And they wonder why people hate them.
If you took a poll, I would guess the popularity of Congress would be somewhere between prostate exams and listening to Florida Georgia Line. And honestly, it’s not hard to see why. You have lifetime politicians like Nancy Pelosi who have been in power for decades with a net worth of $240 million who just keep getting richer, while Congress gets nothing done to help average Americans who are struggling to get by.
In the latest example of Congress being dysfunctional, our elected officials are currently scrambling to come up with a government funding bill that would avoid a shutdown, with current funding scheduled to run out at the end of the day tomorrow.
And honestly, a government shutdown doesn’t sound like the worst idea. I know we’ve had a few that I can remember during my lifetime, and nothing happened other than the politicians actually had to show up to work to try to get something accomplished. If the government shuts down and your average American doesn’t even notice, doesn’t that mean that most of the government isn’t necessary to begin with?
But anyway, in order to avoid a shutdown, members from both parties in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate had attempted to negotiate a “bipartisan bill” to fund the government through March.
That 1,500 page bill was unveiled Tuesday night. (Remember, it has to be passed by Friday. How are members of Congress supposed to read 1,500 pages and vote on it between Tuesday and Friday?)
But as it turns out, members didn’t need to worry about reading the bill, because the internet did it for them – and to nobody’s surprise, a lot of people weren’t happy with it.
One provision in particular was snuck into the bill that had a lot of people upset: A pay raise for Congress.
Congress gives itself a pay raise and opts itself out of Obamacare in the new, 1,547-page, House continuing resolution to keep funding the central government. pic.twitter.com/wLzXWgK9aK
— J Michael Waller (@JMichaelWaller) December 18, 2024
The pay raise would increase their salaries by $6,600 annually, a 3.8% raise from the current $174,000 that Members of Congress currently earn. And $174,000 might seem low in Washington DC, where everything is ridiculously expensive, but it’s a salary that I have a feeling most Americans would be pretty comfortable with earning themselves – especially considering the House was in session for only 117 days in 2023, while the Senate was in session for only 154 days.
I remember my first part time job.
And yes, I understand that just because the legislature isn’t officially in session doesn’t mean that the members aren’t working. They should be meeting with constituents, working in their districts, drafting legislation…and of course their favorite job responsibility, holding fundraisers for their own re-election.
But apparently somebody (it’s not clear how the provision got into the bill) decided that our representatives work so hard that they deserve a pay raise.
Even Senator Dick Durbin, one of the longest-serving members of the upper chamber of Congress, was pleased to learn that the raise was included in the bill:
“It’s good news…I think it’s about time something’s done.”
NEW: Number 2 Senate Democrat Dick Durbin has no clue what’s in the funding bill, is pleased to find out he’s getting a pay raise.
No wonder why our country is $36T in debt.
Durbin got offended after CNN’s Manu Raju asked if lawmakers deserved a pay raise considering all the… pic.twitter.com/GeXBWyuFQQ
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 18, 2024
Seems like most Americans, though, disagreed with him.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could vote for our own pay raises too?
— definitely not advice (@stillnotadvice) December 18, 2024
What the HELL has Congress done to think they deserve a $70,000 per year pay raise?
They’re calling it a “cost of living adjustment”
But THEY ARE THE REASON the cost of living is so out of control.
They should NOT be rewarded for it. pic.twitter.com/u6Kz43t7z1
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 18, 2024
Dear Congress,
People get pay raises when they are good at their jobs.
Sincerely,
Your employers
— 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 (@txsalth2o) December 18, 2024
Could you imagine being a Swamp Rat politician supporting giving yourself a pay raise before victims of Hurricane Helene received a single cent of relief?
We Don’t Hate Them Enough, Shut It Down
— Beard Vet (@Beard_Vet) December 19, 2024
Why do they need pay raises when they make all their money on insider trading anyway?
— kaiju (@m0nster_b) December 19, 2024
A pay raise for Congress? When Americans are struggling to make ends meet? Are you fucking kidding me?
— 5% NaCl (Salty) (@TwoRulesOfWar) December 18, 2024
I think it’s great that Congress could get together to put aside all their differences and give themselves a pay raise.
— Karly Kingsley (@karlykingsley) December 18, 2024
Here’s an idea. Balance the budget and begin paying down the federal debt before considering ANY pay raise for members of Congress.
— Mayor Armin Mizani (@ArminMizaniTX) December 19, 2024
There have been a few people who support the pay raise – but they all serve in Congress. Those members argue that they deserve the raise because they haven’t received a cost-of-living adjustment in their salary since 2009.
Won’t somebody think of how hard inflation is hitting our poor Congressmen?
The whole thing is ridiculous for them to even consider, but especially to try sneaking into a 1,500 page bill that they tried to ram through at the last minute by threatening a government shutdown.
And who knows what else they tried to sneak in there. Why do we need 1,500 pages to fund the government for 3 months?
Luckily, outrage from President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and many others caused Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to back off the proposed bill, with Republican leadership seeking to come up with a new proposal while Democrats have basically said they’re not going to vote for anything other than the “bipartisan agreement” filled with wasteful spending.
Isn’t our government great? Hard to believe these people think they deserve a raise.
