Congressional Pay Raise Take Down!

Show Me The Money. I’ve written a few time before about this issue, click here for the collection. Incredibly, my suggestion for a new constitutional congressional pay raise amendment was greeted with a summary squatting ovation. On the other hand, there are a couple of proposals that have moved along a bit, in fact, one, a Senate bill was passed by the Senate and now sits in two House committees awaiting . . . what? Probable death. However, we do have a chance to help influence the outcome, perhaps light a little fire under the House committees where I fear the Senate proposal and the House bill with the most sponsors will otherwise languish.

I do understand that this issue is not among the most pressing at this time of war, partisanship, and “decession“TM (my coined word for something not quite a depression but way too beefy to be called a recession). Yet it’s important as a symbol. Here we have our elected representatives yelling about AIG bonuses, for example. Wanting them to regurgitate those wads of bonus cash they don’t deserve. Trying to craft ways to get at them through the tax code, etc. “How,” our Congresspeople ask, “can these Wall Streeters who got us into this kettle of rancid fish reward themselves with bonuses? That’s like giving a guy a five year vacation in Barbados when he’s convicted for bank robbery!” On and on they bloviate. And, in general, I agree with them; it’s outrageous that these AIG wonks and wonkettes – the ones behind this massive fraud – are still at liberty and stashing away millions too.

Just Who Got Us Into This Mess? “The ones who got us into this mess” is the phrase that comes back to bite Congress in the butt. If that’s their complaint about AIG, then it fits them too. In justice, like AIG, Congress has hardly earned its basic salary, much less a cost of living increase, which they like to euphemistically call a “pay adjustment.” A pay “adjustment” for most of them is like giving a hefty tip to the waiter who spills the hot fudge sundae down the décolletage of your grumpy old Aunt Ruthie’s favorite brown dress just as she becomes nearly but-not-quite sodden enough with elderberry wine to spot you a few hundred dollars to get through the next few weeks . . . Let’s not forget, as much as AIG and others “got us into this mess,” Congress did so too, via lax oversight and deregulation. So, their nearly 1,500 raise, though small in a relative sense, is huge in meaning. And we need to move them along towards some redemption . . .

First, the bill that passed the Senate in mid March, S. 620, would rescind the provision that permits Congress to receive its cost of living increase automatically, without a floor vote. S. 620 requires a floor vote, and as I put in my constitutional amendment suggestions, it requires a roll call vote. No simple waving of the hands, S. 620 requires a record of the vote by Member. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) said it well when he called for a Senate vote on the bill, “Especially in this hour of economic crisis, the overwhelming majority of Democrats and Republicans would agree that we should end this practice of automatic adjustments.” And Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI), long an advocate of this approach, also observed, “Congress should have to act if it decides to award itself a hike in pay. This process of pay raises without accountability must end.” So, without any contrary opinions, S. 620 passed by voice vote. Its next stop was the House of Representatives where, according to the rules, it was referred to two committees for further consideration, the House Administration Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Once there it promptly . . . languished, despite the outcry about unfair bonuses and executive pay heaped upon others.

Now, there is another bill that has some legs too, a House bill, although it has not been brought to the floor for a vote. Introduced by “Blue Dog” Democrat Henry Mitchell (D-AZ) on January 1, 2009, H.R. 156, entitled Stop the Congressional Pay Raise Act, would prevent Members of Congress from receiving any automatic pay adjustment in 2010. It has 113 cosponsors, and surprisingly, it’s a fairly bipartisan group. The bill simply would rescind the automatic pay “adjustment” scheduled to begin in January 2010. A bill like this has been introduced in nearly every Congress in recent memory. Some have passed and negated an upcoming pay raise, but most have not, and again, as Senators Reid and Feingold pointed out, the automatic nature of the “adjustment” must come out into the sunshine of a recorded vote, not remain in passive voice, so to speak. Well, a House bill with 113 sponsors sounds like one with a head of steam. Like S. 620 it was referred to the House Administration and the House Oversight Committees to promptly . . . languish.

All Hands on Keyboard! What can be done? Well, the committees must be pushed to take up the bills for consideration, and my most recent look at their schedules shows no such plans. Then they must vote it out of committee. Then the Speaker (the primary force in the House) must move it to the floor. As we’ve seen, the committee process can be quick, slow, or nonexistent, with bills dying in committee. I’m concerned that without some good old citizen outrage this is the fate of S.620 and H.R. 156.

