He's not alone: AOC and others have argued lawmakers should be paid more in order to protect against corruption and make the job more accessible.
Rank-and-file members of both the House and Senate are paid $174,000 a year.
That probably seems like a decent amount of money, and it is: The median household income in 2022 was $74,580, according to the US Census.
But consider that members of Congress generally have to maintain two residences — one in Washington, DC, and one in their home state — and that they haven't gotten a raise since 2009.
Inflation, meanwhile, has eaten away at the value of that salary over time: If lawmakers' salaries had kept pace with inflation, they would be paid over $250,000 today.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican who served as the interim speaker of the House following Kevin McCarthy's ouster, told The Dispatch that congressional pay needed to be raised in order to attract "credible people to run for office."
are you fucking kidding me. if my salary had kept up with inflation, id be making 250k. if average people dont get that benefit, why the fuck should they.
on top of that, they have rules specifically allowing them to game the stock market with their insider knowledge.
if you cant make money being a congresscritter, youre just not trying.
There's an argument to be made for paying Congress enough where they can't easily be bought out by special interests. Right now Congress is generally attainable only for those with existing wealth.
Consider that you have to maintain your house in your home district, maintain a residence in DC (not cheap!), travel between DC/home district, pay off student/car/etc loans, etc. That's not including family obligations.
I'd like to see a comprehensive plan to pay those in Congress more, but in exchange, severely clamp down insider trading and limit how politicians can accept money to themselves and their campaigns from special interests.
i think theres also an argument about revisiting these requirements for homes in multiple jurisdictions. its 2024, we need to stop pretending everyone needs to be in the same room to accomplish nothing.
how about, when youre in washington here is the hotel you use. welcome to public service.
We know from the Clarence Thomas issues that some of them will never be satisfied with how much they legitimately make, and turn to more questionable income sources. Tying a raise to explicit ethics standards is key: clearly assuming they will do what’s right was too naive