House Republicans draft proposal for $8,000+ per year cost of living pay raise for elected House members

[Polds4OSU]

• House Republicans want to give themselves pay rises of at least $8,000, Roll Call reported.
• The push came after they negotiated cuts to three federal programs for low-income people.
• People have blasted the proposal, with one critic saying Democrats must "raise hell over this."

House Republicans are seeking to give themselves pay rises of at least $8,000, despite strong opposition to most government spending, Roll Call reported on Thursday.

Spending plans approved by the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee last month include lawmakers getting a 4.6% pay increase in 2024, Roll Call reported, citing the Congressional Research Service.

The draft legislation would need to pass the regular legislative process before coming into force.

If enacted, it would be the first time in nearly 15 years that members of Congress — whose average salaries are capped at around $174,000 — would receive a cost-of-living pay increase.

House Legislative Branch Appropriations Chairman Mark Amodei of Nevada acknowledged to Roll Call that there are "a lot of strong feelings on both sides."

"The policy supports, hey, once every twelve years, you can have a cost-of-living increase," Amodei told Roll Call. "That's not exactly greedy. But the politics is — you know how that will go."

Amodei also said he expects negotiations with the Senate about the legislation to go on until the end of the year. Some members are also worried about the salary increase impacting their reelection campaigns, he added.

The report comes after GOP leaders negotiated a debt-ceiling agreement with President Joe Biden that curtails federal programs for people on low incomes, imposing new work requirements to get help.

These include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Medicaid assistance for adults without dependents. Spokespeople for the programs did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Republicans have also said they want even steeper cuts to federal spending, threatening a government shutdown.

The planned pay hike prompted an outcry among Democrats, with Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota telling Roll Call that House Republicans are "trying to give themselves a raise while working families struggle to make ends meet."

"That's not what our constituents want — and certainly not what members of Congress need," she said.

Colin Seeberger, a senior communications adviser at the Center for American Progress Action, tweeted that congressional Democrats must "raise hell over this."

"This is outrageous," Seeberger wrote. "House Republicans are moving to give themselves a raise while taking an ax to education, health, and other essential programs that help grow the economy by growing the middle class."

House Republicans want to give themselves $8,000+ pay rises, while furiously opposing other government spending

House Republicans are proposing a pay raise for themselves and other members of Congress for the coming fiscal year.

www.yahoo.com

 

[JTOSU]

Dumb.

 

[Pokey]

How hard can a Republican legislators job be? Just say no to anything Democrats negotiate, form fake committees and hold lame hearings, pretend Biden and family are more corrupt than the Trumps, read and study polls and do the exact opposite of what people want, do exactly what the pimp lords tell you to do, cut taxes for the rich , 147 violates oath and vote to overturn a legal election, say January 6th was a tour that barely got out of control, say Trump did nothing wrong and it’s a witch hunt…etc.

on second thought, it would be really hard to promote and swallow whole the garbage they’re spouting, maybe they do deserve a raise.

 

[OSU79]

An $8000 pay raise is well below the inflation rate of the past year, plus they haven't had a pay raise in 15 years.

If it weren't for lobbying efforts and legal insider trading our congressional representatives would have to survive on their own welfare plans!

 

[Stargazer]

An $8000 pay raise is well below the inflation rate of the past year, plus they haven't had a pay raise in 15 years.

If it weren't for lobbying efforts and legal insider trading our congressional representatives would have to survive on their own welfare plans!

And minimum wage is far from where it needs to be. The current economical system demands at least $15 hr for minimum wage (actually, $26 an hour). I hear many people say that $15 minimum wage is ridiculous. And they mostly point toward fast food workers. You know, "those dang burger flippers don't deserve $15 an hour! They're scum!"

In reality, had minimum wage kept up with inflation, minimum wage would be $26 an hour. The problem is that corporations and big banks have aquired aquired 90% all new wealth the US created for at least a decade.

If people understood US' economical system, they'd, well, most US citizens don't. And so they have no freaking clue as to what is happening. Big corporations and banks are robbing this country and its citizens. It's sad. Truly is. They write the economical policies via lobbyists and other methods... Straight up robbing this country its citizens

 

[GOGETUMPOKE]

And minimum wage is far from where it needs to be. The current economical system demands at least $15 hr for minimum wage (actually, $26 an hour). I hear many people say that $15 minimum wage is ridiculous. And they mostly point toward fast food workers. You know, "those dang burger flippers don't deserve $15 an hour! They're scum!"

