Ratings may stink, but Congress gets a $4,100 raise

WRL said:
"Mandatory spending, whatever the hell that is"

I'm not sure I want to engage a economics debate with someone who starts out here. Do a google search, it's expected, or projected, being as these are mandatory spending requirements to bankrupt themselves, and the country. And Obama's bright idea give everyone the first 500 back from your SS taxes, it's a system in a crisis of funds, and the Democrats are saying, lets throw away more money from it, no thanks...
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WRL, are you talking about the enititlements crisis?

Because, this has nothing to do with that.
 
I guess mandatory spending is the new phrase from the republicans for entitlements.
entitlements did not sound negative enough.
 
WRL said:
Exactly, most of us would get canned...
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The main difference, party politics. You may want to fire them, but their only opponent has a view of life so different than yours that you don't want them to have that power. The party itself isn't going to produce a valid candidate against their own incumbent.
 
Blackflag said:
I've never received a COLA raise based on performance. I just get it.
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Yet you still will get sacked if you have a poor performance so consistently. COLA raises to not come to you when you suck so bad that you get less than 30% on a review...
 
Damocles said:
Yet you still will get sacked if you have a poor performance so consistently. COLA raises to not come to you when you suck so bad that you get less than 30% on a review...
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COLA raises come to me for as long as I work. The US people hired them and until those same people fire them through recall or whatever, they should get it.
 
Blackflag said:
COLA raises come to me for as long as I work. The US people hired them and until those same people fire them through recall or whatever, they should get it.
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My point is you would not be working. What part of that is difficult for you to understand? If you performed so poorly on such a consistent level you would not receive a COLA raise because you would not be working for that company.

Then I explained the difference between the corporate world and party politics. Why are you pretending you can't comprehend the idea that you would be sacked if you sucked as bad as these people do?
 
Onceler said:
Congress doesn't get automatic pay raises.

Every time they do this, someone makes a big deal about it. Why shouldn't Congress be entitled to pay raises, like most other working Americans?
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Because unlike most Americans, their raise IS automatic. Most Americans are dependent upon economic conditions and their individual companies profitability. Congress has to stand up and vote for their raise NOT to take place.
 
uscitizen said:
one might want to consider congressional expense accounts more than their salary.

I think congressional pay should be linked to average worker salary. If our salaries go up theirs does too, if ours go down so does theirs.
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I would like to know how much they spend with their expense accounts.

That said, I think their pay should be tied to the national debt increase or decrease each fiscal year. If they increase the national debt by 10%, they get a 10% pay decrease. If they lower the national debt by 10%, they get a 10% raise.
 
Damocles said:
My point is you would not be working. What part of that is difficult for you to understand? If you performed so poorly on such a consistent level you would not receive a COLA raise because you would not be working for that company.

Then I explained the difference between the corporate world and party politics. Why are you pretending you can't comprehend the idea that you would be sacked if you sucked as bad as these people do?
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I understand but their job is different. They were elected to serve a term and short of a recall/impeachment they'll still be there.

What should their approval rating be? It'll never be high.
 
Most people in the private sector get individual performance evaluations. That's a lot different from a "throw the bums out" answer to a poll question.

As much as Americans say they disapprove of Congress, on a consistent basis, the vast majority of representatives get re-elected the vast majority of the time.

If people gripe about a simple COL pay increase for Congress, which is always popular to gripe about, how can anyone expect better people to even want to run for the job?
 
Blackflag said:
I understand but their job is different. They were elected to serve a term and short of a recall/impeachment they'll still be there.

What should their approval rating be? It'll never be high.
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It is usually better than their massive 23%. Only 1 in 5 approve of their work?

Most of us don't get COLA raises at all. All of my raises are linked to my performance.
 
You say that 1 in 5 approve, as part of some sort of broader performance evaluation.

If you polled each Congressman or woman's constituents, do you think that % would hold?
 
Onceler said:
You say that 1 in 5 approve, as part of some sort of broader performance evaluation.

If you polled each Congressman or woman's constituents, do you think that % would hold?
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Another good point. There are lots of bad companies that people hate but not all of their employees are bad.
 
What I find interesting is that while "Congress" has horrible approval ratings, individual members of Congress typically have much higher ratings. Everyone hates "Congress" but their particular representative or senator is A-OK.
 
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