Maureen Groppe, writing for the Palladium-Item has an article about Congressional pay increases. Reps. Burton, Buyer, Pence, and Visclosky voted to have Congressional pay rise annually with inflation.
Pence joked that he feared Mrs. Pence more than he fears the voters. Even though he voted to keep the automatic cost of living adjustment in place, Rep. Burton said “all lawmakers should have to vote on whether to accept it.” He declined to elaborate on how this position squares with his vote for an increase.
I’ve discussed this before. I don’t really mind paying lawmakers well for doing the job. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to the federal budget. Maybe if we pay them fairly well, there will be less temptation toward corruption, and maybe individuals of limited means can afford to do the job (how such people get elected in the first place is a good question.) Burying pay increases in provisions that raise the pay automatically seems undemocratic but, frankly, I think voters tend to overreact a bit on this subject.
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