In reality, had minimum wage kept up with inflation, minimum wage would be $26 an hour. The problem is that corporations and big banks have aquired aquired 90% all new wealth the US created for at least a decade.

If people understood US' economical system, they'd, well, most US citizens don't. And so they have no freaking clue as to what is happening. Big corporations and banks are robbing this country and its citizens. It's sad. Truly is. They write the economical policies via lobbyists and other methods... Straight up robbing this country its citizens

Have you seen the kiosk in McDonalds and the self checkout at Walmart? That’s what increases in minimum wage get you. Now we have AI in the mix to do away with even more jobs and before you know it a lawnmower will show up at your house with nobody on it and cut your grass twice a week.

 

[OrangeFan69]

I’d support 8000 a year salaries for all Congress members. Regardless of party.

 

[gopokes83]

Democrat is saying they should raise Hell over this, but we’ll see how they vote. Less than 200k a year and keeping households afloat in DC and their home state would be an impossibility. Only the very successful or true grifters can afford to be legislators today.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Stillwater Townie]

Have you seen the kiosk in McDonalds and the self checkout at Walmart? That’s what increases in minimum wage get you. Now we have AI in the mix to do away with even more jobs and before you know it a lawnmower will show up at your house with nobody on it and cut your grass twice a week.

It's not working like you seem to think. The minimum wage in Arkansas is $11, while in Oklahoma it's still only $7.25 an hour. Yet, both states have nearly the same unemployment rate. Oklahoma is odd for being determined to act on getting medical marijuana legalized starting in 2014 and kept at it until they got it done at the ballot box in 2018. But no Oklahoma group has ever wanted to start a petition to raise minimum wage.

I question that if AI and other changes are going to do away with so many jobs, then who is going have the money to buy all the goods and services stamped out by AI, other than already rich people, along with the new rich making big money off of AI.

 

[Polds4OSU]

COLA raise for members of Congress included In the stop gap funding bill ??

https://x.com/SawyerHackett/status/1708182212737184037?s=20

 

[steross]

Have you seen the kiosk in McDonalds and the self checkout at Walmart? That’s what increases in minimum wage get you. Now we have AI in the mix to do away with even more jobs and before you know it a lawnmower will show up at your house with nobody on it and cut your grass twice a week.

Spoken like a UBI supporter!

 

[Duke Silver]

COLA raise for members of Congress included In the stop gap funding bill ??

https://x.com/SawyerHackett/status/1708182212737184037?s=20

Looks like a no

 

[steross]

How about a law that gives congress a COLA + 2% each time they pass a budget and it is balanced. Then a 2% pay decrease each year they are unable to balance the budget and a 5% decrease if they can't pass a budget at all?

 

[Pokey]

How about a law that gives congress a COLA + 2% each time they pass a budget and it is balanced. Then a 2% pay decrease each year they are unable to balance the budget and a 5% decrease if they can't pass a budget at all?

How about a thousand dollar fine for hypocrisy? National debt could be paid off rapidly.

 

[P4L]

How about a law that gives congress a COLA + 2% each time they pass a budget and it is balanced. Then a 2% pay decrease each year they are unable to balance the budget and a 5% decrease if they can't pass a budget at all?

My only concern is that once you're in congress, the paycheck is never the primary source of income for these folks. Which is it's own issue which also needs addressing.

 

[steross]

My only concern is that once you're in congress, the paycheck is never the primary source of income for these folks. Which is it's own issue which also needs addressing.

What I mentioned wasn't "this will fix all the ills of our modern congress" so wasn't intended to address that concern. It's just a way to take the drama away from them voting for their own pay. Different legislation would be needed to address insider trading, lobbying jobs post-congress, gift acceptance, campaign finance etc.

What this would offer is a clear way for congress to be paid more based on performance. And, it could be argued that the most difficult times for congress (major war, economic downturns) are when they would lose pay. But, IMO that is a feature not a problem. When the nation is sacrificing, our representatives should be sacrificing.

 

[gopokes83]

… misfire. Carry on