, this can’t last too much longer.