September 10th / 12th
"Time is Money, and Congress Wastes Both"
I am often fascinated by the juxtaposition of two or more disparate
stories that hit the news wires at virtually the same time. So it was last week
when The Hill newspaper reported that the fifty richest Congressmen had a
combined net worth of over $ 1.4 BILLION dollars, an increase of $ 85 million
dollars since last year. Meanwhile, a number of media outlets reported
that over 30% of legislation passed by Congress has to do with the naming of
federal buildings, making commemorative resolutions, and other frivolous
matters. Makes one wonder if we taxpayers are getting enough bang for our
buck, and enough substantive work out of our elected officials.
Some of the resolutions passed include: recognizing soil as an essential
natural resource; establishing national watermelon month; honoring the
Idaho potato commission; setting aside a special day to celebrate Corvettes;
designating a day to recognize funeral directors; and, honoring the birthday
of Confucius, a Chinese philosopher and political figure who has been dead
for over two thousand years.
The Confucius resolution drew the ire of GOP representative John Boehner,
who accused Democrats of wasting taxpayer's time and money. But just a few
days later, Boehner and his party introduced a bill to recognize the
importance of "the symbols and traditions of Christmas".
No doubt, these kinds of frivolous resolutions mean a lot to the
Congressman or Senator who is trying to stroke the ego of a particular donor group,
but that is no justification for clogging up our legislative branch.
Fortunately, there are a few politicians who recognize that the practice
of vanity driven lawmaking needs to be curtailed. Last month, during a vote
on a resolution to honor New York's Saratoga race track, Rep. Jason
Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, pulled a Popeye, and essentially told his
colleagues, "That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more!".
Chaffetz called the Saratoga proposal, "an embarrassment", and urged his
fellow lawmakers to curb the frivolity. But his pleas fell on deaf ears, and
the Saratoga resolution passed 396 to 14. According to
FrontPorchRepublic.com, Chaffetz then attempted to challenge the constitutionality
of such frivolous bills, saying that they, "exceed the proper role of Congress". The
jury is still out on that argument.
Back in 2005, Rep. Virginia Foxx rose to the floor of the House, and
praised my television show, Triad Today, for its commitment to public service,
and to advancing voter education. Those kinds of speeches are common fare in
Congress, but they do not require a debate or a vote. Congressmen are
given one minute to read a declaration into the record, and then it's back to
work. In my opinion, that's how all constituent related matters should be
handled, so as not to take time away from important business at hand.
Right now, Congress should be working full time to repeal bad trade
agreements, stop rewarding American corporations for sending their jobs overseas,
implementing true health care reform measures, and stop spending money on
Iraq and Afghanistan. But Congressmen can't do that when they spend one
third of their time honoring dead philosophers, and another third raising
money for their next campaign. Speaking of money, that brings us back full
circle to the matter of Congressional wealth. Today, the base salary for rank
and file members is $ 174,000, but that's just a drop in the political
bucket. They also receive large expense allowances, pay only about 29% of
their monthly health insurance premium, and retire with an average pension of
$60,000 per year for life.
Politicians who feel entitled to their job and to its lifetime benefits
have no incentive to work more efficiently, or spend their time and our money
more wisely. Confucius himself believed that political institutions of his
day had broken down because those in power maintained their position by
making claim to titles for which they were not worthy. Some things never
change. Gridlock, greed, and incompetence, it seems, have been around for a
long time.
That's why I propose we reduce all Congressional salaries and benefits by
at least one third, until such time as they decide to stop wasting time
with frivolous resolutions, and focus on fixing the economy and creating jobs
. If that doesn't work, then we can always take solace in the words of an
ancient philosopher who said, "Politician who waste taxpayer time and money,
find self with plenty of one and none of the other after November".
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