Here’s my thinking and suggestions:

1. We contact the committees and the Speaker’s office and demand that he bills be moved along post haste. (How-to below)

2. Moreover, we ask that the two bills be combined into one bill that (a) incorporates S. 620 in its entirety, and (b) incorporates a revised H.R. 156 which rescinds the upcoming pay “adjustment” in 2010, but also rescinds the pay raise already in effect for 2009, some $4,700 per Congressperson and Senator. Rescission, a nice term for “give it back, dude,” can be accomplished in any way that makes sense, either by reducing their salaries for the rest of the year by an amount equal to the 2009 raise, or by use of the tax code (as many in Congress suggested for AIG bonus holders and others not themselves). Those who had already donated their pay adjustments to charity, like Rep. Henry Mitchell (R-AZ), would be able to leave that in place without penalty, but no sudden charitable feelings after a certain date would be permitted.
How to.

1. Here’s a list of cosponsors of H.R. 156 who are House Oversight and Government Reform Committee members. They should be reminded – must be – to champion the bill they cosponsored. Their actions may get the bill on the committee agenda, although the Speaker and the committee chairpersons are the power centers. It’s worth a try, though, to e-mail these particular committee Members (listed further below). Let them know you’re looking to them to set the example.

But also contact your own representative. Note that Members of Congress are very district-oriented. They receive a lot of e-mails, etc., and have little time for messages from out-of-district voters. Like “earmarks,” it seems parochial – wrong even – yet, if we think about it, it’s reasonable. They were elected by their district voters and are in D.C. to represent them. So, try to contact only your own Congressmember. Here’s the list of Members of Congress and their districts. To help you determine which district you’re in here’s a nifty interactive atlas for the 111th Congress, just choose your home state, click on where you live on the resulting state map, and it’ll show you your House member and provide a link to his or her office website.

Here, though, are the “targets” who have the most influence on the pay raise bills. They’re important because they are on the primary committee for S. 620 and H.R. 156 (the Government Oversight Committee) AND they are nine of the 113 cosponsors of H.R. 156. (I’ve not included the House Administration Committee because there are no cosponsors of H.r. 156 and they have less importance as a committee in this matter than the Oversight Committee):

Members who are on the Oversight Committee & are cosponsors of H.R. 156:

Dan Burton (R-IN-5) e-mail him
Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) e-mail him
Steve Driehaus (D-OH-1) e-mail him
Jeff Flake (R-AZ-6) e-mail him
Bill Foster (D-IL-14) e-mail him
Paul Hodes (D-NH-2) e-mail him
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) e-mail her (non-voting Member, but very influential)
Todd Russell Platts (R-PA-19) e-mail him
Jackie Speier (D-CA-12) e-mail her

2. I’m not even going to suggest that you contact Speaker Pelosi. To her, this issue is not high on her agenda, if on it at all. Also, she receives so much e-mail that I have a feeling it would never get beyond her army of e-mail reviewers unless there were thousands of e-mails, and I know I can’t deliver even a tiny fraction of that amount. I’ve never gone viral . . . But if you feel the spirit, and have a good form letter anyway, then shoot for the stars. Here’s her Speaker of the House e-mail address.

3. Send this link to your friends, etc. Sure, I like having my writing get passed around, but I don’t kid myself – I’m no Glenn Greenwald, or Digby, and never will be. This is an important issue in symbolic terms if not in real fiscal savings. If a few of your friends, colleagues, or family members have ever griped a bit about Congressional pay, then maybe they’d help out too. If I don’t pick up a single subscriber from this, that’ll be O.K., or at least will be after they talk me down from the ledge and fill me up with Valium.

Ahhhh. The Wonders of Cut & Paste. What do I say to these people? Well, first, they’re out of town until late this month, so you have some time. But remember, most of their staff
members are in D.C.

As a beginning, you would not go wrong quoting Rep. Mitchell (R-AZ) when he introduced H.R. 156 on January 1, 2009:

When Members of Congress accept this pay raise, we send the wrong message. We should be tightening our belts along with the men and women we represent. Americans are suffering and instead of feeling that pain, Congress is quietly approving pay raises to further insulate us from it. If you want to know why people hate Washington and feel that it is out of touch, it is precisely because of moves like this. If we are going to talk the talk of fiscal discipline, I believe we need to walk the walk of self-restraint. . .

Also, suggest that both bills be combined, with the addition of the rescission of the 2009 pay “adjustment” that already jingles in their pockets.

Remind them that, yes, AIG and other financial morons caused this debacle, but so did Congress through lack of oversight and dunderheaded insistence on deregulation, Democrats and Republicans alike, although it was the GOP that provided, by far, the impetus for deregulation.

Finally, you might include either a link to this post you like, or cut and paste potions of it into your text.

Give it a shot. Then let’s follow-up in a month and see if they heard us.